Method of heating for an aircraft electric environmental control system
AssigneeHoneywell International Inc.
InventorRoger P. Murry
Life of this patent
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Abstract
An aircraft environmental control system (ECS) provides fresh air for the cabin of an aircraft by using electric motor driven compressors in place of traditional engine bleed air. Conventional aircraft ECS use an engine bleed to provide the pressurized fresh air flow for an aircraft cabin. However, such a system suffers from the disadvantage of requiring additional fuel consumption in order to provide an adequate engine bleed source. The present invention, using a zero bleed, electric powered architecture, does not suffer from this drawback of the conventional ECS.
Claims27
An environmental control system for providing conditioned air to a substantially enclosed space, comprising:
- at least one electric air compressor for pressurizing fresh air from outside said space to provide pressurized fresh air, said at least one electric air compressor providing heat to warm said fresh air without the requirement of a resistance heating element;
- at least one vapor cycle pack for conditioning said pressurized fresh air from said at least one air compressor to provide conditioned air;
- an air distribution system for delivering said conditioned air to said space;
- a recirculation add heat valve to recirculate air from an output of said compressor back into an input of said compressor;
- and
- a precooler for cooling said pressurized fresh air prior to entry into said at least one vapor cycle pack.
An environmental control system for an aircraft to provide a flow of conditioned air within at least a cabin portion of said aircraft, comprising:
- at least one electric cabin air compressor for pressurizing fresh air from outside of said aircraft to provide pressurized fresh air;
- at least one vapor cycle pack for conditioning said pressurized fresh air from said plurality of cabin air compressors to provide conditioned air;
- an air distribution system for delivering said conditioned air to a cabin of said aircraft;
- a recirculation add heat valve to recirculate air from an output of said cabin air compressor back into an input of said cabin air compressor;
- and
- a precooler for cooling said pressurized fresh air prior to entry into said at least one vapor cycle pack.
A method for supplying conditioned air to at least a cabin area of an aircraft, comprising:
- pressurizing fresh air from outside said aircraft with at least one electric cabin air compressor to provide pressurized fresh air, said at least one electric air compressor providing heat to warm said fresh air without the requirement of a resistance heating element;
- conditioning said pressurized fresh air with at least one vapor cycle pack to provide conditioned air;
- recirculating air from an output of said cabin air compressor back into an input of said cabin air compressor;
- cooling said pressurized fresh air prior to entry into said at least one vapor cycle pack with a precooler;
- and
- distributing said conditioned air to said cabin area of said aircraft.
A method for supplying conditioned air to at least a cabin area of an aircraft, comprising:
- pressurizing fresh air from outside said aircraft with at least one electric cabin air compressor to provide pressurized fresh air, said at least one electric air compressor being driven by a variable speed electric motor to provide heat to warm said fresh air without the requirement of a resistance heating element;
- conditioning said pressurized fresh air with at least one vapor cycle pack to provide conditioned air, said vapor cycle pack being driven by a variable speed electric motor;
- dissociating ozone from said pressurized fresh air into oxygen molecules with an ozone converter;
- recirculating air from an output of said compressor back into an input of said compressor;
- recirculating air from said cabin area with an air fan into said pressurized fresh air prior to passing through said at least one vapor cycle pack;
- cooling said pressurized fresh air prior to entry into said at least one vapor cycle pack with a precooler;
- and
- distributing said conditioned air to said cabin area of said aircraft.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.