Onboard mixing of de-icing fluid

Abstract

The invention pertains to a de-icer for airplanes, which comprises a self-propelled vehicle (32) which is provided with a lifting device (34, 36) for lifting and positioning a spraying nozzle (38) in the vicinity of an outer surface of an airplane to be de-iced. The nozzle (38) is fluidly connected to a tank assembly (40) via at least one pipe, wherein the tank assembly (40) comprises separate tanks (42, 44, 46) for an anti-freeze liquid, such as propylene or ethylene glycol, additives and water. Each tank (42, 44, 46) of the tank assembly (40) is fluidly connected to a mixing system (48) via pipes (50, 52, 54), the mixing system (48) is configured for mixing the liquids from each of the tanks (42, 44, 46) before supplying the mixed liquid to the nozzle (38). The invention also pertains to methods of providing onboard mixing of de-icing and anti-icing liquids in a de-icing vehicle.

Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.