Adaptive power and thermal management system
AssigneeGeneral Electric Company
InventorsGeorge Albert Coffinberry, Neil Richard Garrigan
Life of this patent
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Abstract
An aircraft adaptive power thermal management system for cooling one or more aircraft components includes an air cycle system, a vapor cycle system, and a fuel recirculation loop operably disposed therebetween. An air cycle system heat exchanger is between the air cycle system and the fuel recirculation loop, a vapor cycle system heat exchanger is between the vapor cycle system and the fuel recirculation loop, and one or more aircraft fuel tanks are in the fuel recirculation loop. An intercooler including a duct heat exchanger in an aircraft gas turbine engine FLADE duct may be in the air cycle system. The system is operable for providing on-demand cooling for one or more of the aircraft components by increasing heat sink capacity of the fuel tanks.
Claims21
An aircraft adaptive power thermal management system comprising:
- a variable cooling power air cycle system, a vapor cycle system, and a fuel recirculation loop operably disposed therebetween,
- an air cycle system heat exchanger operably disposed between the air cycle system and the fuel recirculation loop for transferring heat from the fuel recirculation loop to the air cycle system, an intercooler in the air cycle system and the intercooler including a duct heat exchanger disposed in an air duct,
- the air cycle system heat exchanger operably disposed in a cooling air loop of the air cycle system used only for cooling fuel in the fuel recirculation loop,
- a vapor cycle system heat exchanger operably disposed between the vapor cycle system and the fuel recirculation loop for transferring heat from the vapor cycle system to the fuel recirculation loop, the air cycle system further including a variable speed air cycle machine having a power turbine drivingly connected to a machine compressor and a cooling turbine of the air cycle machine, the intercooler operably disposed between the machine compressor and the cooling turbine, the air cycle system heat exchanger operably disposed between the machine compressor and the cooling turbine, the power turbine connected to and in pressurized air receiving relationship with a compressor stage of an aircraft gas turbine engine high pressure compressor, and
- one or more aircraft fuel tanks in the fuel recirculation loop.
An aircraft adaptive power thermal management system comprising:
- an air cooling circuit including a machine compressor coupled to a cooling turbine of an air cycle machine,
- the air cooling circuit further including an intercooler disposed between a machine compressor outlet of the machine compressor and a cooling turbine inlet of the cooling turbine,
- the air cooling circuit further including an air cycle system heat exchanger in serial airflow relationship between a cooling turbine outlet of the cooling turbine and a machine compressor inlet of machine compressor,
- a fuel recirculation loop for recirculating cooling fuel in serial fuel flow relationship between one or more aircraft fuel tanks, the air cycle system heat exchanger, and a vapor cycle system condenser,
- the air cycle system heat exchanger operably disposed in a cooling air loop of the air cycle system used only for cooling fuel in the fuel recirculation loop,
- the air cycle system heat exchanger operably disposed in the fuel recirculation loop between the one or more fuel tanks and the vapor cycle system condenser,
- a refrigeration loop for providing cooling for aircraft components, and
- the refrigeration loop including in serial flow relationship the vapor cycle system condenser, a vapor cycle system compressor and a vapor cycle system evaporator.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.