Aircraft Engine Drain Fluid Sensing With Reservoir Level Monitoring
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Solution Overview
Problem
Aircraft engines face challenges in monitoring and managing lubricating fluids due to difficulties in sampling and analyzing fluids on-board, leading to potential environmental pollution and inefficient maintenance.
Innovation Solution
An emptying and monitoring device that directly receives and analyzes fluids from aircraft engines using quality sensors and a treatment system, allowing for immediate condition monitoring without disrupting the engine's fluid circulation, and includes a reservoir with level sensors to track fluid quantity and quality.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Measurement precision
If samples of lubricating fluid are collected and transported to an analysis device, then fluid quality analysis can be performed, but the process becomes difficult when the engine is carried on-board an aircraft
Solution Approach 1:
The patent introduces an intermediary analysis device that is portable and can be transported to the aircraft, serving as a mediator between the engine and the laboratory analysis facility. This device enables fluid quality analysis at the location where the engine is carried, eliminating the need to transport samples back to a fixed laboratory.
Solution Approach 2:
The analysis device is designed to be self-contained and portable, enabling it to perform analysis functions independently at the aircraft location without requiring complex infrastructure or sample transport logistics. The device serves itself by integrating all necessary analysis components in a transportable unit.
2Measurement precision
If lubricating fluid quality sensors are integrated directly into the lubrication circuit, then real-time monitoring is achieved, but the circulation of lubricating fluid through the circuit must be maintained which complicates integration
Solution Approach 1:
The patent extracts the sensing function from the lubrication circuit by using a separate, portable analysis device that analyzes fluid samples without requiring permanent integration into the circuit. This extraction simplifies the overall system by avoiding the complexity of integrating sensors while maintaining real-time monitoring capability.
3Object-affected harmful factors
If on-board reservoirs are used to contain drained fluids, then environmental pollution is reduced, but the fluids must be supervised for emptying which adds monitoring requirements
Solution Approach 1:
The portable analysis device provides feedback on the quality and quantity of fluids in the on-board reservoirs, enabling intelligent supervision and automated decision-making regarding when and how to empty the reservoirs. This feedback mechanism reduces the need for constant manual monitoring while ensuring environmentally responsible fluid management.
Applied Scientific Principles
This section explains which scientific principles are used to turn an abstract innovation direction into a practical engineering solution.
Function Achieved in This Case
Enables immediate and precise analysis of engine fluids, reducing environmental pollution and facilitating predictive maintenance by providing real-time data on fluid quality and quantity, thus improving engine health management.
Implementation Method 1
the optical or acoustic sensor can be configured to carry out a measurement of transmission, absorption, reflection and/or refraction of the fluid contained in the on-board reservoir, over one or more wavelengths
Implementation Method 2
the optical or acoustic sensor can be configured to carry out a measurement of transmission, absorption, reflection and/or refraction of the fluid contained in the on-board reservoir
Implementation Method 3
the optical or acoustic sensor can be configured to carry out a measurement of transmission, absorption, reflection and/or refraction of the fluid contained in the on-board reservoir
Data Source
AI summary
The invention relates to the field of aeronautical propulsion, and more specifically to an emptying and monitoring device and method for emptying and monitoring a fluid drained from an aircraft engine. The emptying and monitoring device comprises at least one first intake passage for receiving, directly from the aircraft, fluid drained from the engine, and a first quality sensor assembly for detecting at least one quality parameter of the fluid drained from the engine, having been admitted through the first intake passage.