Refuelling system

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-11066180-B2
Application number	US-201916529111-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Aug 1, 2019
Priority date	Aug 2, 2018
Publication date	Jul 20, 2021
Grant date	Jul 20, 2021

Abstract

A refuelling system is disclosed having a fuel conduit, a variable-position valve for controlling a rate of flow of fuel leaving the conduit, and a controller. The controller is configured to receive from a sensor arrangement a measurement of an electrostatic condition in a fuel tank being fuelled by the system. The controller is configured to control the variable-position valve to control the rate of flow of fuel based at least in part on the measurement received from the sensor arrangement.

First claim

The invention claimed is:

1. An aircraft refueling system configured to be located, in use, on an aircraft to refuel a fuel tank of the aircraft, the system comprising:
a fuel conduit;
a variable-position valve for controlling a rate of flow of fuel leaving the conduit; and
a controller;
wherein the controller is configured to receive from a sensor arrangement a measurement of an electrostatic condition indicative of a level of an electrostatic threat present in the aircraft fuel tank being fuelled by the system and the controller is configured to control the variable-position valve to control the rate of flow of fuel, based at least in part on the measurement of the electrostatic condition, to maintain the electrostatic threat level at or below a predetermined level;
wherein the controller is configured to gather data corresponding to a refuelling of the aircraft fuel tank, wherein the data comprise first data indicative of the measurement of the electrostatic condition of the aircraft fuel tank throughout the refuelling of the aircraft fuel tank and corresponding second data indicative of one or more other factors relating to the refuelling of the aircraft fuel tank, thereby to allow the first data and the second data to be analyzed to determine a relationship between the first data and the second data; and,
a second valve configured to allow the flow of fuel through the conduit to be selectively started or stopped.

2. The aircraft refuelling system of claim 1 wherein the variable-position valve is a shutter valve which defines a variable sized opening arranged for fuel to flow through, and wherein the controller is configured to control the size of the opening defined by the shutter valve to control the rate of flow of fuel.

3. The aircraft refuelling system of claim 1 , wherein the measurement of the electrostatic condition in the aircraft fuel tank is based on an electric field measurement.

4. The aircraft refuelling system of claim 1 , wherein the measurement of the electrostatic condition in the aircraft fuel tank is based on a streaming current measurement.

5. The aircraft refuelling system of claim 1 wherein the controller is configured to receive a determination of a level of fuel in the aircraft tank, and wherein the controller is configured to control the variable-position valve based on the measurement of the electrostatic condition in the aircraft fuel tank and based on the determined level of fuel in the aircraft fuel tank.

6. The aircraft refuelling system of claim 5 wherein the controller is configured to control the variable-position valve in response to the determined level of fuel in the tank to prevent an over-pressurisation condition in the aircraft fuel tank.

7. The aircraft refuelling system of claim 1 wherein the second valve is configured to stop the flow of fuel through the conduit in response to an overflow condition detected in the aircraft fuel tank.

8. The aircraft refuelling system of claim 1 wherein the variable-position valve is configured to default to a closed position in response to a failure of the refuelling system.

9. The aircraft refuelling system of claim 1 , wherein the second valve is a solenoid valve.

10. The aircraft refuelling system of claim 1 , further comprising a second controller, and wherein the second valve is connected to and controlled by the second controller independently of the variable-position valve.

11. The aircraft refuelling system of claim 1 , wherein the second valve is manually controlled by a user.

12. A method of refuelling a fuel tank on an aircraft, the method comprising:
measuring, with a sensor arrangement on the aircraft, an electrostatic condition indicative of a level of an electrostatic threat associated with the aircraft fuel tank;
determining, with a controller on the aircraft, based at least in part on the measured electrostatic condition, a flow rate of fuel to be supplied to the aircraft fuel tank to maintain the electrostatic threat level at or below a predetermined level; and
controlling, with the controller, a variable-position valve on the aircraft to supply fuel to the aircraft fuel tank at the determined flow rate;
gathering data corresponding to refuelling of the aircraft fuel tank with the controller, wherein the data comprise first data indicative of the measurement of the electrostatic condition associated with the aircraft fuel tank throughout the refuelling of the aircraft fuel tank and corresponding second data indicative of one or more other factors relating to the refuelling of the aircraft fuel tank, thereby to allow the first data and the second data to be analyzed to determine a relationship between the first data and the second data; and,
providing a second valve for selectively starting and stopping the flow of fuel through a fuel conduit.

13. The method according to claim 12 comprising determining a level of fuel in the aircraft fuel tank, and wherein determining the flow rate of fuel to be supplied to the aircraft fuel tank is based on the measured electrostatic condition associated with the aircraft fuel tank and the determined level of fuel in the aircraft fuel tank.

14. The method according to claim 12 wherein the determined flow rate of fuel is the maximum flow rate to maintain the level of the electrostatic threat at or below a predetermined level.

15. The method according to claim 14 wherein determining the flow rate of fuel comprises determining a threat of over-pressurising the aircraft fuel tank, and wherein the determined flow rate of fuel is the maximum flow rate to maintain the threat of over-pressurising the aircraft fuel tank below a predetermined level.

16. The method according to claim 12 , wherein the second valve is a solenoid valve.

17. The method according to claim 12 , further comprising a second controller, and connecting to and controlling the second valve by the second controller independently of the variable-position valve.

18. The method according to claim 12 , further comprising manually controlling the second valve by a user.

Assignees

• Airbus Operations Ltd

Inventors

• Mills Richard

Classifications

• B64D37/16 Primary

  Filling systems (ground installations for fuelling aircraft B64F1/28) · CPC title

• Y02T50/40

  Weight reduction · CPC title

• B64F1/28

  Liquid-handling installations specially adapted for fuelling stationary aircraft · CPC title

• F16K37/0091

  by measuring fluid parameters · CPC title

• B64D37/32 Primary

  Safety measures not otherwise provided for, e.g. preventing explosive conditions · CPC title