Aircraft Fuel Jettison Detection via Rate and Flap Analysis
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Solution Overview
Problem
Aircraft fuel jettison events often go unreported, leading to fuel contamination of aircraft parts, which can go unnoticed by maintenance teams, resulting in potential damage and increased maintenance costs.
Innovation Solution
A method and apparatus that detect a fuel jettison event by monitoring the rate of fuel quantity decrease and flap angles, generating an alert when the rate exceeds a baseline threshold and the flap angle meets certain criteria, providing real-time data for contamination reports.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Loss of information
If fuel jettison events are not monitored or reported, then the aircraft operation continues without interruption, but the service department remains unaware of fuel contamination requiring cleaning or remediation
Solution Approach 1:
The monitoring system utilizes existing aircraft systems (fuel quantity indicators, flap position indicators, auto-refuel system status) for multiple purposes: their primary functions plus detecting fuel jettison events. This avoids adding dedicated complex monitoring hardware while still capturing contamination information.
Solution Approach 2:
The system provides feedback to the service department by analyzing data from existing aircraft systems and generating alerts about potential fuel contamination. This feedback loop enables the service department to respond to contamination issues without requiring direct reporting from pilots or manual inspection.
2Measurement precision
If the rate of fuel quantity decrease is monitored continuously, then fuel jettison events can be detected accurately, but the data processing and analysis complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The system pre-establishes a baseline rate of fuel quantity decrease for each aircraft based on historical data before flight. During flight, the system only needs to compare real-time measurements against this pre-calculated baseline, significantly reducing the complexity of real-time data processing while maintaining detection accuracy.
Solution Approach 2:
The system transforms the complex continuous monitoring problem into a simpler comparison by changing the parameter from absolute fuel quantity to rate of decrease. By monitoring the derivative (rate of change) rather than the raw value, the system simplifies detection logic while improving sensitivity to jettison events.
3Reliability
If real-time monitoring and alerting systems are implemented, then timely detection of fuel contamination is achieved, but the system complexity and resource requirements increase
Solution Approach 1:
The system leverages existing aircraft infrastructure including fuel quantity indicators, flap position indicators, and auto-refuel system status for dual purposes: their original functions plus fuel jettison detection. This multi-functional approach achieves reliable contamination detection without adding dedicated complex monitoring hardware.
Solution Approach 2:
The system automatically analyzes data from existing aircraft systems and generates contamination alerts without requiring manual intervention from pilots or maintenance personnel. The aircraft's own operational data serves the additional function of contamination detection, reducing the need for separate monitoring resources.
Data Source
AI summary
Disclosed herein is a method that comprises detecting that a rate of decrease in fuel quantity for an aircraft exceeds a previously-determined baseline rate of decrease in fuel quantity for the aircraft by a threshold rate during a corresponding segment of flight of the aircraft. The method also comprises determining that a fuel jettison setting for the aircraft is enabled in response to the detected increase in the rate of decrease in fuel quantity. The method further comprises determining that an angle of one or more flaps of the aircraft satisfies a threshold angle. The method additionally comprises generating an alert indicating possible fuel contamination of the one or more flaps due to jettisoned fuel.