The EU funded projects PIPS and I3PS targeted the energy saving of planes, within the Cleansky 2 research program, by developing a new anti-icing system.
Both projects enabled to develop a new technology (PIPS) and to test it under relevant environment (I3PS).
This new concept uses wasted heat from the engine to bring it to the Engine Air Intake zone of turbo propeller planes which must be protected against icing.
The project PIPS developed a new system of Capillary Pumped Loop (CPL, patent pending) to be used to protect against icing the engine air intake of a mid size turboprop aircraft using hot air as heat source.
The system was tested in laboratory with a 1:1 scale model (TRL4) showing heat transport capability exceeding the requirements (7.2 kW transport weighting less than 10kg). Able to adapt to various flight situations, the CPL is automatically controlled and almost completely passive as it spends less than 2% of the transported heat for this.
Within the frame of the I3PS project, the concept was modified to integrate the condenser within the skin itself of the Engine Air Intake. Finally, the prototype was tested for the first time in an Icing Wind Tunnel. With an icing air from ambient to -30°C and airspeed from 0 to 80m/s, the concept was able to transport up to 8.8kW and showed the potential for use as ice protection (test showed that high accretion areas needed a fine detail which was not possible to finish during the project).
With the unique possibility of controlling the working temperature of the fluid in the system loop, independently of the hot source, the concept is validated in a relevant environment and adaptable to many applications.
Another great capillary pumped loop made by EHP !
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