Aircraft fuel system with fuel return from engine
AssigneeAirbus Operations GmbH
InventorsRichard Haskins, Franklin Tichborne, Joseph K-W Lam
Life of this patent
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Abstract
An aircraft fuel system, comprising: a fuel tank; a fuel line; and an engine; wherein the fuel line includes a first conduit configured to carry fuel from the tank towards the engine, and a second conduit configured to carry fuel from the engine towards the tank, wherein one of the first conduit or the second conduit is disposed annularly around the other of the first conduit or the second conduit. Also, a method of operating the system. The system may be used to suppress ice formation in the first conduit and/or provide leakage detection.
Claims24
An aircraft fuel system, comprising:
- a fuel tank,
- a fuel line,
- an engine,
- wherein the fuel line includes a first conduit configured to carry fuel from the tank towards the engine, and a second conduit open at the engine and configured to carry fuel from the engine towards the fuel tank,
- wherein the engine includes a high pressure fuel pump for delivering a supply of fuel to a combustor,
- wherein the first conduit and the second conduit are arranged coaxially about a common longitudinal axis, and the first conduit is upstream of the high pressure fuel pump and inside the second conduit, the common longitudinal axis extends through an interior of each of the first conduit and the second conduit, and
- wherein an outer surface of the first conduit is in contact with the return fuel flowing in the second conduit from the engine toward the fuel tank.
A method for transferring fuel in an aircraft fuel system, the method comprising:
- delivering fuel from a fuel tank towards an engine through a first conduit of a fuel line,
- delivering fuel from the engine towards the fuel tank through a second conduit of the fuel line,
- wherein the second conduit is open at the engine,
- wherein the engine includes a high pressure fuel pump for delivering a supply of fuel to a combustor,
- wherein the first conduit and the second conduit are arranged coaxially about a common longitudinal axis, and the first conduit is upstream of the high pressure fuel pump and inside the second conduit, and wherein an outer surface of the first conduit is in contact with the return fuel flowing in the second conduit from the engine toward the fuel tank.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.