MARZO, RASHELL

BS AET 3A
AMTA 329 (CABIN ATMOSPHERIC CONTROL SYSTEM)
MR. BRIAN NOLASCO

ATR AIR CONDITIONING SYSTEM

The pipe valve is closed when there is no air pressure when the push button is off or when a
fault or overheat is detected. The pack valve also controls the pressure of the air delivered to
the cabin

The airflow is controlled with the flow push button. Normal air flow has a pressure 22 PSI and
high air flow has a pressure of 30 PSI when bleeder enters the pack valve it’s about 200 degrees
so it has to be cooled.

The air enters a heat exchanger where the temperature drops to about 100 degrees. The heat
exchanger uses atmospheric air as coolant when the aircraft is in flight atmospheric air flows
into ram air intake at front of the landing gear fairing. When you look inside the air intake you
will see a spring-loaded butterfly valve that opens when the force of the rammer is large
enough. The air flows through the heat exchanger and expelled through gills ahead of the
mainland gear and note atmospheric air and bleeder are not mixed.
When the aircraft is on the ground or flying at low speed air is pulled into the heat exchanger by
a ground cooling fan. The fan is driven by bleed air and automatically controlled by a turbofan
shutoff valve. The fan runs when the airspeed is below 113 knots for ATR 42 and below 150
knots for ATR 72. The fan is located behind this grill in the air intake.

Behind the heat exchanger there’s a compressor it increases the air pressure and with it the
temperature and it can reach about 200 degrees again. A temperature sensor triggers a fault
light on the pack valve push button if the temperature exceeds 204 degrees. This causes the
pack valve to close automatically. Then the air passes a second heat exchanger where
temperature drops to about 100 degrees again. Then air passes a condenser where the air
pressure momentarily drops causing water vapor to condense to water. The water is removed
from the air in an extractor by centrifugal force and spread on the heat exchanger increasing its
efficiency. When the air condition packs operating while the aircraft is parked you will see water
dripping from the gills then the air reaches a turbine. It is the air in the duct that turns the
turbine which in turn drives the compressor here the air pressure decreases and temperature
drops to about 0 degrees.

Now you have cold air. The air is then mixed with warm air from the temperature control valve
which is controlled by the electronic temperature controller or when in manual mode directly
by the temperature selector. This requires more attention from the pilots in addition to
monitoring the cabin temperature you must also make sure that the deck temperature is above
zero otherwise the turbine might be damaged by ice.

The condition air is then mixed with air from the recirculation fans. The recirculation fans take
air from an area under a cabin floor the result is a 50 50 mix of condition air and recirculate air
which is distributed to the cabin. When the other pack is not operating some of the air is
distributed to the other side called the mixing chamber. On the right main gear fairing there is a
connection for an external air conditioning unit. It distributes air to both sides via the mixing
chamber. There are four temperature sensors attached to each of the cabin air ducts. The first
sensor commands the temperature control valve to close the duct temperature exceeds 88
degrees and this works in both automatic and manual modes. The second sensor triggers an
overheat caution in the temp cell push button when the duct temperature exists 92 degrees
Celsius. The third temperature sensor is connected to the automatic temperature controller
which also receives temperature information from the cabin, the cockpit and the aircraft skin.
The final temperature sensor is connected to the duct temperature indicator which is below the
compartment temperature indicator.
 LP AND HP BLEED AIR

PACKS

RAM AIR INLET HEAT EXCHANGER

COOLING FAN EXTERNAL AIRCONDITIONING UNIT