MA6442 Aerosystems

Bleed Air and ECS

Tan Fock Lai

Email: mfltan@ntu.edu.sg
Office: N3-2B-50
Tel: 6790-5541

1
Recommended Textbook

• Ian Moir and Allan Seabridge,

Aircraft Systems: Mechanical,
Electrical, and Avionics Subsystems
Integration, John Wiley, Third
Edition, Great Britain, 2008.

2
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Content
1. Bleed air system
2. Environmental control system (ECS)
3. Aircraft Icing Protection

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Bleed Air
• Air is being bled from the aircraft engine. For example, in the F5
military aircraft, bleed air is being extracted from the 9th stage
compressor. For the F16 aircraft, the bleed air is being extracted
from the 7th and 13th stage of the compressor.

• Bleed air is used for several purposes:

– Environmental Control System:
• Air-conditioning system
• Cabin pressurization system, which includes canopy and
windshield seal systems
• Avionics cooling
• Oxygen system
– De-icing System
– Anti-g System
– Fuel tank pressurization system
4
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Bleed Air System

• High pressure and high temperature bleed air is extracted from
engine compressor through one or two bleed ports on the engine.

• During climb and cruise, bleed air taken from intermediate pressure
compressor stage for minimum penalty.

• During idle descent, bleed air taken from high pressure compressor
stage to maintain cabin pressure and ventilation.

• The penalty for bleed air extraction can be evaluated based on the
basis of increased fuel flow required to maintain constant thrust.
Refer to SAE AIR1168/8.
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Bleed Air System (cont’d)

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Typical Flight Conditions for

Commercial Airplane

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Engine Bleed Air System

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Engine Bleed Air System - Gripen

ECS of Gripen fighter aircraft

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Bleed Air System Design

Requirements
• JSSG 2009 Appendix D, SAE ARP 1796

• Over-bleeding from engine is protected through flow limiting device.

• On multi-engine aircraft, balanced flow of bleed air should be maintained

between the engines.

• Bleed air shutoff provisions should be incorporated in the event of bleed

air contamination, system failure, etc.

• Cross bleeding of air eliminates potential hazard.

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Bleed Air System Design
Requirements(cont’d)
• With multiple bleed air sources and
multiple systems requiring bleed air,
isolation and crossover shutoff valves are
to be provided.
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Bleed Air System Design

Requirements(cont’d)
• Check valves are used to prevent reverse of bleed air into the engine
which could damage or degrade engine performance.

• Check valve failures could go undetected if they do not cause problem.

Thus, periodic inspection of bleed air system check valves is required.

• Dual check valves used for redundacy.

• Pressure of engine bleed air is regulated to a minimum pressure level

necessary for all recipient systems that meet operational performance
requirements.

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Bleed Air System Design

Requirements(cont’d)
• Temperature of engine bleed air is to be maintained at or below a
maximum allowable temperature.

• Lower bleed air temperature result in less damage in the event of bleed
air system failures.

• Safer duct surface temperature is obtained with lower bleed air

temperature.

• Maximum bleed air temperature from engine is limited to autogenous

ignition temperature of combustible fluids that could come in contact in
the event of failure.

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Bleed Air System Design

Requirements(cont’d)
• A means to detect bleed air leakage should be incorporated.

• Aircraft compartments containing bleed air ducting are to be protected

from over-pressurization in the event of duct failure.

• Ducting and components are insulated or shrouded to prevent

overheating of surrounding aircraft structure, wiring, plumbing or other
equipment. (MIL-I-7171)

• Neoprene insulation should not be used in areas exceeding 250 ºF due

to corrosion problem.

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Environmental Control System
• ECS consists of pressurization and conditioning of the air in the
cabin. Pressurization involves the sealing of the cabin, the supply
of air to it from an external source and the control of the pressure.
Air conditioning entails the purification of the air and the control of
temperature, ventilation and humidity.

• Varying atmospheric conditions with altitude make the ECS

necessary.

• ECS provides safe, healthy and comfortable cabin environment for

the occupants in all aircraft operating conditions.
– Pressure higher than 750 mb
– Temperature between 18 and 23 °C
– Relative humidity between 20 and 70%

15
Atmospheric Pressure
• Composition of air consists of approximately 21% oxygen, 78%
nitrogen, 0.03% carbon dioxide and 0.97% inert gases.

• Ambient pressure of the air decreases with increasing altitude, and

hence the air is less dense with a corresponding decrease in the
density of oxygen.

• The reduced density of oxygen and decrease in pressure at high

altitude will cause the aircrew to suffer sickness and to lose
consciousness.

16
Atmospheric Pressure (cont’d)
• To compensate for the reduced density of oxygen at altitude, the
aircrew can be provided with oxygen from bottles stored in the
aircraft. However above 35,000 ft, pure oxygen alone will not
compensate for the loss in the air pressure and the aircrew will
suffer discomfort. The reason for this is that the lungs are
accustomed to absorbing oxygen under a sea level pressure of
about 14.7 psi and the reduced pressure of air above 35,000 ft.
becomes too low to allow sufficient oxygen to pass to the
bloodstream.

• The rate at which the lungs absorb oxygen depends upon the partial
oxygen pressure. At high altitudes, barometric pressure decreases,
resulting in a decrease in the partial pressure of oxygen.
Consequently, at high altitudes the oxygen content of the blood is
reduced.
•
17
Atmospheric Pressure (cont’d)
• From sea level to 7,000 ft. above sea level, the oxygen content and
pressure remain sufficiently high to maintain almost full saturation of
the blood with oxygen, thus facilitating normal body and mental
functions. At higher altitudes the following physiological effects can
be expected: -
– At 10,000 ft above sea level, oxygen saturation of the blood is
about 90%. Long exposure at this altitude will result in
headache and fatigue.
– Oxygen saturation drops to 81% at 15,000 ft above sea level,
resulting in symptoms of sleepiness, headache, blue lips,
impaired vision and judgment changes, and certain personality
changes.
– At above 22,000 ft above sea level the blood saturation is 68%
and convulsions are likely to occur.

18
 Atmospheric Temperature (cont’d)
• At sea level, the ISA (i.e. International Standard
Atmosphere) is defined with an air temperature of
15C (59F) and atmospheric pressure of 14.7 psi,
which equates to 1.013 bars or 29.92 inches of
Hg.

• The atmosphere is made up of several layers.

The lowest level is the troposphere where air
temperature decreases with increasing altitude.
Above the troposphere is the tropopause where
the air temperature stops decreasing with
increasing altitude, and remains essentially
constant.

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Heat Sources
• Kinetic heating due to drag

• Solar heating due to solar radiation

• Heat dissipated by avionics during normal operations

• Heat dissipated by occupants (70 W for a person)

Ram Air Cooling
• Ram air cooling is the process of rejecting aircraft heat load to the
air flowing round the aircraft through ram air scoop.

• Increases aircraft drag.

21
Open Loop vs Closed Loop ECS
• Open loop ECS continually bleed large amount of bleed air from the
engine, cool it and then use it to cool the cabin and avionics before
dumping the air overboard.
• Closed loop ECS collect the bleed air once for cabin cooling and
recycle the air for use again.

22
Bleed Air Temperature and
Pressure
• Air bled from the engine high pressure compressor is often at high
pressure and temperature. Example a high performance fighter
aircraft can have bleed air pressure as high as 3700 kPa or 37
atmosphere and bleed air temperature over 500 ºC.

• Typical workable bleed air pressure and temperature is about 650

kPa or 6.5 atmosphere and a temperature of about 100 ºC, suitable
for demisting and anti-icing.

• A pressure reducing valve is used to reduce the pressure of the

engine bleed air.

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Cooling Systems
• Air Cycle Machines (air conditioning packs)
1. Simple air cycle
2. Boostrap air cycle (inverse Brayton cycle)
3. Reverse bootstrap air cycle

• Vapour compression cycle

– more efficient than air cycle
– greater cooling capacity
– heavier and limited in temperature range

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Simple Air Cycle

• Used for low speed civil aircraft where ram temperature is not high.

25
Bootstrap Air Cycle

• Provide adequate cooling for high ram air temperature for example a
high performance fighter aircraft.

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Water Separator

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Air Conditioning System

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Air Conditioning System (cont’d)

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Examples of Air Conditioning
Packs

30
Reversed Boot Strap

31
Ram Powered Reverse Bootstrap
• Typically used as a “standalone” cooling system for equipment
which is operated only during flight.
• May be remotely located where it is not practical to duct an air
supply from the main ECS.

32
Vapour Cycle

• Limited temperature range.

• Heavier than air cycle system.

Page
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Cabin Pressurization
• If oxygen concentration is insufficient, the risk of hypoxia is high that
can lead to collapse and unconsciousness of a person.

• Oxygen partial pressure of 10.7 kPa is adequate for proper

breathing.

• Since oxygen concentration in the air is 21%, a partial pressure for

oxygen at 10.7 kPa corresponds to ambient air pressure of 51 kPa
(18000 ft).

• To fly at higher altitudes, either supply more oxygen to the cabin or

to increase cabin pressure.

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Cabin Pressurization (cont’d)

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Cabin Pressurization (cont’d)

Typical commercial aircraft pressurization schedule

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Cabin Pressurization (cont’d)

Fighter aircraft pressurization schedule

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Cabin Pressurization (cont’d)

• The stronger the aircraft structure, the higher the allowable differential
pressure.

• General cabin pressure differential allowed by different aircraft types:

– Light aircraft – approx. 3-5 psi
– Large reciprocating-engine aircraft – approx. 5.5 psi
– Turbine-powered transport aircraft – approx. 9 psi

• Flying at high altitudes is more fuel efficient and it allows the aircraft to
fly above most undesirable weather conditions.

• For military aircraft, setting lower cabin pressure gives significant

benefits in airframe sizing and reduce structural risks if aircraft is shot.

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Cabin Pressurization (cont’d)

• Pressure rate of change affects human comfort due to the effect of

ventilation of inner ear.

• For civilian aircraft, normal pressure rate of change are 0.26 psi/min
(500 ft/min) in climbing and 0.16 psi/min (350 ft/min) in descending.

• For military aircraft, pressure rate of change should not be greater

than 0.2 psi/sec during climbing and descent for all operational
conditions.

• For emergency pressure release or re-pressurization, the maximum

rate of pressure change shall be 1 psi/sec for climbing and 0.5
psi/sec for descent.

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Cabin Distribution System

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Aircraft Icing Protection
• Aircraft icing is an extremely important factor in the world of aviation.

• Icing is caused either by freezing on the aircraft surfaces by some

form of precipitation occurring usually on the ground, or by
supercooled liquid water droplets found in clouds or rain solidifying
on impact with aircraft structure, which is at sufficiently low
temperature during flight.

• The accretion of ice occurs on areas of the airframe where the

airflow is near to stagnation, such as wing or tailplane leading
edges, engine intakes or helicopter rotor blade leading edges.

• The rate of accretion of ice on the aircraft surface depends on many

factors, such as surface temperature, size of water droplets,
intensity of icing conditions, etc.
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Aircraft Icing Protection (cont’d)
Detrimental effects of icing on the aircraft:
• Alter the shape of an airfoil. This can alter the angle of attack at
which the aircraft stalls, and cause the aircraft stall at significantly
higher speed. Reduce the amount of lift and increase drag several
times.
• Partially block control surfaces or limit control surfaces deflection.
• Add weight to the aircraft. The aircraft may not able to maintain
altitude.
• Block pitot tube and static ports.
• Cause tailplane stall. The airplane will react by pitching down,
sometimes in uncontrollable manner.
• Reduce propeller efficiency.
• Endanger the internal parts of a jet engine.

42
Aircraft Icing Protection (cont’d)
• On ground, de-icing fluids are used to ensure the aircraft surface is
free of ice at take-off.

• Fast jet military aircraft do not require icing protection. They can fly
at “ice free speed” by accelerating to a speed where surface
temperatures are too high for icing to occur or by flying around them.

• Anti-icing system prevents ice accretion on the aircraft surface.

• De-icing system allows a limited amount of ice accretion before

some action is taken to shed it.

• These systems are used in conjunction with an ice detector.

43
 Aircraft Icing Protection (cont’d)
Anti-icing system can utilize:
• Hot bleed air, either continuously or only when icing
conditions are present, is projected on the inside of a
surface subject to ice accretion such as wing leading edge
or engine inlet.
• Electrical heating where heating elements are embedded in
the structure prone to icing.
• Liquid ice protection where a freezing point depressant
liquid is deposited on a surface or extruded through a
porous surface to prevent freezing.

44
 Aircraft Icing Protection (cont’d)
De-icing system can utilize:
• Pneumatic boots which periodically inflates to break and
shed the ice.
• Electrical heating to switch on and off periodically during
icing conditions.
• Electro-expulsive system to use eddy currents induced by
conductors embedded in a flexible surface to create relative
movement and hence the breakage and shedding of
accreted ice.
• Electro magnetic impulse to use coils inside the leading
edge inducing eddy currents in metal skin with the result that
the surface is deformed, thus breaking the ice.

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Aircraft Icing Protection (cont’d)

• Leading edges of wing and engine intake cowlings are to be kept free of
ice accumulation at all time.

• Ice on wing affects aircraft aerodynamic performance and control

(Structural Icing).

• Ice accumulation on engine intake can damage the engine (Induction

Icing).

• Commercial aircraft is to equip with ice protection system for

certification (FAR 23.1419 or FAR 25.1419).

• Airplane to operate safely in continuous maximum and intermittent

maximum icing conditions of Icing Envelope of
14 CFR Part 25 and 29, Appendix C.

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Aircraft Icing Protection (cont’d)

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Aircraft Icing Protection (cont’d)

• Ice protection requirements for military aircraft are specified in JSSG

2009, Appendix D.

• SAE AS 8804 provides design considerations for pneumatic boot

deicing systems.

• SAE AS 6625 and MIL-P-26366 provide design considerations for fluid

type systems.

• FAA ``Aircraft Icing Handbook’’ (DOT/FAA/CT-88/8) is an excellent

source for the design of IPS.

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14 CFR Parts 25 and 29 Appendix

C, Figure 1

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14 CFR Parts 25 and 29 Appendix

C, Figure 2

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14 CFR Parts 25 and 29 Appendix

C , Figure 3

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14 CFR Parts 25 and 29 Appendix

C , Figure 4

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14 CFR Parts 25 and 29 Appendix

C, , Figure 5

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14 CFR Parts 25 and 29 Appendix

C , Figure 6

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Types of Icing
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• Clear ice is formed from larger Outside Air Icing Type

water droplets or freezing rain Temperature
that can spread over a larger Range
surface area.
0 ºC to –10 ºC Clear

• Mixed ice is a mixture of clear -10 ºC to –15 ºC Mixed Clear and

ice and rime ice and have the Rime
bad characteristics of both -15 ºC to –20 ºC Rime
types and can form rapidly.

• Rime ice forms from small

droplets that freeze
immediately when contacting
the aircraft surface. Brittle,
rough, milky white
appearance.
Calculation of Total Water Catch4/21/2011
Page 56

• Consider a piece of wing with

spanwise extension ∆y and maximum
thickness t as shown.

• The wing flies at speed v through a

unit volume of air with certain mass of
supercooled water.

• Mass of supercooled water per unit

volume is called liquid water content
(LWC) and is something like density.
m  v t y LWC Em
• The impingement of water on the
leading edge and its amount is
expressed by the water catch
efficiency Em.
Calculation of Total Water Catch4/21/2011
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(cont’d)

• The water catch efficiency Em is a

function of aircraft speed and droplet
size, airfoil shape and thickness,
viscosity, and density of the air.

• A simplified method (SAE AIR 1168/4)

to calculate the water catch efficiency
is as follows:
0.613
v
Em  0.00324 
t
• V in m/s and t in m.
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Surfaces for Aircraft Icing

Protection

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Aircraft Icing Protection Methods

• Anti-icing method prevents the formation of ice on the surfaces.

• De-icing method removes the ice at short intervals to prevent the

buildup of ice on the surfaces.

• Types of aircraft icing systems:

1. Electrothermal and hot air systems
2. Pneumatic boot deicing system
3. Fluid ice protection system
4. and many others.

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Electrothermal and hot air systems

• Anti-icing can be achieved using electric heating, or heating using hot
bleed air from the engine, by supplying heat over an area of water
impingement.

• Heat supplied will evaporate or prevent impinging cloud droplets from

freezing or to melt an existing ice cap.

• Anti-icing on propellers, windshields, and sensors probes can use

electric heating.

• For wing, tail surfaces, and engine intake, it is better to use hot bleed air
at 300 ºC for anti-icing. Bleed air pressure is controlled to about 20 – 25
psi.

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Electrothermal and hot air systems

(cont’d)

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Electrothermal and hot air systems

(cont’d)
• Electrothermal systems use electrical resistance heaters embedded in
fiberglass, plastic, rubber, or metal to the surface.

• ``Evaporative’’ anti-icing system: Sufficient heat applied to evaporate all

water droplets impinging on heated surface.

• ``Running wet’’ anti-icing system: Sufficient heat applied to prevent freezing

on the heated surface.

• Runback ice can form beyond the heated surface in a ``running wet’’ system
should be avoided in critical conditions.

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Pneumatic Boot Deicing System

• A rubber boot is fitted to the leading edge of surface to be deiced. Every
few seconds, the boot is inflated with bleed air to break up any ice
formed on the surface and to be carried away by airstream.

• Not suitable for surface areas where ice fragments could damage
components or structures downstream.

• A nominal ice thickness of 0.5” is allowed to accrete on surfaces before

the boot system is activated.

• Easily retrofitted on the aircraft, consume little power, light.

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Pneumatic Boot Deicing System

(cont’d)
• Design guidance: DOT/FAA/CT-88/8-2, Chapter III, Section 1.

• Boot inflation pressure to reach design pressure within allowable

inflation time of 5 to 6 seconds, and pressure maintained up to
maximum icing altitude of 22,000 ft as defined in FAR Part 25 Appendix
C or aircraft service altitude, whichever is lower.

• Determination of tube size, spanwise or chordwise installation,

sequencing order of boots, pressure level, and other attributes to be
worked with pneumatic boot manufacturer.

• Vacuum used to deflate the boots should be sufficient even at

maximum operating airspeeds.

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Pneumatic Boot Deicing System

(cont’d)

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Pneumatic Boot Deicing System

(cont’d)

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Pneumatic Boot Deicing System

(cont’d)

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Other Ice Protection Methods

• Other aircraft ice protection methods include:
1. Pneumatic impulse deicing system
2. Electro-impulse system
3. Electro-expulsive deicing system
4. Eddy current deicing system

• The above systems are relatively new and not yet certified by the FAA
on any aircraft.

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Fluid Ice Protection System

• Deicing and anti-icing of the aircraft can also be accomplished using deicing
and anti-icing chemical fluids, which are glycol-based aqueous solutions that
delay the onset of freezing through lowering the freezing point of water.

• Fluids commonly called Freezing Point Depressant (FPD).

• Type 1 fluid (deicing), Type 2 fluid (anti-icing)

• Glycol, alchohol, calcium chloride, nitric accid, sodium chloride can be used
as FPDs.

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Fluid Ice Protection System (cont’d)

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Fluid Ice Protection System

(cont’d)

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