Engine Health Management System Aerosol Data Integration
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Solution Overview
Problem
Aviation engines lack effective methods for real-time data collection and processing of global environmental aerosols and particulates, leading to varied engine hardware life, maintenance costs, and unpredictable maintenance needs due to their diverse global operation and exposure to airborne pollutants.
Innovation Solution
An engine health management system that collects, processes, and enhances environmental data from various sources, including internal and external data sources, to evaluate and predict engine health by linking aerosol counts and accumulations with engine data, providing targeted maintenance and hardware design insights through a centralized computing system and data repository.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Device complexity
If aviation engines operate globally without air filters, then engines can maintain simplicity in design and operation, but engines are exposed to airborne particulates causing varied hardware life and unpredictable maintenance needs
Solution Approach 1:
The system performs preliminary data collection and environmental assessment before engine maintenance is needed. By continuously monitoring and storing environmental data (particulate matter, aerosols, weather conditions) at various airports and operating locations, the system prepares maintenance predictions in advance, allowing operators to schedule maintenance proactively rather than reactively, thus improving reliability without adding physical complexity to the engine itself
Solution Approach 2:
The patent introduces an intermediary data processing system that acts as a mediator between the engine and the environment. This system collects environmental data, processes it through evaluation methods, and generates maintenance predictions, thereby shielding the engine from the direct impact of unpredictable environmental factors while maintaining design simplicity
2Adaptability or versatility
If aviation engines operate in diverse global environments, then engines can access various operating locations, but engines experience varied hardware life and maintenance costs due to different airborne particulate exposures
Solution Approach 1:
The system applies local quality by tailoring environmental data collection and evaluation to each specific operating location. Different airports and geographical locations have their own unique environmental characteristics (particulate matter types, concentrations, weather patterns). The system collects and processes location-specific data, generating customized maintenance predictions for each operating environment, thereby managing hardware life variability across diverse locations while maintaining the ability to operate globally
Solution Approach 2:
The system utilizes parameter changes in environmental conditions (particulate concentration, aerosol composition, weather parameters) to predict maintenance needs. By continuously monitoring these parameters and comparing them against established thresholds and historical data, the system adapts maintenance predictions to changing environmental conditions, allowing engines to operate in diverse locations while managing hardware life variability through data-driven insights
3Measurement precision
If real-time environmental data collection and processing is implemented, then engine health prediction accuracy is improved, but data collection and processing system complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The system achieves universality by creating a multi-functional data processing platform that handles multiple types of data (environmental sensors, engine performance data, historical maintenance records, weather information) through a single integrated evaluation framework. This universal system reduces overall complexity by avoiding multiple separate specialized systems while maintaining high prediction accuracy through comprehensive data analysis
Solution Approach 2:
The system implements self-service through automated data collection, processing, and analysis. The evaluation methods automatically process environmental data, compare it against thresholds, and generate maintenance predictions without requiring extensive manual intervention. This automation reduces operational complexity while maintaining high measurement precision through consistent, algorithm-driven analysis
Data Source
AI summary
Provided is an engine health management system and method for determining health of an engine of an aircraft, that includes a data source interface which transmits data from internal and external data sources, a control module that includes a processor and a memory and receives data via the data source interface, creates evaluation methods for evaluating the data received to determine suitable data and storing the suitable data within the memory, and creates a controlled historical airport information repository to process historical data via the processor and generate airport information reports based on the historical data. The system also includes a central computing system communicatively coupled with the control module and the data source interface, which performs data enhancement techniques including linking environmental counts and accumulations with engine data.