Professional Documents
Culture Documents
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.
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.
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.