Aircraft thermal management system for cooling using expendable coolants

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-9561857-B2
Application number	US-201313761081-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Feb 6, 2013
Priority date	Feb 6, 2013
Publication date	Feb 7, 2017
Grant date	Feb 7, 2017

Abstract

A system for cooling an aircraft includes a fuel tank, a fuel delivery system, a cooling system, and a heat exchanger. The fuel tank is configured to hold cooled fuel for the aircraft. The fuel delivery system is configured to provide at least a portion of the fuel from the fuel tank to an engine of the aircraft. The cooling system is configured to absorb heat generated by components on the aircraft. The heat exchanger is thermally connected to the fuel delivery system and the cooling system. The heat exchanger is configured to transfer at least a portion of the heat from the components on the aircraft to the cooled fuel. The system may further include a two or three phase expendable liquid system. The expendable liquid system is configured to transfer heat to a frozen or liquid coolant to vaporize and expend the coolant from the aircraft.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. A system for cooling an aircraft, the system comprising:
a fuel tank configured to hold cooled fuel for the aircraft;
a fuel delivery system including a first valve, the fuel delivery system configured to provide at least a portion of the fuel from the fuel tank to an engine of the aircraft;
a cooling system configured to absorb heat generated by components on the aircraft;
a first heat exchanger thermally connected to the fuel delivery system and the cooling system, the first heat exchanger configured to transfer at least a first portion of the heat from the components on the aircraft to the fuel;
a reservoir configured to hold a coolant at least a portion of which is frozen;
a second heat exchanger thermally connected to the reservoir and the cooling system, the second heat exchanger configured to transfer at least a second portion of the heat from the components on the aircraft to the frozen portion of the coolant to melt at least a portion of the coolant;
a third heat exchanger;
a fluid transfer device including a second valve, the fluid transfer device configured to transfer the melted portion of the coolant to the third heat exchanger, the third heat exchanger thermally connected to the cooling system, the third heat exchanger configured to transfer at least a third portion of the heat from the components on the aircraft to the melted portion of the coolant to vaporize at least a portion of the coolant; and
a vent configured to expend the vaporized portion of the coolant from the aircraft.

2. The system of claim 1 , further comprising:
a cooling device in the reservoir, the cooling device configured to freeze at least the portion of the coolant.

3. The system of claim 1 , wherein:
the second and third heat exchangers are configured to receive a second coolant in the cooling system and to receive heat from the second coolant;
the third heat exchanger is configured to receive the second coolant after the second coolant passes through the second heat exchanger; and
the system further comprises a bypass configured to prevent at least part of the second coolant from passing through the second heat exchanger and to direct the at least part of the second coolant to the third heat exchanger.

4. The system of claim 3 , further comprising:
a controller configured to monitor a temperature of the coolant in the reservoir and a temperature of the second coolant in the cooling system at the second heat exchanger and to control operation of the bypass.

5. The system of claim 1 , wherein:
the first, second, and third heat exchangers are configured to receive a second coolant in the cooling system and to receive heat from the second coolant; and
the system further comprises a bypass configured to prevent at least part of the second coolant from passing through the first heat exchanger.

6. The system of claim 5 , further comprising:
a controller configured to monitor a temperature of the fuel and a temperature of the second coolant in the cooling system at the first heat exchanger and to control operation of the bypass.

7. A system for cooling an aircraft, the system comprising:
a reservoir configured to hold a coolant at least a portion of which is frozen;
a cooling system configured to absorb heat generated by components on the aircraft;
a first heat exchanger configured to transfer at least a first portion of the heat from the components on the aircraft to the frozen portion of the coolant to melt at least a portion of the coolant;
a second heat exchanger;
a fluid transfer device including a first valve, the fluid transfer device configured to transfer the melted portion of the coolant to the second heat exchanger, the second heat exchanger configured to transfer at least a second portion of the heat from the components on the aircraft to the melted portion of the coolant to vaporize at least a portion of the coolant; and
a vent configured to expend the vaporized portion of the coolant from the aircraft.

8. The system of claim 7 , further comprising:
a cooling device configured to freeze at least the portion of the coolant.

9. The system of claim 7 , wherein the cooling system includes a loop comprising a liquid coolant configured to flow through the loop to absorb the heat generated by the components on the aircraft.

10. The system of claim 7 , further comprising:
a fuel tank configured to hold cooled fuel for the aircraft;
a fuel delivery system including a second valve, the fuel delivery system configured to provide at least a portion of the fuel from the fuel tank to an engine of the aircraft; and
a third heat exchanger configured to transfer at least a third portion of the heat from the components on the aircraft to the cooled fuel.

11. The system of claim 10 , further comprising:
a fuel cooling system configured to cool the fuel in the fuel tank on the aircraft.

12. The system of claim 10 , wherein the fuel is cooled prior to being placed into the fuel tank.

13. The system of claim 10 , wherein:
the first, second, and third heat exchangers are configured to receive a second coolant in the cooling system and to receive heat from the second coolant; and
the system further comprises a bypass configured to prevent at least part of the second coolant from passing through the third heat exchanger.

14. The system of claim 13 , further comprising:
a controller configured to monitor a temperature of the fuel and a temperature of the second coolant in the cooling system at the third heat exchanger and to control operation of the bypass.

15. The system of claim 7 , wherein:
the first and second heat exchangers are configured to receive a second coolant in the cooling system and to receive heat from the second coolant;
the second heat exchanger is configured to receive the second coolant after the second coolant passes through the first heat exchanger; and
the system further comprises a bypass configured to prevent at least part of the second coolant from passing through the first heat exchanger and to direct the at least part of the second coolant to the second heat exchanger.

16. The system of claim 15 , further comprising:
a controller configured to monitor a temperature of the coolant in the reservoir and a temperature of the second coolant in the cooling system at the first heat exchanger and to control operation of the bypass.

17. A method for cooling an aircraft, the method comprising:
absorbing heat generated by components on the aircraft using a cooling system;
holding a coolant in a reservoir, wherein at least a portion of the coolant is frozen;
transferring at least a first portion of the heat absorbed from the components on the aircraft to the frozen portion of the coolant to melt at least a portion of the coolant using a first heat exchanger;
transferring the melted portion of the coolant to a second heat exchanger;
transferring at least a second portion of the heat absorbed from the components on the aircraft to the melted portion of the coolant to vaporize at least a portion of the coolant using the second heat exchanger; and
expending the vaporized portion of the coolant from the aircraft using a vent.

18. The method of claim 17 , further comprising:
holding cooled fuel in a fuel tank on the aircraft;
transferring at least a portion of a flow of the fuel from the fuel tank to an engine of the aircraft; and
transferring at least a third portion of the heat absorbed from the components on the aircraft into the flow of the fuel.

19. The method

Assignees

• Raytheon Co

Inventors

• Weber Richard M

Classifications

• B64D33/08

  of power plant cooling systems · CPC title

• B64D13/08 Primary

  the air being heated or cooled · CPC title

• B64D37/34 Primary

  Conditioning fuel, e.g. heating (during filling B64D37/18) · CPC title