Cooling system for aircraft electric or electronic devices

Abstract

In a cooling system for the electrical or electronic equipment on board an aircraft, a heat transfer medium circulates through a main closed cooling circuit. A liquid coolant circulates through a secondary closed cooling circuit. A first heat exchanger makes it possible to transfer the heat from the heat transfer medium circulating through the main closed cooling circuit to the liquid coolant circulating through the secondary closed cooling circuit, by evaporation of the liquid coolant circulating through the secondary closed cooling circuit. A second heat exchanger makes possible the condensation of the liquid coolant circulating through the secondary closed cooling circuit. The second heat exchanger cools the liquid coolant by thermal coupling to the outside ambient air.

Description

CROSSED REFERENCE[0001]This application claims priority over the French application FR 08 55669, filed on Aug. 21, 2008, and over the French application FR 08 55670, filed on Aug. 21, 2008, since those two applications are entirely included by reference into this application.TECHNICAL AREA OF THE INVENTION[0002]This invention relates to a cooling system for the electrical or electronic equipment on board an aircraft. The invention also relates to an aircraft equipped with such a system.PRIOR STATE OF THE ART[0003]An aircraft, such as a modern commercial transport aircraft, has various electrical and electronic equipments intended for its operation, in particular electronic equipment used in the avionic systems, general electrical equipment, and flight instruments from the cockpit. This equipment is usually contained in holds and cabinets located in various places in the structure of the aircraft. These holds and cabinets are usually equipped with cooling systems, in particular force...

AI Technical Summary

Benefits of technology

[0017]Such a system may contribute to a sufficiently effective cooling of the electrical or electronic equipment, in particular the high power density equipment, while contributing, among other things, to a reduction in the size of the air ducts in the circuit and a reduction in the noise generated by the circulation of the heat transfer medium through the circuit.

[0042]Such a form of embodiment may contribute, among other things, to the provision of appropriate cooling in case of a malfunction of the main heat exchanger, and it can also contribute to the improvement of the energy efficiency ratio by using the outside ambient air to cool the liquid coolant that circulates through the main closed cooling circuit.

Problems solved by technology

However, due (i) to the increase in power density of the new electrical and electronic equipment used in modern commercial aircraft or in those intended to equip the commercial aircraft under development, (ii) to the increase in the number of components of electrical and electronic equipment to be cooled, and (iii) to the fact that this equipment is more and more tightly consolidated, the electrical and electronic equipment of commercial aircraft releases more and more heat and the air temperature of the holds and cabinets in which it is consolidated tends to increase significantly.

This can lead to the following results: malfunction of the equipment, a decrease in its useful life, breakdown or final damage.

However, the systems generally known in the prior art and those suggested in the SAE Report do not bring a satisfactory solution to this new problem.

The simple increase in the quantity and flow of the air forced over the electrical or electronic components to be cooled has some significant disadvantages: (i) low thermal efficiency, (ii) decrease in the commercial space available on the aircraft, (iii) noise increase, (iv) increased energy consumption, and (v) risk of damage to the equipment cooled.

However, this system presents certain problems:(i) using the outer atmosphere of the aircraft as the main source for dissipating the heat released by the electrical and electronic equipment does not make it possible to guarantee a constant level of cooling under all operating conditions of this equipment, and under certain operating conditions, it may be harmful to the cooling of this equipment; and(ii) using an auxiliary refrigeration system may involve an additional energy demand and a significant increase in the total mass of the forced air cooling system.

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