Wall-Mounted Galley Air Chiller Layout for Lower Energy Use
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing air chillers for aircraft galley food service systems are inefficient due to their remote location, high energy consumption, noise production, bulkiness, and the need for multiple units to accommodate different aircraft configurations, leading to excessive energy use and weight.
Innovation Solution
A compact, wall-mounted air chiller unit is designed to be installed inside the aircraft galley cart compartment, featuring a flattened rectangular case with a condenser, compressor, and evaporator, connected in a standard refrigeration manner, and ducts for air supply and return, allowing for efficient cooling of multiple carts with reduced energy consumption and noise.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Ease of manufacture
If air chillers are installed in a remote location outside the galley cart compartment, then it is easier to install and service the equipment, but the chilling system consumes more energy and requires longer air ducts
Solution Approach 1:
The air chiller is mounted on the rear wall of the galley cart compartment rather than being placed in a remote location, changing the spatial dimension of installation. This wall-mounted approach eliminates the need for long horizontal air ducts while maintaining serviceability, as the unit remains accessible from the compartment interior.
2Adaptability or versatility
If large capacity chillers are equipped with a powerful evaporator fan to recirculate chill air to different galley compartments, then the cooling coverage is improved, but the electrical power consumption increases significantly
Solution Approach 1:
Instead of using one large chiller with a powerful fan to serve multiple compartments, the system segments cooling into multiple smaller wall-mounted units, each serving a specific compartment. Each unit has a proportionally sized fan that consumes less power, and the cumulative energy use is lower than a single large fan system.
3Power
If individual air chiller units are made heavy and bulky to provide sufficient cooling capacity, then the cooling performance is improved, but the units become difficult to handle and require more space
Solution Approach 1:
The air chiller adopts a flattened, wall-mounted configuration rather than a bulky three-dimensional form factor. This dimensional change allows the unit to maintain sufficient cooling capacity while reducing its projection into the compartment space and making it easier to install and service on vertical surfaces.
4Adaptability or versatility
If airline customers maintain many different sizes of chillers on hand to accommodate various aircraft configurations, then the adaptability to different aircraft is improved, but the inventory complexity and weight increase
Solution Approach 1:
The wall-mounted air chiller is designed as a universal unit that can be installed in various aircraft configurations and galley compartment sizes. The standardized wall-mount design allows a single chiller model to serve multiple aircraft types, eliminating the need to maintain inventories of different chiller sizes.
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
The compact air chiller system provides efficient cooling for multiple carts with reduced energy use, weight, and noise, while eliminating the need for long ducts and heavy mounting structures, achieving a weight savings and improved cooling capacity in a smaller space.
Implementation Method 1
a condenser; a compressor; an evaporator
Implementation Method 2
a compressor
Implementation Method 3
an evaporator
Implementation Method 4
an evaporator fan
Data Source
AI summary
A point-of-use air chiller unit for an aircraft galley cart compartment is provided comprising a generally flattened rectangular case, comprising two main surfaces having a substantially larger surface area than four remaining surfaces of the case, a condenser, a compressor, an evaporator, and an evaporator fan, wherein the condenser, compressor, and evaporator are connected in a standard refrigeration manner, and a plane parallel to the main surfaces passes through the condenser, the compressor, the evaporator, and the evaporator fan.