Turboprop-powered aircraft with thermal system
AssigneeBAE SYSTEMS plc
InventorsStephen John Richard Smith, Kieran James Watt, Andrew Charles White
Life of this patent
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Abstract
A turboprop-powered medium altitude long endurance aircraft, having a gas turbine engine; a heat scavenging device to scavenge heat from the gas turbine engine; and a heating device to use the scavenged heat to provide heating to the aircraft. The heat scavenging device may be placed on an engine casing and/or on or in an engine exhaust duct. The heating device may include a circulation path routed directly to a location in the aircraft where heating is to be performed, for example a leading edge of an engine support pylon or a leading edge of an engine-carrying wing. The heating device can include a heat exchanger.
Claims16
A turboprop-powered medium altitude long endurance aircraft, comprising:
- a gas turbine engine configured for providing propulsion power to an aircraft propeller;
- a heat scavenging apparatus configured for scavenging heat from the gas turbine engine;
- a heating apparatus comprising a first heat exchanger;
- a recirculating air path;
- a further heat exchanger in the recirculating air path;
- wherein
- the first heat exchanger is arranged to use the scavenged heat to heat air in the recirculating air path;
- the further heat exchanger comprises a heat-storage material having a melting point selected so as to be rendered solid when cooling and is arranged to cool air recirculating around the recirculation air path;
- and
- the recirculating air path is arranged to provide cooling and/or heating to the turboprop-powered medium altitude long endurance aircraft.
A method of thermally managing a turboprop-powered medium altitude long endurance aircraft, the method comprising:
- providing a first heat exchanger,
- providing a second heat exchanger in a recirculating air path comprising a heat-storage material having a melting point selected so as to be rendered solid when cooling,
- scavenging heat from gas turbine engine, via the first heat exchanger, to heat air in the recirculating air path,
- using the second heat exchanger to cool air in the recirculating air path, and
- recirculating the heated and/or cooled air along the recirculating air path thereby performing heating and/or cooling of the turboprop-powered medium altitude long endurance aircraft.
A system for thermally managing a turboprop-powered medium altitude long endurance aircraft, the system comprising:
- a gas turbine engine configured for providing propulsion power to an aircraft propeller;
- a heat scavenging apparatus configured for scavenging heat from the gas turbine engine;
- a heating apparatus comprising a first heat exchanger;
- a recirculating air path;
- a further heat exchanger in the recirculating air path;
- wherein the first heat exchanger is arranged to use the scavenged heat to heat air in the recirculating air path;
- the further heat exchanger comprises a heat-storage material having a melting point selected so as to be rendered solid when cooling and is arranged to cool air recirculating around the recirculation air path;
- wherein the recirculating air path is arranged to provide cooling and/or heating to the turboprop-powered medium altitude long endurance aircraft;
- and
- a thermal control system unit configured to:
- scavenge the heat from the gas turbine engine to heat the air in the recirculating air path of the aircraft, and
- recirculate the cooled and/or heated air along the recirculating air path thereby performing cooling and/or heating of the turboprop-powered medium altitude long endurance aircraft.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.