Ice protection system using waste heat recovery
AssigneeEaton Intelligent Power Limited
InventorsSunil Madhukar Makhe, Parimal Maity, Christopher T. Cantrell
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Abstract
An ice protection system for use with an aircraft including an electric motor for driving a propulsion structure of the aircraft. The electric motor is cooled by a heat transfer fluid that flows through or by the electric motor to extract heat from the electric motor. The ice protection system uses the heat transfer fluid heated by the electric motor to provide anti-icing and de-icing functionality.
Claims18
An ice protection system for use with an aircraft including an electric motor for driving a propulsion structure of the aircraft, the ice protection system comprising:
- a heat transfer structure for heating a region of the aircraft prone to icing, the heat transfer structure including a primary flow path and a secondary flow path;
- a fluid conveyance arrangement for circulating heat transfer fluid heated by waste heat from an electrical component of the aircraft through the heat transfer structure, the fluid conveyance arrangement including a valve arrangement;
- and
- a controller that interfaces with the valve arrangement to control flow of the heat transfer fluid to and through the heat transfer structure, wherein the controller is adapted to control the valve arrangement such that during flight the primary flow path is adapted to provide an anti-icing function and the secondary flow path is adapted to provide a de-icing function;
- wherein the region of the aircraft prone to icing is a wing, wherein the wing has a span dimension that extends along a length of the wing and a width dimension that extends from a leading edge to a trailing edge of the wing, wherein the primary flow path includes a first passage that extends along the length of the wing at the leading edge of the wing, wherein the primary flow path includes sets of second passages that extend along the width dimension of the wing, wherein the secondary flow path includes sets of third passages that extend along the width dimension of the wing, and wherein the sets of second and third passages are alternatingly positioned with respect to one another along the span dimension of the wing.
A de-icing or anti-icing device for an aircraft component comprising:
- a heat transfer structure having a composite construction including a manifold defining flow passages corresponding to primary and secondary flow paths, wherein the manifold includes a molded, lower-density relatively low conductive structure and a higher-density relatively high conductive heat transfer sheet that cooperate to define the flow passages, and wherein the heat transfer sheet is adapted to be secured adjacent an inner surface of a skin of the aircraft component to distribute heat to a region of the aircraft prone to icing.
An ice protection system for use with an aircraft including an electric motor for driving a propulsion structure of the aircraft, the ice protection system comprising:
- a heat transfer structure for heating a region of the aircraft prone to icing, the heat transfer structure including a primary flow path and a secondary flow path;
- a fluid conveyance arrangement for circulating heat transfer fluid heated by waste heat from an electrical component of the aircraft through the heat transfer structure, the fluid conveyance arrangement including a valve arrangement;
- and
- a controller that interfaces with the valve arrangement to control flow of the heat transfer fluid to and through the heat transfer structure, wherein the controller is adapted to control the valve arrangement such that during flight the primary flow path is adapted to provide an anti-icing function and the secondary flow path is adapted to provide a de-icing function;
- wherein the heat transfer structure has a composite construction including a manifold defining flow passages corresponding to the primary and secondary flow paths, wherein the manifold includes a molded, lower-density relatively low conductive structure and a higher-density relatively high conductive heat transfer sheet that cooperate to define the flow passages, and wherein the heat transfer sheet is adapted to be secured adjacent an inner surface of a skin of the aircraft to distribute heat to the region of the aircraft prone to icing.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.