<abstract xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml">

<p>Aircraft are equipped with ice protection systems (IPS), to avoid, delay or remove ice accretion. Two widely used technologies are the thermo-pneumatic IPS and the electro-thermal IPS (ETIPS). Thermo-pneumatic IPS requires air extraction from the engine negatively affecting its performances. Moreover, in the context of green aviation, aircraft manufacturers are moving towards hybrid or fully electric aircraft requiring all electric on-board systems. In this work, an ETIPS has been designed and optimised to replace the nacelle pneumatic-thermal system. The aim is to minimise the power consumption while assuring limited or null ice formation and that the surface temperature remains between acceptable bounds to avoid material degradation. The design parameters were the length and heat flux of each heater. Runback ice formations and surface temperature were assessed by means of the in-house developed PoliMIce framework. The optimisation was performed using a genetic algorithm, and the constraints were handled through a linear penalty method. The optimal configuration required 33% less power with respect to the previously installed thermo-pneumatic IPS. Furthermore, engine performance is not affected in the case of the ETIPS. This energy saving resulted in an estimated reduction of specific fuel consumption of 3%, when operating the IPS in anti-icing mode.</p>
</abstract>

Aircraft are equipped with ice protection systems (IPS), to avoid, delay or remove ice accretion. Two widely used technologies are the thermo-pneumatic IPS and the electro-thermal IPS (ETIPS). Thermo-pneumatic IPS requires air extraction from the engine negatively affecting its performances. Moreover, in the context of green aviation, aircraft manufacturers are moving towards hybrid or fully electric aircraft requiring all electric on-board systems. In this work, an ETIPS has been designed and optimised to replace the nacelle pneumatic-thermal system. The aim is to minimise the power consumption while assuring limited or null ice formation and that the surface temperature remains between acceptable bounds to avoid material degradation. The design parameters were the length and heat flux of each heater. Runback ice formations and surface temperature were assessed by means of the in-house developed PoliMIce framework. The optimisation was performed using a genetic algorithm, and the constraints were handled through a linear penalty method. The optimal configuration required 33% less power with respect to the previously installed thermo-pneumatic IPS. Furthermore, engine performance is not affected in the case of the ETIPS. This energy saving resulted in an estimated reduction of specific fuel consumption of 3%, when operating the IPS in anti-icing mode.

Optimisation of a Nacelle Electro-Thermal Ice Protection System for Icing Wind Tunnel Testing

Transactions on Aerospace Research

This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.

Aircraft are equipped with ice protection systems (IPS), to avoid, delay or remove ice accretion. Two widely used technologies are the thermo-pneumatic IPS and...

Optimisation of a Nacelle Electro-Thermal Ice Protection System for Icing Wind Tunnel Testing

Publié en ligne: 17 mars 2023

Pages: 32 - 44

Reçu: 11 avr. 2022

Accepté: 12 déc. 2022

DOI: https://doi.org/10.2478/tar-2023-0004

Mots clés
in-flight icing, ice protection systems, optimisation, genetic algorithms, nacelle

© 2023 Mariachiara Gallia et al., published by Sciendo

This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.

Optimisation of a Nacelle Electro-Thermal Ice Protection System for Icing Wind Tunnel Testing

Publié en ligne: 17 mars 2023

Pages: 32 - 44

Reçu: 11 avr. 2022

Accepté: 12 déc. 2022

DOI: https://doi.org/10.2478/tar-2023-0004

Mots clésin-flight icing, ice protection systems, optimisation, genetic algorithms, nacelle

© 2023 Mariachiara Gallia et al., published by Sciendo

This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.

Mots clés
in-flight icing, ice protection systems, optimisation, genetic algorithms, nacelle