JPH0331099A - Air conditioner for aircraft - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To reduce a load, applied to a high pressure air source, by interposing an O2 separating film in a route, which allows circulation of the outside air after it passes through a heat exchanger for performing a heat exchange with the outside air flowing out from an air conditioning mechanism, and transferring O2-rich air selectively separated here to a pressure cabin. CONSTITUTION:An air conditioner, related to a pressure cabin 3 of cockpit and cabin on the like in an aircraft, is provided with an air conditioning mechanism 2 for governing temperature and pressure of the outside air from a high pressure air source 1, circulating route 4 for circulating air in the pressure cabin 3, heat exchanged 5 for performing a heat exchange of air circulated in this circulating route 4 with the outside air flowing out from the air conditioning mechanism 2 and a regenerating route 6 for circulating the outside air after it passes through this heat exchanger 5. Here, the air conditioner is constituted in such a way that O2-rich air, selectively separated by a separating film 14 interposed in the regenerating route 6, is transferred to the pressure cabin 3 through a transfer route 14a. For instance, polydimethyl siloxane (silicone rubber) or the like excellent in a separating function for O2 is used as the separating film 14.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION [Field of Industrial Application] The present invention relates to an aircraft air conditioner used for air conditioning a pressurized room such as a cockpit or a cabin.

[Prior Art] Current aircraft air conditioners use an air conditioning mechanism to control the temperature and pressure of engine bleed air supplied from a high-pressure air source, and then supply this directly to pressurized rooms such as cockpits and cabins. There is. The introduced fresh air is then discharged from the aircraft through the exhaust system while supplying the necessary amount of fresh air to the passengers.

However, since the amount and temperature of bleed air supplied from the engine of an aircraft differs depending on the flight altitude, engine speed, etc., it is difficult to adjust pressure and temperature with the current method, so it is difficult to adjust the pressure and temperature using a large number of valves. is under control. For this reason, the control system has become complex and heavy.
The energy loss in these valves is also too large to be ignored.

In view of this situation, recently, instead of introducing engine bleed air directly into the pressurized chamber, air in the pressurized chamber is circulated and heat exchanged between the circulating air and temperature-controlled outside air. configuration is considered as an effective means. Specifically, as shown in FIG. 3, an air conditioning mechanism 2 that adjusts the temperature and pressure of outside air supplied from a high-pressure air source 1, a fan 4a (or compressor), etc. that interposes air in a pressurized room 3, etc. a heat exchanger 5 that exchanges heat between the air flowing through the circulation system 4 and the temperature-controlled outside air flowing out from the air conditioning mechanism 2; and a regeneration line 6 for introducing the outside air into the air conditioning mechanism 2.

With this configuration, the pressure of a high-pressure air source such as engine bleed air, which was conventionally required for air conditioning, can be lowered by the difference between the internal pressure of the pressurized chamber 3 and the outside air pressure. By using a compressor and controlling its rotational speed, it is possible to supply the pressure necessary for air conditioning, and therefore the loss of supplied energy can be minimized.

To briefly explain the air conditioning mechanism 2, it is equipped with a compressor 9, a turbine 10, and heat exchangers 11 and 12 that are uniaxially connected to a shaft 8. After that, the compressed air is compressed by a compressor 9 and then cooled by a heat exchanger 12 at the next stage, and further cooled by adiabatic expansion by a turbine 10 to obtain cold air. The outside air supplied from the inside is routed through a bypass line 13 with a flow adjustment valve 13a interposed therebetween, and is appropriately mixed with the aforementioned cold air to adjust the temperature. Furthermore, the low-temperature outside air that has undergone heat exchange with the circulation system path 4 is introduced into the above-mentioned natural exchanger 11, 12 through the regeneration system path 6 to pre-cool the newly taken in outside air.

[Problems to be Solved by the Invention] However, in practice, the air-conditioned outside air distribution line (regeneration line 6) and the pressurized chamber 3 are connected by the breathing air introduction line 7, and the line 7 It is necessary to interpose a valve 7a in the pressurized chamber 3 to branch a part of the outside air into the pressurized chamber 3 to intake the required amount of 0□. For this reason, the load placed on the high-pressure air source 1 increases, and when engine bleed air is used, thrust is significantly affected. In recent years, high pressure air sources 1
Although it has been considered to use an electric compressor, this also increases the burden on the electric compressor, resulting in increased power consumption and an increase in the size of the compressor.

The present invention has been made in view of these problems, and aims to effectively solve the above-mentioned problems in the current system while minimizing the burden on the high-pressure air source.

[Means for Solving the Problems] In order to achieve the above object, the present invention takes the following measures.

That is, the aircraft air conditioner of the present invention includes an air conditioning mechanism that adjusts the temperature and pressure of outside air supplied from a high-pressure air source, a circulation path that circulates air in a pressurized room, and air that flows through the circulation path. In a system comprising a heat exchanger that exchanges heat with the outside air flowing out from the air conditioning mechanism, and a regeneration line that introduces the outside air that has passed through the heat exchanger into the air conditioning mechanism, The system is characterized in that an 02 separation membrane is interposed in the system through which outside air flows, and the 02-rich air selectively separated by the separation membrane is transferred to the pressurized chamber.

Further, in the above system, an 02 separation membrane is interposed in the exhaust line for exhausting the air in the pressurized chamber, and the 02-rich air selectively separated by the separation membrane is returned to the pressurized chamber. Good too.

[Function] With such a configuration, the temperature-controlled outside air flowing out from the air conditioning mechanism cools and heats the circulation path, and before and after this, 02-rich air is selectively separated from the outside air by the 02 separation membrane and provided. Since the air is supplied to the pressurized chamber, the absolute amount of outside air required is smaller than when part of the outside air is directly diverted to the pressurized chamber even though the 02 intake amount is the same. Therefore, the burden on the high-pressure air source is reduced. Conversely, if the amount of outside air supplied from the high-pressure air source is constant, the amount that can be used for pre-cooling the air conditioning mechanism increases by the reduction in the amount of outside air supplied to the pressurized room, which improves system efficiency. Hi is fulfilled.

On the other hand, if an 02 separation membrane is interposed in the exhaust system of the pressurized chamber, and this captures the 02 that is about to be exhausted together with CO2 and recirculates it to the pressurized chamber, it is possible to The amount of o2ffi discharged is reduced, and the absolute amount of outside air supplied to the pressurized chamber can be reduced accordingly. Therefore, this case also leads to a reduction in the burden on the high-pressure air source and an improvement in system efficiency.

[Example code] An embodiment of the present invention will be described below with reference to FIG.

The basic configuration of this embodiment is the same as that shown in FIG. 3, and as shown in FIG. A circulation path 4 that circulates the air in the room 3; a heat exchanger 5 that exchanges heat between the air flowing through the circulation path 4 and the outside air flowing out from the air conditioning mechanism 2; and a regeneration line 6 for introducing the outside air into the air conditioning mechanism 2.

A separation membrane 14 is interposed in the regeneration line 6 through which outside air flows after flowing out from the air conditioning mechanism 2 and passing through the heat exchanger 5, and the 02-rich air selectively separated by the separation membrane 14 is transferred. He is trying to transfer it to the pressurized chamber 3 through the system 14a. 6a is a valve for adjusting the flow rate of the regeneration system path 6 and applying a differential pressure to the separation membrane 14 at the same time.

As the 02 separation membrane 14, a material having an excellent separation function against 0□, such as polydimethylsiloxane (silicone rubber), is preferably used. In addition, there are several types of membrane shapes, such as flat, tubular, and spiral, but the most effective way to extract 02 is to take into consideration various conditions such as flow rate, temperature, and separation ratio. Take what you can get.

With such a configuration, the air whose temperature and pressure have been regulated by the air conditioning mechanism 2 is passed through the circulation path 4 in the heat exchanger 5.
The air flowing inside is cooled and heated, and then the 0□ separation membrane 1
4, mainly 02 is extracted, and the remaining N2 etc. are introduced into the air conditioning mechanism 2 through the regeneration line 6.

Therefore, compared to the one shown in FIG. 3, the absolute amount of outside air introduced into the air conditioning mechanism 2 for pre-cooling even if the pressurized chamber 3 receives the necessary and sufficient amount of 02 This can be done without significantly reducing the amount. As a result, it becomes possible to reduce the absolute amount of outside air to be supplied from the high-pressure air source 1. and,
As a result, if the engine uses engine bleed air, a reduction in thrust can be prevented, and if an electric compressor is used, energy can be saved and the engine can be made smaller and lighter.

Conversely, if the amount of outside air supplied from the high-pressure air source 1 is constant,
Since the amount that can be used for pre-cooling the air conditioner 2 increases by the amount that the absolute amount of outside air supplied to the pressurized chamber 3 decreases, the air conditioner 2 can operate with higher cooling efficiency.

On the other hand, FIG. 2 shows the 02 separation membrane 1 in the exhaust line 15 of the pressurized chamber
6 is interposed, and the separator membrane 16 captures the 0□ that is about to be exhausted together with the C02, and is configured to return it to the pressurized chamber 3 through a return line 17 using a fan 17a (or a compressor, etc.). This is what I did. Separation membrane 16
The selection is made based on the same viewpoint as described for the separation membrane 14 above. In this way, the amount of 02 discharged is reduced compared to the conventional case, and the absolute amount of outside air supplied to the pressurized chamber 3 can be reduced accordingly. Therefore, the illustrated device is also effective in reducing the burden on the high-pressure air source 1 and improving system efficiency. Note that it is even more effective if this configuration is added to the pressurized chamber 3 of the apparatus shown in FIG.

[Effects of the Invention] The air conditioner of the present invention has the above configuration,
It is possible to reduce the burden on the high-pressure air source as much as possible while making it lighter and more compact.

This also reduces energy losses within the air conditioning system.

[Brief explanation of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a configuration explanatory diagram schematically showing an embodiment of the present invention;
FIG. 2 is an explanatory diagram of the main part configuration showing another embodiment of the present invention, and FIG. 3 is an explanatory diagram of the configuration of a basic system considered as a premise of the present invention. 1... High pressure air source 2... Air conditioning mechanism 3...
Pressurized chamber 4...Circulation system path 5...Heat exchanger 6...Regeneration system path 14...0□ Separation membrane
15...Exhaust system path 16...0□ Separation membrane

Claims (2)

[Claims] (1) An air conditioning mechanism that adjusts the temperature and pressure of outside air supplied from a high-pressure air source, a circulation path that circulates the air in the pressurized room, and the outside air that flows out of the air conditioning mechanism through which the air flows through this circulation path. A heat exchanger that exchanges heat with the heat exchanger, and a regeneration system that introduces the outside air that has passed through the heat exchanger into the air conditioning mechanism, in which O_2 separation is carried out in the system through which the outside air flowing out from the air conditioning system flows. An air conditioner for an aircraft, characterized in that a membrane is interposed, and O_2-rich air selectively separated by the separation membrane is transferred to a pressurized chamber. (2) An air conditioning mechanism that adjusts the temperature and pressure of outside air supplied from a high-pressure air source, a circulation path that circulates the air in the pressurized room, and the outside air that flows through the circulation path and flows out from the air conditioning mechanism. A heat exchanger for exchanging heat with the pressurized chamber, and a regeneration system for introducing the outside air that has passed through the heat exchanger into the air conditioning mechanism, the exhaust system for exhausting the air in the pressurized chamber. An air conditioner for an aircraft, characterized in that an O_2 separation membrane is interposed, and O_2-rich air selectively separated by the separation membrane is returned to a pressurized chamber.