Aircraft load shedding system including supplementary power sources for assuring DC and device for cutting off power to the alternators of a turbine engine during acceleration

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-9988158-B2
Application number	US-201414785124-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Apr 22, 2014
Priority date	Apr 22, 2013
Publication date	Jun 5, 2018
Grant date	Jun 5, 2018

Abstract

A DC electrical generation system for an aircraft propelled by a turbine engine, such as a turbojet, includes at least one electrical energy storage capacity, at least one generator driven mechanically by a rotation shaft of the turbine engine and electrical connections between the electrical energy storage capacity, the generator and the aircraft equipment for powering the above-mentioned equipment with DC current, also including at least one alternative for supplying DC current to the equipment, which are autonomous in relation to any mechanical driving by a rotation shaft of the turbine engine, and a device that can cut-off power to the generator(s) and simultaneously activate the alternative current supply. The power cut-off device for triggering power cut-off and activating the alternative current supply is controlled by a control or operating parameter of the turbine engine. The alternative current supply is preferably formed by one or more supercapacitors.

First claim

The invention claimed is:

1. An electric power generation system for supplying current to a piece of equipment for an aircraft propelled by a turbine engine, the electric power generation system comprising:
a capacitor for storing electrical energy;
a current generator designed to be mechanically driven by a rotary shaft of the turbine engine;
electrical connections between said capacitor for storing electrical energy, said generator, and the piece of equipment of the aircraft in order to supply current to said piece of equipment, the electrical connections including:
a first DC bus which receives energy from the current generator,
a battery bus which receives energy from the first DC bus and delivers the energy received from the first DC bus to the capacitor,
a second DC bus which supplies energy from the capacitor to the piece of equipment of the aircraft,
a recharging bus which receives current from the first DC bus and is connected to the first DC bus via a first switch,
an alternative means for providing said piece of equipment with current, the alternative means being autonomous with respect to any mechanical driving by a rotary shaft of the turbine engine, the alternative means being a device for storing electrical energy from current supplied from the recharging bus,
a second switch which connects the alternative means to the first DC bus, such that the alternative means provides energy to the piece of equipment of the aircraft when the second switch is in a closed position; and

a power supply controller configured to shed a load of said generator and to simultaneously activate said alternative means,
wherein said power supply controller is configured to
when an acceleration of the turbine engine is greater than a predetermined value, stop operation of the generator and close the second switch such that the alternative means provides current to the piece of equipment of the aircraft, and
when the acceleration of the turbine engine is less than the predetermined value and the alternative means is not fully charged, restart the generator and operate the generator at a speed higher than a nominal operating speed of the generator, open the second switch, and close the first switch so as to charge the alternative means.

2. The electric power generation system according to claim 1 , wherein the device for storing electrical energy of the alternative means is formed by at least one supercapacitor.

3. The electric power generation system according to claim 1 , wherein said generator operates at a speed equal to 120% of the nominal operating speed of the generator as soon as said second switch is opened.

4. The electric power generation system according to claim 3 , wherein said generator operates at a speed equal to 150% of the nominal operating speed of the generator for a period of less than 30 seconds.

5. A turbine engine comprising an electric power generation system according to claim 1 .

Assignees

• Snecma

Inventors

• Lebrun Arnaud
• Lepage Thomas
• Mcgrath Darragh

Classifications

• H02J7/143

  with multiple generators · CPC title

• H02P9/48

  Arrangements for obtaining a constant output value at varying speed of the generator, e.g. on vehicle (H02P9/04 - H02P9/46 take precedence) · CPC title

• H02J4/00

  Circuit arrangements for mains or distribution networks not specified as AC or DC; Circuit arrangements for mains or distribution networks combining AC and DC sections or sub-networks (arrangements using intermediate DC-AC-DC conversion H02J1/002; arrangements using high-voltage DC [HVDC] links H02J3/36) · CPC title

• H02P9/008

  wherein the generator is controlled by the requirements of the prime mover · CPC title

• H02J7/1423

  with multiple batteries · CPC title