Air direction arrangement for an aircraft with integrated heat exchanger

Abstract

An air direction arrangement for an aircraft. The air direction arrangement contains an inlet opening and an inlet channel connected thereto and which is at least partially surrounded by an outer wall. The inlet channel is configured to guide air to an engine of the aircraft. The outer wall contains at least one outlet channel and at least one outlet element. The outlet element is configured to selectively release or close the outlet channel for an air flow from the inlet channel into the environment of the aircraft. The air direction arrangement contains a heat exchanger in the outlet channel to discharge thermal energy to the air flow which is flowing from the inlet channel into the environment of the aircraft.

Claims

1. An air direction arrangement for an aircraft comprising: an inlet opening and an inlet channel connected thereto, the inlet channel being at least partially surrounded by an outer wall and configured to guide a flow of air to an engine of the aircraft, wherein: the outer wall comprises an outlet channel and an outlet element; and the outlet element is configured to selectively release or close the outlet channel for controlling an air flow from the inlet channel into an environment of the aircraft; and a heat exchanger in the outlet channel, the heat exchanger being configured to discharge thermal energy into the airflow flowing from the inlet channel and through the outlet channel, into the environment of the aircraft; wherein, in a direction perpendicular to a flow direction of the flow of air in the inlet channel, the heat exchanger has a height that is lower than a width of the outer wall; wherein the heat exchanger is arranged in the outlet channel such that an inner side of the outer wall is closer to the fuselage of the aircraft than the heat exchanger and an outer skin of the outer wall is further away from the fuselage of the aircraft than the heat exchanger; wherein the heat exchanger is arranged such that, when the outlet channel is closed, the flow of air through the inlet channel flows to the engine, past the heat exchanger, such that the heat exchanger does not discharge any thermal energy into the flow of air and, when the outlet channel is released, only the airflow through the outer channel flows through the heat exchanger, the air flow being transverse relative to the inlet channel; and wherein the heat exchanger is sized to not protrude beyond the inner side of the outer wall, into the inlet channel, and also to not protrude beyond the outer skin of the outer wall, into the environment of the aircraft.

2. The air direction arrangement according to claim 1, wherein the heat exchanger is outside a flow cross section which is at least partially surrounded by the inlet channel between the inlet opening and the engine.

3. The air direction arrangement according to claim 1, comprising a plurality of outlet elements which together close the outlet channel in which the heat exchanger is arranged.

4. The air direction arrangement according to claim 1, further comprising: a plurality of outlet channels; and wherein a respective heat exchanger is arranged in each one of at least two outlet channels of the plurality of outlet channels.

5. The air direction arrangement according to claim 1, wherein the heat exchanger is a plate heat exchanger.

6. The air direction arrangement according to claim 1, comprising an actuation member, which is mechanically coupled to the outlet element and is configured to move the outlet element from a closed position into an open position.

7. The air direction arrangement according to claim 1, wherein the outlet element is an outlet flap and extends, in a closed position, flush with the outer skin of the outer wall.

8. An aircraft comprising: a fuselage; an engine; and an air direction arrangement according to claim 1, wherein the air direction arrangement is on or in the fuselage and is arranged to supply the engine with air.

9. The aircraft according to claim 8, wherein: the aircraft is a jet aircraft; and the engine is a jet engine or a ramjet engine.

Description

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

(1) Embodiments will be discussed in greater detail below with reference to the appended drawings. The illustrations are schematic and not true to scale. The same reference numerals refer to elements which are identical or similar. In the drawings:

(2) FIG. 1 is a schematic illustration of an aircraft having an air direction arrangement according to an embodiment.

(3) FIG. 2 is a schematic illustration of an air direction arrangement according to another embodiment.

(4) FIG. 3 is a schematic illustration of an air direction arrangement according to another embodiment.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

(5) FIG. 1 is a schematic illustration of an aircraft 10. Of the aircraft 10, substantially the fuselage 20 is shown. An air direction arrangement 100 and an engine 30 are arranged on or in the fuselage 20. The air direction arrangement 100 extends along the fuselage 20 in the flow direction of the ambient air when the aircraft 10 is in flight. The air direction arrangement 100 may in principle be arranged at any position on the fuselage. For example, the air direction arrangement 100 is arranged at the top, at the rear, laterally or at the lower side of the fuselage 20.

(6) The air direction arrangement 100 absorbs ambient air via the inlet openings 110 and directs the ambient air to the engine 30, which uses the ambient air for an operation for producing drive energy.

(7) The air direction arrangement 100 has an outer skin 120 which represents the outer surface of the air direction arrangement 100. The outer skin 120 may be the same face as the outer skin of the fuselage 20, then the inlet channel is integrated in the fuselage. At least one outlet flap 130 is arranged in the outer skin 120. In this instance, three outlet flaps 130 are shown, wherein this number has been selected merely by way of example and more or fewer than three outlet flaps can be used.

(8) The outlet flaps 130 are moved from a closed position into an open position when excess air from the air direction arrangement has to be discharged into the environment.

(9) FIG. 2 is a schematic cross-sectional illustration of an air direction arrangement 100 which is arranged on or in the fuselage 20. The outer wall 125 of the air direction arrangement extends from the fuselage 20 so that between the fuselage 20 and the outer wall 125 the inlet opening 110 of the air direction arrangement 100 is formed. During flight, the air flow 112 flows into the inlet opening 110 and flows through the inlet channel 111 to the engine 30.

(10) In the outer wall 125 there is an outlet channel 135 which can be closed or released by three outlet flaps 130. In FIG. 2, the outlet flaps 130 are shown in an open position. In the open position, a portion of the air flow 112 can escape from the inlet channel 111 through the outlet channel 135 into the environment of the aircraft, as indicated by the corresponding arrows.

(11) The air direction arrangement 100 has an actuation member 132, which is mechanically coupled to an outlet flap 130. The actuation member 132 is configured in such a manner that it can move the outlet flap 130 from a closed position into an open position (at a predetermined opening angle) or it can move the outlet flap 130 from the open position into the closed position. The outlet flaps 130 are supported in an articulated manner in the outer wall 125. In FIG. 2, for reasons of illustration, only an actuation member 132 is shown. However, it should be understood that a plurality of actuation members 132 may be provided, of which one is coupled to an outlet flap 130 in each case.

(12) FIG. 3 shows the structure from FIG. 2, wherein the heat exchanger 140 which is arranged in the outlet channel 135 is also shown. The structure of the air direction arrangement 100 shown in FIG. 3 corresponds to the structure shown in FIG. 2 and is not described again at this point.

(13) As can be seen in FIG. 3, the heat exchanger 140 is located in the outlet channel 135 and is sized in such a manner that the heat exchanger 140 does not protrude over the inner side 122 of the outer wall 125 into the inlet channel 111 and also does not protrude beyond the outer skin 120 of the outer wall 125 into the environment of the aircraft. Along the outlet channel 135, the inner side 122 and the outer skin 120 are continued with a dashed line in order to identify precisely this relationship. The thickness 126 of the outer wall 125 is determined as the spacing between the inner side 122 and the outer skin 120. As can be seen in FIG. 3, the heat exchanger 140 has a height which is lower than the thickness 126 of the outer wall 125.

(14) With respect to the inner side 122, the inlet channel 111 has a flow cross section 113. The heat exchanger 140 is arranged in such a manner in the outlet channel 135 that it does not protrude into the flow cross section 113 of the inlet channel 111 and the air flow between the inlet opening 110 and engine 30 (see FIG. 2) is not subjected to an increased flow resistance.

(15) In addition, it should be noted that “comprising” or “having” does not exclude any other elements or steps and “one” or “a” does not exclude a large number. Furthermore, it should be noted that features or steps which have been described with reference to one of the above embodiments can also be used in combination with other features or steps of other embodiments described above. Reference numerals in the claims are not intended to be considered to be a limitation.

(16) While at least one exemplary embodiment of the present invention(s) is disclosed herein, it should be understood that modifications, substitutions and alternatives may be apparent to one of ordinary skill in the art and can be made without departing from the scope of this disclosure. This disclosure is intended to cover any adaptations or variations of the exemplary embodiment(s). In addition, in this disclosure, the terms “comprise” or “comprising” do not exclude other elements or steps, the terms “a”, “an” or “one” do not exclude a plural number, and the term “or” means either or both. Furthermore, characteristics or steps which have been described may also be used in combination with other characteristics or steps and in any order unless the disclosure or context suggests otherwise. This disclosure hereby incorporates by reference the complete disclosure of any patent or application from which it claims benefit or priority.

LIST OF REFERENCE NUMERALS

(17) 10 Aircraft

(18) 20 Fuselage

(19) 30 Engine

(20) 100 Air direction arrangement

(21) 110 Inlet opening

(22) 111 Inlet channel

(23) 112 Air flow

(24) 113 Flow cross section

(25) 120 Outer skin

(26) 122 Inner side

(27) 125 Outer wall

(28) 126 Thickness of the outer wall

(29) 130 Outlet element

(30) 132 Actuation member

(31) 135 Outlet channel

(32) 140 Heat exchanger