Recovering fuel vapour from aircraft fuel tank
AssigneeAirbus Operations GmbH
InventorsMatthew Gadd, Adam Fallon
Life of this patent
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Abstract
A method of recovering fuel vapour from a fuel tank of an aircraft, is disclosed. The aircraft includes a fuel tank; a wing with an upper surface and a lower surface; and an opening in the lower surface of the wing. The method includes coupling an inlet of a vapour recovery system to the opening; capturing fuel vapour from the fuel tank which flows out of the opening with the inlet of the vapour recovery system; and collecting the captured fuel vapour in a vapour storage tank of the vapour recovery system.
Claims18
A method of recovering fuel vapour from a fuel tank of an aircraft, the aircraft comprising:
- a fuel tank;
- a wing with an upper surface and a lower surface;
- and an opening in the lower surface of the wing, the method comprising:
- coupling an inlet of a vapour recovery system to the opening;
- capturing fuel vapour from the fuel tank which flows out of the opening with the inlet of the vapour recovery system;
- and collecting the captured fuel vapour in a vapour storage tank of the vapour recovery system, wherein the inlet of the vapour recovery system is coupled to the opening without plugging it in to the opening.
A vapour recovery system for recovering fuel vapour from a fuel tank of an aircraft, the vapour recovery system comprising:
- a vapour storage tank;
- a hose assembly with an inlet and an outlet, and a fan or pump coupled to the outlet;
- wherein the inlet is configured to be coupled to an opening in a lower surface of a wing of the aircraft without plugging it in to the opening, and the outlet is configured to feed fuel vapour captured by the inlet into the vapour storage tank.
A method of recovering fuel vapour from a fuel tank of an aircraft, the aircraft comprising:
- a fuel tank;
- a wing with an upper surface and a lower surface;
- and an opening in the lower surface of the wing, the method comprising:
- coupling an inlet of a vapour recovery system to the opening without plugging it in to the opening;
- capturing fuel vapour from the fuel tank which flows out of the opening with the inlet of the vapour recovery system;
- and collecting the captured fuel vapour in a vapour storage tank of the vapour recovery system, wherein the inlet of the vapour recovery system surrounds the opening.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.