AGK Systems

Lesson 11: Cabin Conditioning and Pressurisation

Introduction
• Enclosed cabins have requirement for
heating/ventilation
• Aircraft which operate at high altitudes must be
pressurised
• Light single engine aircraft obtain hot air from the
heat exchanger wrapped around the exhaust this is
then mixed with cold air before entering the cabin
• Risk is leak inside heat exchanger resulting in
carbon monoxide entering the cabin
Ram Air Light Aircraft System
Air Conditioning
• Large aircraft use bleed air to supply air conditioning packs
• Humidity is generally not controlled
• Usually 2 packs, large aircraft have three
• System must satisfy certain minimum requirements
• Provide 1lb of air per seat per minute in normal operation
• Provide at least 0.5lb per seat per minute following failure
• Control cabin temperature within range 18-24°C
• Ensure that carbon monoxide is less than 1 part in 20 000
• Known as the Environmental Control System (ECS)
Air Conditioning - Operation
• Bleed air compressed and passed through a heat exchanger
• Partially cooled bleed air enters turbine it loses energy
• Mixed with hot bleed air provide air just right temperature
• First stage of cooling causes condensation
• Water extractor is fitted just before entry to turbine
• The compressor is driven by the turbine
• This type of air cycle cooling device is known as:
• Bootstrap cooling system
Principle of Operation
Air Conditioning - Operation
• Combined compressor and turbine section
known as a cold air unit
• Ram air duct is equipped with a fan to draw the
air through it when aircraft is stationary
• Volume of hot bleed air which bypasses cold air
unit is regulated by the temperature control
valve
• Entire pack is, itself, cooled by a pack cooling fan
Air Conditioning - Example
• Bleed air flowing to pack is regulated by flow
control valve
• One FCV is installed for each pack
• Normally closed isolation valve prevents air from
left bleed system from reaching the right pack
• The bypass valve is connected to temperature
sensors which adjust the temperature control
valve
BAe ATR System
 Ram Air Inlets

The two ram air inlets are mounted usually on either side
of the wing-to-body fairing.
A modulating door on the inlet (and sometime outlet)
controls the amount of flow across the heat exchanger.
 Air Distribution
• Conditioned air flows through under-floor pressure ducts. It
then ducted up behind the cabin wall and flows out of cabin
roof
• It then flows mostly downwards and is extracted at floor level
by recirculation fans driven by AC electric motors
• 50% is then re-circulated after passing through HEPA filters.
This helps to reduce loads on the air conditioning packs thus
reducing bleed air requirements from the engines and saving
fuel and reducing costs.
• High Efficiency Particulate Arresting (HEPA) filters trap up to
99% of bacteria and viruses
 Cabin Conditioning Zones

The cabin is divided into zones. On some aircraft the

temperature can be individually adjusted in each zone
using trim air.
Trim air is low-pressure, high temperature air tapped off
the air conditioning pack upstream of the temperature
control valve.
A temperature thermostat fitted at the inlet manifold to the air
conditioning duct monitors for overheat condition.
TRIM AIR DISTRIBUTION
 VAPOR CYCLE SYSTEM

• Cooling by refrigerant(freon)
• Transfer from liquid to gas at evaporator
COMBUSTION HEATER
PRESSURIZATION
 Pressurisation - Operation

• Conditioned air is pumped into a sealed cabin

• This causes the cabin’s internal air pressure to rise
• To regulate cabin pressure some air is dumped
overboard
• Pressure controller senses differential pressure between
the cabin and atmosphere
• Emergency differential pressure relief valve opens if
pressure controller fails
• A negative differential pressure relief valve opens
inwards if pressure falls below atmospheric
Pressurisation - Operation

-0.5 psi 9psi

 Pressurisation Control
• Cabin pressure controlled with pressurisation control panel by two
automatic pressure controllers
• Crew dial in the altitude of the destination aerodrome
• Controller calculates pressurisation schedule which obeys certain
parameters:
• The maximum differential pressure(9 psi)
• The maximum rate of change of cabin pressurisation
• The minimum cabin pressure(max cabin altitude, limited to
8000feet)
Pressurisation Control
• Structural reasons maximum differential pressure is 8-
9psi
• Max differential pressure occurs max operating altitude
• Cabin pressure is expressed as a cabin altitude
• Maximum cabin altitude is same as minimum cabin
pressure
• Rate of change of cabin pressure is cabin vertical speed
• Maximum cabin altitude is normally limited to 8000ft
• If the cabin altitude exceeds 10 000ft audio alarm sounds
 System Components
• Pressure Hull - From forward bulkhead to the rear pressure
bulkhead-small holes for control cables
• Air Conditioning Packs - if not working cabin isn’t pressurised
• Pressure Controller - Pressure controller controls outflow
• Modern airliners have electronic pressure controllers
• Located in the main avionics bay
• Uses ambient pressure from the air data computers
• Cabin pressure data from integral sensors
 System Components
• Controls cabin pressure according to an auto-schedule, based
on the ideal differential pressure at each altitude
• Error detected between actual and desired cabin pressure,
Pressure controller tells actuator to move outflow valve
• During climb, Controller brings cabin to selected altitude at a
rate not greater than 1800fpm
• If cabin altitude reaches 11 000ft controller automatically closes
the outflow valve to increase cabin pressure
• On descent , cabin depressurizes. Fully depressurized by 500-
1000ft above the airfield or just after touch-down.
 Outflow Valves

Normally situated in the aft fuselage.

On many aircraft there will be two outflow valves.
Operated by an actuator (usually pneumatic) which opens and closes the
valve according to commands from the pressure controller.
The outflow valve is fully open when the aircraft is on ground.
Safety Valves
• Usually two of them
• Protect the structure from over
pressurisation
• Opens if cabin pressure rises to more than
0.5psi
• Then regulates pressure at maximum
differential plus 0.5psi(9.5 psi)
 Inward Relief Valves
Rapid
descent

The pressure hull is not designed to withstand negative

differential pressure.
Open to regulate the cabin at a maximum negative
differential of 0.5psi.
Dump Valve
• Manually operated
• Allows crew to dump all cabin pressure in
an emergency
• Plug type doors can not be opened if the
cabin is pressurized so dump valve is really
important
System Controls and Indicators

• Landing, flight, altitude can be set by

individual controls
• System operates automatically when set
AUTO or ALTN
• Outflow valve can be manually driven to
any position using the CLOSED OPEN switch
if two controllers fail.
Pressurisation Control
 System Controls and Indicators

The cabin pressurisation indication includes:

Cabin Altimeter. Displays cabin pressure as an altitude.
Cabin Vertical Speed Indicator. Indicates the rate at which the cabin is
climbing or descending.
Cabin differential pressure gauge. Indicates the difference between ambient
and cabin pressure in psi.
AIRBUS 320 PANEL
Cabin Pressure
The Pressurisation Schedule
• If the system fails, you may need to
calculate cabin pressure using graphs
• Example:
• Find the aircraft’s maximum altitude
while maintaining a cabin altitude of 11
000ft and a differential pressure of 2psi
Pressure
Differential
Graph
Pressurisation in the Climb
• Pressure controller sets rate of climb which ensures
that the desired cabin altitude is reached
• The cabin reaches 8000ft just as the aircraft arrives
at its cruise altitude of 30 000ft
• Example:
• Aircraft takes 20 minutes to climb from an airfield
at 2000ft to a cruise level of 30 000ft.
• What cabin rate of climb would raise the cabin
altitude to 8000ft?
Solution
Cabin altitude has to be raised from 2000ft
to 8000ft in 20 minutes.
Cabin rate of climb required = 6000/20
= 300 fpm
Pressurisation in the Cruise

Pressurisation in the Cruise

Constant pressure is maintained when pack output

equals outflow valve output.
This is known as the isobaric range.
Cabin Decompression
• Normal decompression: 6 to 10 seconds
• Rapid decompression: 4 to 6 seconds
• Explosive decompression: 0 to 3 seconds
Cabin Altitude Warnings
• 10 000 ft: visual and aural CABIN ALT
warning
• 13 850 ft: AUTO FAIL light on the pressure
controller panel
• 14 000 ft: passenger oxygen masks
automatically drop
 Other Indications or Warnings
• At the first sign of such warnings, the flight
crew must don oxygen masks, manually close
outflow valves and start emergency descent
• To cope with the effect of an explosive
decompression, plastic blow-out bungs in
cabin floor prevent from collapsing from
excessive differential pressure
Compressor, bleed air basıncını arttırırken sıcaklık artışına da neden
olur. Sonuçta ikinci heat exchanger da daha büyük bir sıcaklık
düşüşü, yani verim artışı gerçekleşir.
Kabin Basıncı, irtifa cinsinden ifade edilir!
Three wheel unit
 In large modern aircraft, in the air conditioning
system, reduction of air temperature and pressure
is achieved by: