Aircraft Fuel Manifold Disconnection Detection Using Fuel Quantity
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Solution Overview
Problem
Aircraft fuel manifold disconnections due to wear or seal issues can cause medium or long-term wear, leading to significant repair costs and aircraft grounding without immediate impact, necessitating a reliable detection method to alert maintenance personnel.
Innovation Solution
A device and method using a receiver, processing unit, and transmitter to monitor fuel levels in aircraft manifolds, calculating a health indicator from classified fuel values, and comparing it to a threshold to detect disconnections and issue alerts.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If no detection system is installed, then the system structure remains simple, but disconnections cause medium or long-term wear leading to significant repair costs and aircraft grounding
Solution Approach 1:
The system uses the existing fuel quantity measurement capabilities of the aircraft to detect disconnections. The fuel manifold itself serves as the detection medium by monitoring fuel quantity variations that indicate disconnection events, eliminating the need for separate detection hardware.
Solution Approach 2:
The system continuously monitors fuel quantity in the fuel manifold and compares it against expected values. When a discrepancy indicating disconnection is detected, the system generates an alert signal that is fed back to maintenance personnel, enabling timely intervention.
2Loss of time
If immediate detection is implemented, then repair costs and aircraft grounding time are reduced, but the system requires complex monitoring and alert mechanisms
Solution Approach 1:
The aircraft's existing fuel quantity measurement system is repurposed for disconnection detection. By monitoring fuel quantity in the fuel manifold using already-available sensors and processing capabilities, the system achieves immediate detection without adding dedicated detection hardware.
Solution Approach 2:
The fuel quantity measurement system serves dual purposes: its original function of tracking fuel levels and the new function of detecting conduit disconnections. This multi-functionality reduces the need for separate monitoring systems while enabling immediate detection of anomalies.
Data Source
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AI summary
- Method and device for detecting a disconnection situation in a conduit forming part of a fuel manifold pumping system of an aircraft.- The process (P) includes a receiving step (E1) to receive a value of the quantity of fuel in the collector, a processing step (E2) comprising a substep (E2A) to classify the value received at the receiving step (E1) into a so-called normal value or an so-called abnormal value, a substep (E2B) to calculate the value of a health indicator, from said received value, as well as a predetermined number of values received previously, and a substep (E2C) to compare the value of the health indicator thus calculated to a threshold so as to be able to detect a disconnection situation, as well as an alert step (E3) to issue an alert in the event of detection of a disconnection situation, said process (P) thus making it possible, taking into account the quantity of fuel present in the collector, to reliably detect a disconnection situation and to alert operators, in particular maintenance operators.