Dirigible Deballasting via Upward Liquid Spray
Find Innovative SolutionsGenerate Solutions
Solution Overview
Problem
The challenge in dirigible aircraft is the difficulty in deballasting large volumes of water during flight without causing soil erosion or posing safety risks to ground personnel, especially when traditional methods fail to effectively manage water drainage.
Innovation Solution
A lighter-than-air aircraft equipped with a deballasting system comprising tanks, a pressurization system, and sprayers that expel liquid in a controlled manner, allowing for horizontal and vertical components in the spray direction, with adjustable flow rates and directions to ensure efficient and safe discharge of ballast weight.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Stability of the object's composition
If large volumes of water are discharged during loading operations, then the dirigible can maintain equilibrium, but it causes soil erosion and poses safety risks to ground personnel
Solution Approach 1:
The patent changes the discharge dimension by directing water expulsion vertically upward instead of horizontally downward. The sprayers are arranged to expel liquid in a direction comprising a vertical component directed upwards, which prevents water from contacting the ground and causing erosion or safety hazards while still achieving the deballasting function.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent introduces sprayers as an intermediary device between the water ballast and the ground. Instead of water directly contacting the ground during discharge, the sprayers atomize and direct the water upward, using the sprayer system as a mediator to eliminate the harmful interaction between discharged water and the ground environment.
2Productivity
If water is discharged below the dirigible during loading, then deballasting can be achieved, but it creates problems with water drainage and recovery
Solution Approach 1:
The patent extracts the water discharge operation from the traditional downward drainage method and relocates it to an upward spray expulsion system. By taking out the water discharge function and implementing it through sprayers directed upward, the system eliminates the need for complex drainage and recovery infrastructure while maintaining effective deballasting capability.
3Quantity of substance
If traditional ballasting methods are used, then the dirigible can carry loads, but it becomes impossible to release large volumes of water during flight
Solution Approach 1:
The patent employs a pressurization system that uses pneumatic and hydraulic principles to force large volumes of water through sprayers during flight. The pressurization capability enables the rapid expulsion of substantial ballast quantities through controlled spray mechanisms, making large-scale water release feasible during aerial operations.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent implements a dynamic ballast management system where the sprayers and pressurization system can be activated on demand during flight. This dynamic capability allows the dirigible to release ballast in response to changing flight conditions, providing operational flexibility that static traditional systems cannot achieve.
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
This solution enables precise and safe deballasting, minimizing environmental impact and ensuring the safety of ground personnel by dispersing the liquid as fine droplets over a wide area, preventing erosion and allowing the aircraft to maintain equilibrium for flight operations.
Implementation Method 1
a system for pressurizing the liquid of the at least one tank
Implementation Method 2
at least one sprayer, arranged in order to expel the liquid originating from the pressurization system out of the lighter-than-air aircraft
Data Source
AI summary
A lighter-than-air aircraft is provided including a deballasting system, the deballasting system including: at least one tank containing a liquid; a system for pressurizing the liquid of the at least one tank; and at least one sprayer arranged so as to eject the liquid from the pressurization system.