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Unmanned Aerial Systems (UAS) Thermal Management Needs, Current Status,
and Future Innovations
Conference Paper · July 2012
DOI: 10.2514/6.2012-4051
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 Unmanned Aerial Systems (UAS) Thermal Management
needs, Current Status, and Future Innovations.

Dr. Jayesh M Mehta,

Manager, Advanced Thermal Systems,
Joe Charneski
Manager, Fluid and Thermal Systems,
Patrick Wells,
Student Intern
BELCAN Engineering, Cincinnati, Ohio, 45243

An Invited Paper
Note: This is a review paper with over 200 references and
Government publications studied. In such a case, individual acknowledgements
are nearly impossible. However, to all those
whose works have been cited here – we thank you.
 PLAN

► Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAV) and Unmanned Aerial Systems (UAS)

► New Paradigm,
► Applications and Challenges,
► Thermal Management Issues
► Current Thermal Management Approaches
► Air Cycle Machines (ACMs), Vapor Cycle Systems (VCS), and
Fuel Cooling/Storage Systems,
► Phase Change Materials,
► Innovative Conductive Materials, Convective Cooling, and Radiative Heat Transfer,
► PAO Loops, and Heat Pipes
► Advanced Thermal Management Concepts
► Thermal Management – A Systems Approach
► Nano Particle Augmentation for Enhanced Heat Transfer, and
► Thermoelectrics
► Future???

7/29/2012 2
 Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAV) and Unmanned Aerial Systems (UAS)

New Paradigm,
Applications and Challenges,
Thermal Management Issues

Approximately 100 hand-launched, Barracuda is thought to have an operating

battery powered FQM-151/Pointers have been ceiling of around 20,000 ft and carries
acquired a maximum payload of 300 kg.
by the Marines, Army, and Air Force since 1989

7/29/2012 3
 So you thought Drones were the product
of last few decades only?

Circa 1932
Blogger: Before spy satellites
And drones there were of course
carrier pigeons. Imagine how much
Successful would that be with a few
hundred gigabytes on an SD card and…

Although it may be a spoof, the thermal

Management Needs are:

1. Able to fly in extreme conditions,

2. Long range, long loiter time,
3. Light weight, high SFC,
4. Target recognition, autonomous
flight control, human like
information processing (Moor’s law
asymptote??)
5. Efficient heat collection (From
blood vessels near skin),
transport to the tongue and feathers,
dissipation
7/29/2012 4

“To throw bombs from an airplane
will do as much damage
as throwing bags of flour.
It will be my pleasure to stand
on the bridge of any ship while
it is attacked by airplanes."
- Newton Baker, US minister of defense
(1921)
Short Sighted??
7/29/2012
Paradigm Shift in Making
Over a Century??
‘We love our ravens,
“We have just won a war with a lot but we especially love
of heroes flying around in planes. hearing the
The next war may be fought by shadow
airplanes with no men in them at all overhead. We know someone
Take everything you’ve learned is looking out for
about aviation in war, throw it out of us, and they
the window, and let’s go to work Don’t know where the
on tomorrow’s aviation. death is going to visit from?”
It will be different from anything
the world has ever seen.” US Army infantry
Gen Hap Arnold, USAAF (2011)
US Army Air Forces, (1945)
Reality??
Futuristic?? 5
 Accelerated Emphasis on Developing UAS
Systems Over last Twenty Years
Applications

Air Vehicle Systems

Long Range Tactical Strike Vehicles

Long Range Strike Vehicles

Airborne Directed Energy Systems

Airborne ISR Vehicles – Directed Energy

(a). DOD Budget for UAS – Past Twenty five years

Space Systems

Launch Vehicles

Space Flight Vehicles

Satellites

(b). DOD R/D Investment– 2005 - 2009

7/29/2012 Source: UAS Road

6 Map
2005-2030 - DOD
 Thermal Load Challenges

Increased autonomy demands higher processing power -

Unlike F – 15, F – 16, the current fighters operate with significantly higher thermal deficit,
 LO needs limit Ram Air Heat Exchange
 High pressure fuel pumps – Higher thermal load
 Fueldraulic Actuators and Increased Avionics Increase Low Quality Thermal Loads

High OPR and significantly efficient compressors yield high compressor exit temperatures.
May require cooling of bleed air before TMS incorporation

High altitude systems operate in hot and cold environment . The operation encompasses
long endurance loiter at marginal fuel flow rates diminishing fuel cooling capacity,

Some of these systems feature larger number of low quality heat sources – for example avionics, power
conditioning, and higher lube temperatures,

Directed energy weapons (DEW) systems impart intermittent high thermal loads

Satellite Systems
 Power demand doubles every five years, more efficient and large arrays of
solar PV cells
 Engine OEMs can learn some lessons from satellite community,
system level approach

7/29/2012 7
 Thermal Management Realities

Heat generation Heat rejection >0 Deficit

Conventional Heat Sources, for example avionics,

fuel pumps, and actuators

Advanced heat Sources, Directed Energy Weapon,
low quality avionics, and More Electric Vehicles (MEVs).

Component level heat acquisition, transport, and
rejection:
> 500 – 1000 W/Cm^2 for DEW components,
> 250 – 500 W/Cm^2 for advanced processors, and
> 100 W/Cm^2 for power electronics

Conventional Heat Sinks, for example Ram Air,

Fuel, Lube, all reaching their limits,

Advanced heat Sinks, third stream, Phase Change
Material, Nano particle HT augmentation, and
micro channel cooling.
Capabilities of the conventional heat sinks are greatly
Outpaced by thermal loads of the advanced systems

7/29/2012 8
 Examples of a TMS System

Three primary functions of a TMS system

Heat extraction and transport

> Fuel-Oil HEX, Fuel-Air HEX,
Air-Air HEX, Ram/third stream air
> For low quality heat, heat pumps,
vapor cycle machines, air cycle
machines

Thermal Storage, and
> Fuel tank, phase change materials,
PAO augmented cooling (Poly Alpha
Olephine)

Heat rejection
> Fuel, Lube, Aircraft surfaces

7/29/2012 9
 Thermal Management
Multiple Opportunities at Component Level

7/29/2012 10
 Technology Areas

Technologies That:

Reduce amount of heat generated
Efficient Generators, oil free bearings etc.

Heat transfer technologies
High K foams, micro channels, nano particle augmentation

Thermal storage
Phase change materials, fuel cell systems

Convert energy into other forms
Heat scavengers – thermo electric generators

Increase onboard heat sink capacity

PAO Loops, Phase change materials

System integration
New paradigm – evaluation and integration of various technologies
as a system

7/29/2012 11
 Thermal cooling options
Many possibilities

Reducing amount of power generated – truly a

Challenge. Some attempts include advanced
Electronics, efficient generators, and pumps, oil
Free bearings in turbo machinery.

Thermal Cooling:

 Light weight – Micro Channel HEX, Heat

spreading,
 High K Thermal Foams, Materials,
 PAO (Poly AlphaOlephin) and heat pipe loops,
 Spray, liquid jet cooling,
 Thermoelectric, and
 Nano particle additions.
Selection based on power density, UAV system
Complexity, and materials/fluids available. However,
a system approach desired and pursued more
frequently.

7/29/2012 12
 Some of the Advanced
Cooling techniques

(a). Light Weight Ram Air Exchanger (c) Thermal Miniature HEX

Micro and Nano Channels: Micro channels ~ 1mm width,

(c). Nano Channel Cooling
up to several kW/m^2

Miniature HEXs are 1mm by 1 mm – electronic cooling

Nano structuring realized by using a low-temperature
nano material deposition process

Using this technique ZnO nano-structures deposited
on Al and Cu substrates and zeolite structures on Si.

Heat flux spreading – Thermal Interface Materials (TIMs)
are critical to effective thermal management. CMC,
(b). Heat Spreading diamond particle reinforces silicon carbide – k=60 W/m-K
7/29/2012 13
 Some of the Advanced
Cooling techniques

(a). Nano lightning Effect (b). Heat Sinks made out of graphitic
foams

(a). Ionized airflow molecules through micro channels are pushed using High electric fields created by
nano tubes. Cooling heat flux of 40 W/cm^2 achieved.
(b). Graphitic foams are extremely light leading to high specific thermal conductivity. In the above
example, mass of the sink for Aluminum component is 44 gms, versus that for graphitic
foam – only 11 gms.

7/29/2012 14
 Liquid cooling and heat pipes

Liquid cooling has the ability to dissipate more heat

than passive or other active cooling methods. Liquid
cooling involves circulating a coolant (air, water,
glycol/water mixtures, polyalphaolefin [PAO]) Through
a cold plate that collects heat from heat generating
sources and then dissipates heat through a liquid-to-air
heat exchanger or liquid-to-liquid heat exchanger

Hybrid cooling system with two-phase loop and liquid
thermal storage provides HT coefficients in the range of
10,000 – 100,000 W/m^2-K.

Electronic component heat is absorbed at one end of the
heat pipe (Evaporator), evaporates the working fluid
(Water, refrigerant, PAO), that transmits to the other end
and condenses. The wick facilitates return of the condensed
fluid.

7/29/2012 15
 Nano Particle Augmentation of Heat Transfer

Dispersion of fluid particles in liquids to enhance

thermal conductivity known since 19th, and studies have
Confirmed that nano particles – most effective.

Surface area per unit volume much larger than micro
Particles. And, the number of surface atoms per unit interior
atoms of nano particles is very large.

Increased thermal conductivity (TC) at low
nanoparticle concentrations

Strong temperature-dependent TC

Non-linear increase in TC with nanoparticle
concentration

Increase in boiling critical heat flux (CHF)
Nanoparticle materials
Oxide ceramics – Al2O3, CuO
Metal carbides – SiC
Nitrides – AlN,
AlN, SiN
Nonmetals – Graphite, carbon nano tubes
Base fluids include
Water
Ethylene-
Ethylene- or tri-
tri-ethylene-
ethylene-glycols and other coolants
Oil and other lubricants
Bio-
Bio-fluids
Polymer solutions
Other common fluids
7/29/2012 16
 Thermoelectrics

TECs (thermoelectric coolers) are solid state heat pumps that operate using the Peltier effect. When an electric
current is driven through a circuit containing two dissimilar materials, heat is absorbed at one junction (the cold
side) and released at the other junction (the hot side). The design of most Peltier devices requires the use of both
n-type and p-type semiconductors.

Thin-film TECs that use semiconductor processing techniques to create a nano-structured thin film used for the
P and N legs. Thin-film TECs are typically 5 µm to 20 µm thick. Thin-film TECs pump a maximum heat flux of 100
W/cm² to 400 W/cm² versus less than 10 W/cm² for typical bulk TECs.

TEC equipped camera – vol. 10 cm^3, Stirling engine cooling – vol. 1000 cm^3, weight – 600 gms. To 2800 gms.

flight time – unlimited v/s 10,000 Hrs.

7/29/2012 17
 Major Components of a Modern
Day UAS

Air Cycle Machine (ACM) Third Stream Cooling (ADVENT)

Air Cycle Machine – Two stage compressor with a

regenerator. Cooling turbine or expander to provide
chilled air to the room

Vapor cycle machine to use refrigerant, or PAO as
working fluid – Two Phase cooling

Third stream cooling – variable cycle provides a
constant temperature air stream for Ram cooling

The Modern day UAS TMS system consists

of Multiple of these components
7/29/2012 Vapor Cycle Concept 18
 Thermal Management – A Systems Overview

Ram Air Air Cycle Machine

Vapor Cycle Machine Fuel Tank Storage

A BRIEF Description
ACM:
1. It intakes hot engine air (1200 Deg. F to 2000 Deg. F)
and cools it down to about 400 Deg. F
2. Chilled to about 50 Deg. F, in ACRP for flight critical
equipment. Also, fed into On-Board Oxygen
generating System (OBOGS), and for canopy
defogging, and cockpit pressurization
Liquid Cooling System:
1. Polyalphaolefin (PAO) is the working medium,
2. Two vapor cycle systems, front and aft. Forward loop
keeps Mission Critical Avionics (At about 68 Deg. F).
Next, the warmer PAO passes by ACM and still the
warmer PAO is dumped into the fuel tank.
3. Air Cooled Fuel Cooler (ACFC) uses Ram air from
ambient streams and cools fuel through an HEX
unit.

The new paradigm is to treat the power generation and

If You Begin to Feel Faint, Please Land Your F-22 Raptor Immediately
heat rejection as integral parts of An overall
7/29/2012 system level Thermal Management effort 19
 For the current complex platforms – a system level
Optimization a must.
System Integration

Thermoelectrics
Advanced Cooling Techniques  Heat pipes, jet impingement
> High k conduction  spray cooling
> Two phase cooling  On board De-Ox
> Micro/nano channel cooling  Endothermic cracking

Thermal Management

An Integrative Systems Approach

> Nano particle augmentation

> Advanced fluid, PAO cooling,
RAM air
> ACM, VCM, and Thermal Storage

A lesson learned from F-22 TMS

was that a component level optimization is NOT sufficient
7/29/2012 20
 Some of the future challenges

Strategic Directed Energy

High Mach number systems
Weapon system

Directed Energy Weapon

Directed Energy Weapon – Intermittent, high flux load. Thermal storage is a must.

High Mach number systems ( M > 7(plus)) – vehicle control actuator design controlled by thermal issues.

Strategic Directed Energy Weapon system – Extreme loads due to MW class laser coil. Atmosphere as a major sink

One cooling scheme does not fit all applications,

Considering the nature of high, intermittent loads – combination of more than one cooling scheme is required

System architecture depends upon demands of the application,

An optimized integration of various thermal management components determine the overall system performance.

System level analysis, modeling, design, and optimization is a must.

(e.g. AFRL INVENT Program (Integrated Vehicle Energy Technology )).

7/29/2012 21
 INVENT style systems
approach at BELCAN
Numerical Propulsion System Simulation
(NPSS) to support Systems Integration
NPSS • Weight
• Drag
Engine • Lift
Model • Power reqd

1 Engine
•
•
Engine Install
Data needed
to do step 4
• Advanced engineering simulation environment
Synthesis

Airframe • Integrates several systems into single model

2 Synthesis

Integration
• Steady State & Transient
3
Wing
Fuselage Air Vehicle
• Models complex interactions between
H-Tail Performance &
4
V-Tail
N/S/E
Attributes components residing in other systems
Systems
Mission

Configuration Synthesis &

Flt Perf
Takeoff
Ldg
• Interface with external high fidelity component
Component Attributes S&C
Noise/Emissions
Economics codes to increase accuracy
Integrated engine – air vehicle system • Enables significant reduction in design,
development, and time to flight costs
Engine Fan Duct Flow

Fuel Cooling / Hot Loop

Engine Fan Duct Flow

Hot Engine HX1
Sink
Main Engine
Bleed Split
WAS Split 2
Cold and Warm Air Supply (CWAS) stream Engine HX2 Main Engine
Bleed

Bleed Regen- Bleed

Cold Loop HX2 erator HX1 Closed Loop Cooling Supplementary Power
(CLC) stream (SP) stream

Flow Control
Cold WAS Split 1 Valve
Sink
WAS Mixer Warm
Air Supply
(WAS)

Bleed Cooling Bearing Comp- Power Exhaust

HX3 Turbine Load ressor Turbine

Cold
Air Supply
(CAS)
Military Aircraft Thermal
Management System System Modeled in NPSS (GUI)
22
7/29/2012 22
View publication stats

Remarks

Multiple technologies exist and/or are under development for innovative

thermal management at component level,

However, no single component level technology is adequate for an effective thermal

management,

An efficacy of a given technology is always in reference to the flight application, whether

LRS (Long Range Surveillance), directed energy, ISR (Intelligence, Surveillance, and
Reconnaissance), etc. One ‘Glove,’ does not fit universally in an efficient manner.

F22 demonstrated that overall thermal performance is dominated by system level

Interactions. System level architecture is a must.

Questions??

7/29/2012 23