AIRCRAFT AIR CONDITIONING SYSTEMS

Air conditioning is more than just the cooling of air. A complete air-conditioning system for an
aircraft should control both the temperature and humidity of the air, heating or cooling it as is
necessary. It should provide adequate movement of the air for ventilation, and there should be
provision for the removal of cabin odors.

AIR-CYCLE AIR CONDITIONING

In a jet transport aircraft, hot compressor bleed air is taken from the engine compressors. An aircycle machine (ACM) applies several basic laws of physics to cool this bleed air and then mix
it with hot bleed air to provide air at the desired temperature for ventilation and pressurization.
The air-cycle machine and its associated components are often referred to as a "pack."

SHUTOFF VALVE
The air-conditioning shutoff valve, often called the pack valve, is used to control the flow of air into
the system. It can either shut off the air flow or modulate the flow of air to provide that which is
needed to operate the air-conditioning package.
PRIMARY HEAT EXCHANGER
The primary heat exchanger is a radiator through which cold ram air passes to cool the hot bleed
air from the engines. As the cold ram air passes over the radiator's fin-like tubes, bleed air
passing through the tubes is cooled. The flow of ram air through the heat exchangers is
controlled by move-able inlet and exit doors, which modulate in flight to provide the required
cooling. On many aircraft, the heat exchangers are sized to provide most, if not all, of the
necessary cooling in flight. On the ground there is not enough air passing through the cooling
doors, so fans called pack fans provide adequate airflow to cool the heat exchangers.
AIR CYCLE MACHINE BYPASS VALVE
When cooling requirements are low, some or all of the hot bleed air from the engines can be
bypassed around the ACM (the compressor and turbine) if warm air is needed in the cabin.
There would be no purpose in cooling all the air if warm air is called for by the temperature
controls. This outlet air from the primary heat exchanger may be routed directly to the inlet side
of the secondary heat exchanger in some systems to provide additional cooling.

SECONDARY HEAT EXCHANGER

As cooling requirements increase, air exiting the primary heat exchanger is routed to the
compressor side of the ACM. The compressor raises both the pressure and temperature of the
air passing through it. The warmer, high pressure air is then directed to the secondary heat
exchanger. This heat exchanger provides an additional stage for cooling the hot engine bleed
air after it has passed through the primary heat exchanger and the compressor of the ACM. It
operates in the same manner as the primary heat exchanger.
REFRIGERATION BYPASS VALVE
Some systems use a refrigeration bypass valve to keep the temperature of the air exiting the
ACM from becoming too cold. Generally this air is kept at about 35F by passing warm bleed air
around the ACM and mixing it with the output air of the ACM. The primary purpose of this valve is
to prevent water from freezing in the water separator.
REFRIGERATION TURBINE UNIT
Pressure and temperature, are interchangeable forms of energy. A turbine engine extracts
energy from the burning fuel to turn the compressor, and this energy raises both the pressure
and the temperature of the engine inlet air. Compressed air with this energy in it is taken from
the engine and passed through the primary heat exchanger, where some of the heat is transferred
to ram air passing around the tubes in the radiator-like cooler. The high-pressure air, somewhat
cooled, is then ducted into the air cycle machine where most of the remainder of its energy is
extracted by the air cycle machine. It consists of a centrifugal air compressor and an expansion
turbine that drives the compressor. When the compressor bleed air passes through the primary
heat exchanger, it loses some of its heat but almost none of its pressure. This air then enters the
compressor of the air cycle machine, and its pressure is further increased. With the increase in
pressure, there is some increase in its temperature, but this is removed by the secondary heat
exchanger. Now the somewhat cooled high-pressure air flows into the expansion turbine where a
large percentage of its remaining energy is used to drive the compressor. As this air expands
across the turbine, there is a large decrease in pressure. The decrease in pressure, coupled with
the energy extracted to drive the compressor, results in a very large decrease in temperature.
There are two forms of cooling used in this system. Some is done by transferring heat to the ram
air, but most of the heat is removed by expansion and converting it into work to drive the
compressor. This type of cooling system is called a bootstrap system.

WATER SEPARATORS
The rapid cooling of the air in the turbine causes moisture to condense in the form of a fog, and
when this foggy air passes through the water separator, the tiny droplets of water coalesce in a
fiberglass sock and form large drops of water. The louvers over which the sock fits are shaped
to impart a swirling motion to the air, and the drops of water are slung to the sides of the container
by centrifugal force, where they are carried overboard through the drain valve.
This water is kept from freezing by mixing the air in the separator with warm air. A temperature
sensor in the outlet of the water separator regulates a temperature control valve in a bypass line
around the air cycle machine. If the temperature of the air at the outlet of the water separator ever
drops below 383 F, the control valve opens so warm air can mix with that in the water separator.
This precludes cabin airflow blockage and possible damage to the separator.
RAM AIR DOOR
Some aircraft are equipped with a ram air door to allow cool outside air to ventilate the cabin with
fresh air during unpressurized flight. It is generally fullyopen or closed and is seldom used on
pressurized aircraft except in emergencies. An electric heater may be provided to warm this ram air
as necessary.
CABIN TEMPERATURE PICKUP UNIT
Normally, temperature sensors are located in each passenger zone in the aircraft's cabin for the
purpose of controlling the zone temperature. The cabin zone controller uses the sensed
difference between the temperature demand signal from the selector and the actual supply
temperature to position the associated air mix valve.
ZONE TEMPERATURE CONTROLLER
Some aircraft, such as the Boeing 747, use a slightly different method to provide conditioned air at
the proper temperature to each cabin zone. In this aircraft, the zone temperature controllers
have two modes of operation, automatic and manual, and send signals to each pack controller.
If all the zone temperature controllers are in auto, the zone calling for the coldest temperature
sets the output temperature for all the air-conditioning packs. The output air from each pack
enters the conditioned air manifold. For each zone requiring a warmer temperature, the controller
for that zone adjusts the position of a trim air valve to mix warm bleed air with the cold air from
the conditioned air manifold. If all the zone temperature controllers are in manual mode, the
pack controllers will set the ACM outlet temperature to 35F. If any one zone controller is in auto
with the remainder in manual, the controller in auto determines the pack outlet temperature.