Self-Ballasting Airframe for Precise Airship Buoyancy Control
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Solution Overview
Problem
Controlling the lifting force of airships that rely on buoyancy is challenging due to difficulties in managing the relationship between the airship's gas density and the surrounding air density, which is affected by atmospheric pressure variations.
Innovation Solution
An airship apparatus with a controller that actively adjusts the mass of ballast chambers by varying the amount of air within them, using pressurized air and valves to regulate the mass and buoyancy, employing impermeable bladders and supportive jackets made of materials like urethane or carbon nanotube fibers, and utilizing longitudinal and transverse ballast chambers for precise control.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Ease of operation
If the lifting force is controlled by adjusting gas density or total mass of the airship, then buoyancy control is achieved, but the control system becomes complex and difficult to manage
Solution Approach 1:
The patent changes the physical state of air in ballast chambers from constant atmospheric pressure to variable pressurized states. By controlling the pressure of air in the ballast chambers, the system can precisely adjust the mass of air, thereby controlling the overall mass and buoyancy of the airship. This parameter change (from pressure control to mass control) simplifies the buoyancy control mechanism while maintaining ease of operation.
2Measurement precision
If compressed air is used in ballast chambers to control lift, then precise buoyancy control is achieved, but the device complexity increases due to additional compressors and pressure control mechanisms
Solution Approach 1:
The patent pre-compresses air and stores it in a plenum chamber before it is needed for buoyancy control. This preliminary compression action separates the energy-intensive compression process from the actual buoyancy control operation. When buoyancy adjustment is needed, pre-compressed air is simply transferred to or from the ballast chambers, requiring only valve control rather than active compression during the control operation itself.
Solution Approach 2:
The plenum chamber acts as an intermediary storage reservoir between the compressor and the ballast chambers. It decouples the compression function from the buoyancy control function, allowing the system to achieve precise mass control without requiring complex real-time pressure regulation mechanisms during operation. The plenum simplifies the control architecture by serving as a buffer that enables on-demand air transfer.
3Force
If variable mass air is used in ballast chambers, then lifting force control is improved, but the structural requirements for containing pressurized air increase complexity
Solution Approach 1:
The patent employs flexible bladders made of gas-impermeable materials (such as urethane or mylar) to contain the pressurized air in the ballast chambers. These flexible membranes can expand and contract as air is added or removed, accommodating variable mass requirements without requiring rigid structural changes. The flexible shell approach simplifies the overall structure compared to rigid pressure vessels while maintaining the ability to contain pressurized air effectively.
Solution Approach 2:
The ballast chamber structure uses composite construction combining gas-impermeable bladder materials with external woven textile jackets (comprised of polyester, aramid, or carbon nanotube fibers). This composite structure provides both the gas containment capability and the mechanical strength needed to withstand pressurization, while keeping the overall weight low enough to maintain positive buoyancy. The composite materials solve the contradiction between structural strength requirements and weight constraints.
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
Enables precise control of lift by adjusting the airship's mass, allowing for stable flight paths and controlled descent or ascent, enhancing the airship's ability to manage cargo delivery efficiently.
Implementation Method 1
the lifting force depends on the relationship between the density of a gas that is within an airship, the total mass of the airship, and the density of the air that the airship travels through
Implementation Method 2
the variable mass is that of air that has been pressurized by some variable amount to a pressure above atmospheric pressure
Data Source
AI summary
The invention features an apparatus for airborne transport of cargo. Such an apparatus includes a controller and an airship having a hull, an airframe that supports the hull, and at least one ballast chamber. The controller is configured to actively ballast the airship by causing the ballast chamber to contain a variable mass of air. The controller thus controls the mass or weight of air in each ballast chamber. In some embodiments, the ballast chamber's mass is the sum of a fixed mass and a variable mass. The variable mass is that of air that has been pressurized by some variable amount to a pressure above atmospheric pressure. The controller causes the variable mass to change by changing the number of air molecules in the ballast chamber, either by causing that number to increase or decrease.