Method for diagnosing a bleed air system fault

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-9555903-B2
Application number	US-201414276007-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	May 13, 2014
Priority date	May 13, 2013
Publication date	Jan 31, 2017
Grant date	Jan 31, 2017

Abstract

A method of diagnosing a bleed air system fault, where the method includes receiving a sensor signal from the at least one of the bleed air system sensor to define a sensor output, comparing the sensor output to a reference value, and diagnosing a fault in the bleed air system based on the comparison.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. A method of diagnosing a bleed air system fault in an aircraft, comprising:
receiving a temperature sensor signal from a temperature sensor associated with the bleed air system of an engine of the aircraft, and a fan speed signal indicative of a fan speed of an engine of the aircraft, wherein the temperature sensor signal is indicative of a pre-cooler outlet temperature of the engine;
receiving a temperature sensor signal from a temperature sensor associated with the bleed air system, and a fan speed signal indicative of a fan speed of an engine of the aircraft;
comparing the temperature sensor signal and fan speed signal to reference values;
determining, based on the comparing, an increasing pre-cooler outlet temperature trend versus historic data and a shift in a relationship between pre-cooler outlet temperature and fan speed;
in response to determining the increasing pre-cooler outlet temperature trend versus historic data and the shift in the relationship between pre-cooler outlet temperature and fan speed, diagnosing a fault in the bleed air system; and
providing an indication of the diagnosed fault.

2. The method of claim 1 wherein at least one of the temperature sensor signal or fan speed signal is received once per flight.

3. The method of claim 1 wherein providing the indication comprises providing the indication on a primary flight display in a cockpit of the aircraft.

4. The method of claim 1 wherein the fault is diagnosed with a pre-cooler control valve.

5. The method of claim 1 wherein the sensor output is from multiple phases of flight of the aircraft.

6. The method of claim 5 wherein the multiple phases of flight include take-off, descent and cruise.

7. The method of claim 1 wherein the fault is diagnosed when the comparison exceeds the reference value a predetermined number of times over a predetermined number of flights.

8. The method of claim 1 wherein a controller of the aircraft performs the receiving, the comparing, the determining, the diagnosing, and the providing the indication.

Assignees

• Ge Aviat Systems Ltd

Inventors

• Howard Julia Ann

Classifications

• F05D2270/303

  Temperature · CPC title

• F05D2270/09

  to cope with emergencies · CPC title

• F02C6/06

  providing compressed gas (F02C6/10 takes precedence) · CPC title

• F02C9/18

  by bleeding, bypassing or acting on variable working fluid interconnections between turbines or compressors or their stages {(F02C3/113 takes precedence)} · CPC title

• B64F5/0045 Primary

  Operations & Transport · mapped topic