Staged Aircraft Cooling Loop for Lower Weight and Stable Supply Temperature
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Solution Overview
Problem
Aircraft cooling systems are inefficient due to the use of standalone vapor cycle units, which are heavy, power-intensive, and require multiple units to meet cooling demands, increasing aircraft weight and reducing efficiency.
Innovation Solution
A thermal management system with a fluid loop and multiple heat pump units positioned between climate-controlled regions, allowing for staged cooling and heating, where the fluid is cooled between units to maintain a constant supply temperature and reduce the amount of fluid needed, thereby minimizing weight and increasing efficiency.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Adaptability or versatility
If multiple standalone vapor cycle units are used to meet cooling demands in different aircraft regions, then cooling coverage is improved, but aircraft weight increases and efficiency decreases
Solution Approach 1:
The patent merges multiple standalone vapor cycle units into a single centralized thermal management system that serves multiple aircraft regions. The centralized system includes one compressor, one condenser, and multiple evaporators distributed to different regions, allowing the system to provide cooling coverage to multiple regions while using fewer components overall, thereby reducing aircraft weight while maintaining cooling coverage.
2Device complexity
If centralized vapor cycle units are positioned at one location to cool multiple regions, then system complexity is reduced, but the units become large, heavy, and require significant refrigerant
Solution Approach 1:
The patent segments the cooling function by distributing multiple evaporators to different aircraft regions while keeping the compression and condensation functions centralized. This segmentation allows the centralized unit to be smaller and lighter because each evaporator serves a specific region's cooling needs, and the system uses less total refrigerant compared to a single large centralized evaporator serving all regions.
3Adaptability or versatility
If standalone vapor cycle units are used for each region, then temperature control for each region is independent, but the overall system weight and power requirements increase
Solution Approach 1:
The patent merges the compression function into a single centralized compressor that serves multiple evaporators distributed to different regions. This merging reduces the total number of compressors from multiple (one per region) to one, significantly reducing power requirements while maintaining the ability to provide independent temperature control to each region through the distributed evaporators.
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 system achieves a more consistent temperature supply to aircraft regions with reduced fluid usage, leading to lighter aircraft weight and improved efficiency by distributing cooling between multiple smaller heat pump units.
Implementation Method 1
The first heat pump is connected to the fluid loop and is disposed between the outlet of the second heat exchanger and the inlet of the first heat exchanger
Implementation Method 2
a first heat exchanger having an inlet and an outlet, a second heat exchanger having an inlet and an outlet
Data Source
AI summary
A thermal management system comprises a first heat exchanger having an inlet and an outlet, a second heat exchanger having an inlet and an outlet, a fluid loop, a first heat pump, and a second heat pump. The fluid loop circulates a fluid, and forms a continuous path between the first and second heat exchangers. The first heat pump is connected to the fluid loop and is disposed between the outlet of the second heat exchanger and the inlet of the first heat exchanger. The second heat pump is connected to the fluid loop and is disposed between the outlet of the first heat exchanger and the inlet of the second heat exchanger.