Aviation

Abstract Use of effective anti-icing and de-icing systems in the course of wintertime pre-flight preparation of aircraft in airports is one of the most important factors providing safety in aviation. Currently existent systems utilize special chemical reagents or hot air blowers made of used jet engines. Both systems have disadvantages connected mainly with contamination of the environment, need in expended materials (reagents and fuel) and risk of mechanical damage or ignition. To avoid these disadvantages the GNET CORPORATION proposes new anti-icing and de-icing ecologically friendly technology, which is based on special highly efficient and highly reliable thin flexible infrared heaters (IRH). Principally the system consists of a set of IRH deployed on external surface of wings and stabilizer. Heater switching on and off is performed from special   electric power supply and control unit, which produces 27V electric power and operates the system according to commands from built-in temperature sensors. To provide protection of wings from overheating the separate temperature sensors installed on heating layer switch off the IRH at given temperature threshold.

As an example let us estimate an efficiency of the system in application to A-320 aircraft for two cases:  (A) – when air temperature is about 0⁰C and there is no ice on the horizontal surfaces of aircraft and (B) – when there is 2mm ice crust along whole upper surface of wings and stabilizer. It is assumed that the aircraft wingspan is 43.9m, area of each wing is 74.5m² and area of each stabilizer is 17.9 m². The estimate shows that in a case of short-term (<3 hours) stay in airport (case A) the IRH system needs 8 KW power to increase the temperature of wings and stabilizer from 3⁰C to 13⁰C for 2 hours. In a case of long-term stay in airport at the air temperature minus 5⁰C when icing occurs (case B) the IRH system needs 36 KW power to melt down 2mm ice crust for 1 hour. So this is economical and ecologically clean anti-icing and de-icing system.