1154results about "Power plant fuel tanks" patented technology

An unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) for making partial deliveries of cargo provisions includes a UAV having one or more ducted fans and a structural interconnect connecting the one or more fans to a cargo pod. The cargo pod has an outer aerodynamic shell and one or more internal drive systems for modifying a relative position of one or more cargo provisions contained within the cargo pod. Control logic is configured to, after delivery of a partial portion of the cargo provisions contained within the cargo pod, vary a position of at least a portion of the remaining cargo provisions to maintain a substantially same center of gravity of the UAV relative to a center of gravity prior to delivery of the partial portion. Other center of gravity compensation mechanisms may also be controlled by the control logic to aid in maintaining the center of gravity of the UAV.

A vertical takeoff and landing (VTOL) rotary-wing air-craft is sized and configured to match a payload container such as a standardized Joint Modular Intermodal Container (JMIC). The aircraft may be an Unmanned Air Vehicle (UAV) that is capable of autonomously engaging and disengaging the container so that the aircraft can pick up and drop off the JMIC with minimum human intervention.

A system and method for the conversion of fuel tanks, detachably mountable on the exterior of an aerial vehicle, into high volume, high capacity, diverse functionality and aerodynamically efficient airborne stores is disclosed. A conventional external fuel drop tank is modified such that the exterior shape of the tank is substantially retained while the interior of the tank is suitable restructured to allow for the introduction of diverse airborne stores, associated airborne store mounting means, control and monitoring means and support means therein, which replace the fuel store. The airborne store is suitably interfaced to the stores control and management system of the aerial vehicle. The airborne store is integrated into a new external stores configuration The enhanced airborne store will have aerodynamic characteristics substantially similar to the original external fuel tank while its payload capacity is substantially improved.

An inerting system is disclosed that is adaptable to inert the fuel tank of a vehicle, most typically an aircraft, that includes an oxygen detector to monitor the oxygen partial pressure of the vapors in the ullage (i.e., the overfuel) volume of the tank, a source of an inert gas (e.g., nitrogen) in valved communication with the ullage of the tank, and a detector for sensing the oxygen content in the ullage of the tank and controlling the flow of inert gas to the tillage to maintain that volume with a proportion oxygen that will not support combustion in the event of an ignition source or intrusion of another potentially explosive occurrence within said tank. A specific fiberoptic probe which enables monitoring oxygen content within the tank without introducing a source of electrical current within the tank is also disclosed.

This invention relates to electrically-driven propulsors for regional aircraft. These combine fans optimized for quiet regional operations with rotating variable pitch mechanisms contained within the hubs and highly efficient ring electric motors. The ring motors are used to drive annular fans at the inner or outer radius, or a conventional fan at the inner radius. The assembly combines a single fan, fixed or variable pitch, with a row of stators, or multiple counter-rotating fans without stators. Our focus is on propulsors optimized for quiet and efficient regional flights, but many elements apply to long-haul air and several other applications referred to herein.

A tether continuous energy supply system for an unmanned aerial vehicle comprising: a ground station, a ground station energy system, a spool coupled to the ground station energy system at a rotating joint, a tether that is wound about the spool, wherein a first end of the tether is coupled to the rotating joint, a tension control motor coupled to both the spool and the ground station energy system, an unmanned aerial vehicle coupled to a second end of the tether, a UAV energy system, a fluid that moves throughout the tether continuous energy supply system, a tension control system that receives and transmits signals from a plurality of sensors contained within the tether continuous energy supply system, and a distributed controls system that receives and transmits signals from the plurality of sensors contained within the tether continuous energy supply system.

An inerting system (10) for an aircraft (12) includes one or more fuel tank circuits (15) associated with fuel tanks (16). An air source (17) supplies pressurized air. A heat exchanger (56) cools the pressurized air. An air separation module (46) is in fluid communication with the heat exchanger (56) and separates inerting gas from the pressurized air. A controller (40) controls flow of the inerting gas from the air separation module (46) to the fuel tanks (16).

Systems and methods of independent power generation are disclosed. A particular system includes an aircraft having at least one engine and a plurality of independent power units. Each power unit of the plurality of independent power units generates electricity independently of the at least one engine. The plurality of independent power units include at least a first independent power unit that generates first electricity having a first set of electrical characteristics and a second independent power unit that generates second electricity having a second set of electrical characteristics concurrently with the first power unit generating the first electricity. The first set of electrical characteristics is different than the second set of electrical characteristics.

A system and method for the conversion of fuel tanks, detachably mountable on the exterior of an aerial vehicle, into high volume, high capacity, diverse functionality and aerodynamically efficient airborne stores is disclosed. A conventional external fuel drop tank is modified such that the exterior shape of the tank is substantially retained while the interior of the tank is suitable restructured to allow for the introduction of diverse airborne stores, associated airborne store mounting means, control and monitoring means and support means therein, which replace the fuel store. The airborne store is suitably interfaced to the stores control and management system of the aerial vehicle. The airborne store is integrated into a new external stores configuration The enhanced airborne store will have aerodynamic characteristics substantially similar to the original external fuel tank while its payload capacity is substantially improved.

The cut laminate edges of aircraft fuel tanks formed of carbon fiber reinforced polymers are sealed to prevent the exposure of carbon fibers to combustible fuel. The edge seal is produced from a prepreg form using a thermosetting resin matched to the characteristics of the resin used in the laminate. The prepreg form can be applied to the cut laminate edges either before or after the laminate is cured. The edge seal acts a dielectric layer that both electrically insulates the cut laminate edges from the fuel and mechanically contains energetic particles produced at the edges due to lighting strikes or other sources of electrical charges.

An airplane fuel supply system includes a wing fuel tank that is formed from a wing tip fuel tank having a wing tip fuel pump; a central fuel tank having a central fuel pump; and a wing root fuel tank having a wing root fuel pump. Fuel movement from the wing tip fuel tank to the central fuel tank is allowed by a flapper valve, and fuel movement from the central fuel tank to the wing root fuel tank is allowed by another flapper valve. When the fuel delivery volume of the wing tip fuel pump is represented by Vt, the fuel delivery volume of the central fuel pump is represented by Vc, the fuel delivery volume of the wing root fuel pump is represented by Vr, and the fuel delivery volume from a collector tank to the engine is represented by Ve, the fuel delivery volumes Vt, Vc, Vr, and Ve are set so as to satisfy the relationships Vr>Ve, Vt+Vc>Ve, and Vc<Ve. This can minimize the size of the fuel pumps for supplying fuel from the airplane wing fuel tank to the engine.

An airplane fuel supply system includes a wing fuel tank that is formed from a wing tip fuel tank having a wing tip fuel pump; a central fuel tank having a central fuel pump; and a wing root fuel tank having a wing root fuel pump. Fuel movement from the wing tip fuel tank to the central fuel tank is allowed by a flapper valve, and fuel movement from the central fuel tank to the wing root fuel tank is allowed by another flapper valve. When the fuel delivery volume of the wing tip fuel pump is represented by Vt, the fuel delivery volume of the central fuel pump is represented by Vc, the fuel delivery volume of the wing root fuel pump is represented by Vr, and the fuel delivery volume from a collector tank to the engine is represented by Ve, the fuel delivery volumes Vt, Vc, Vr, and Ve are set so as to satisfy the relationships Vr>Ve, Vt+Vc>Ve, and Vc<Ve. This can minimize the size of the fuel pumps for supplying fuel from the airplane wing fuel tank to the engine.

A harness is provided comprising a body having a series of electrical conductors embedded therein and substantially running along the length thereof. The body may be part of a structural component such as stringer.

A supersonic aircraft comprises a wing, a fuselage, a plurality of fuel tanks contained within the wing and / or fuselage, and a fuel transfer system communicatively coupled to the plurality of fuel tanks and capable of transferring fuel among the plurality of fuel tanks. The aircraft further comprises at least one sensor capable of indicating a flight parameter and a controller. The controller is coupled to the one or more sensors and to the fuel transfer system. The controller can transfer fuel among the plurality of fuel tanks and adjust the aircraft center of gravity to reduce trim drag and increase aircraft range.

The invention relates to multi deck passenger aircraft, having passenger cabins and / or service facilities arranged on the upper and lower deck and inner load bearing cell structure provided within aircraft body. The present invention is also directed toward methods for manufacturing derivative multi deck aircrafts. Energy absorbing, floatable cargo containers (24) attached to fuselage belly. External fuel tanks (26) displaced on the top of fuselage. Center wing region of the fuselage is using for arranging rows of seats and service facilities. Addition seating configuration for narrow and wide bodied aircraft is provided. Multi deck seating configuration significantly reduces per passenger operating cost over existing technology. Less fuel per passenger is required since there is less airframe weight and wetted area per passenger. Due to the lower overall cost per passenger seat within the multi deck seating structure, the net profit and return on investment in the aircraft are also increased.

A sealing material comprises a partially or fully cured polysulphide sealant and a reinforcing element, especially glass fibre. The sealing material is a flexible solid and is preferably in sheet form. The sealing material is cut to shape like a gasket and is assembled between components to be fastened, for example, in airframe manufacture.

An aircraft fuel system architecture which reduces the fleet-wide flammability exposure of the fuel tanks. In one embodiment, the aircraft center fuel tank fuel is cooled at certain times in a flight to reduce its flammability exposure to be similar to that of an unheated conventional metal wing fuel tank. Aircraft fuel tanks that have adjacent heat sources are also insulated to minimize heat flow into the fuel. Fuel tanks that have lower cooling properties, such as composite wing tanks are cooled at certain times during flight such that their temperatures are reduced to be similar to metal wing tanks when the fuel is flammable. A fuel tank that is pressurized relative to outside pressure at altitude having a lower flammability exposure than unpressurized tanks is combined with the cooling of fuel in the tank to reduce the fleet-wide flammability exposure of the fuel tank to be similar to that of an unpressurized metal wing tank. Fuel is cooled by recirculating flow from a tank, passing through a heat exchanger and returning to the tank to be cooled. The heat exchanger is optionally cooled by flow of air from the outside of the aircraft, or by conditioned air from the aircraft environmental control system. The system is controlled by start and stop of fuel flow to the various tanks by means of a system controller. The controller uses sensors in the fuel tanks to command flow only when required to reduce the flammability exposure of the fuel tanks.

A fuel cell power pack used as a power source in a multicopter includes a fuel tank and a fuel cell stack for producing electrical energy using hydrogen supplied from the fuel tank and supplying the electrical energy to a battery, and since the fuel cell stack is disposed at a certain point of an arm extended from the aircraft body in the radius direction (a point affected by a descending air current generated by each rotating blade), the electrical energy can be produced using the descending air current generated by the rotating blade without configuring a separate blowing apparatus.

A method and apparatus for controlling inert gas generation. An apparatus comprises an air separation module and an air flow control system. The air separation module is configured to separate an inert gas from air input into the air separation module. The air flow control system is configured to control the flow of the air into the air separation module.

A system and process is provided to deplete or remove oxygen in the ullage of a fuel tank to reduce the oxygen / fuel vapor ratio below a lower explosion limit by exposing the ullage compounds to an oxygen removal catalyst active at a relatively low temperature. The oxygen removal catalyst may be a non-precious metal catalyst. A selective reaction of the oxygen by the catalyst forms primarily alcohols, aldehydes, and / or ketones and produces less than about 5% water by volume. The selective reaction, occurring at the relatively low temperature, reduces the risk of flammability of the fuel.

A self-regulating system for reducing concentration of hydrocarbon vapor in a container may be performed by introducing air into the container and extracting a mixture of air and vapor from the container. The extracted mixture may be compressed with a compressor to produce a flow of compressed mixture of air and vapor. The compressed mixture may be passed through an oxidation reactor that may be either catalytic or thermal to produce a flow air and CO2. A turbine may be driven with the flow of air and CO2. The compressor may be driven with the turbine. Extraction from the container may continue until vapor concentration is low enough so that flow of CO2 and air from the reactor is insufficient to drive the turbine.

A fuel system for an energy conversion device includes a multiple of fuel plates, oxygen permeable membranes, porous substrate plates, and vacuum frame plates which define a wave pattern configuration. The wave configuration enhances deoxygenation by increasing the efficiency and integrality due to higher surface volume ration, increase of flow turbulence, and minimal sharp edges which may otherwise damage the oxygen permeable membranes compared to other configurations.