Performance of an oxygen-consuming inerting system for an aircraft fuel tank with RP-3 aviation fuel in flight

Aircraft fuel tank inerting system is an important guarantee for flight safety. A novel oxygen-consuming inerting system-3CIS (low-temperature controllable oxygen-consuming catalytic inerting system) was proposed and studied with RP-3 aviation fuel. Based on the designed inerting system, the mathematical model of the system in flight was established based on the conservation law of mass and energy. The system performance under different flight conditions was firstly analyzed, and the effects of the initial fuel loading, fan flow rate and preheating temperature on the system performance were studied. Meanwhile, a test bench was built to verify the correctness of the established model. The following conclusions can be drawn from the results: The 3CIS can reduce the oxygen concentration in the fuel tank quickly to prevent fires and suppress explosions. What's more, the inerting time is the longest when the fuel tank is initially empty if all other system conditions are the same. Therefore, it is suggested the no-load state should be used for the system parameters design for the purpose of maximum safety. As for the influence of key parameters on system performance, the inerting rate increases with the increase of fan suction flow and preheating temperature, and low fan flow rate during the climb and cruise stages and high fan flow rate during descent are suggested for the control system designing. Finally, a regenerator is recommended when designing the system since it can effectively reduce the preheating power and cooling power of the system.(c) 2022 Published by Elsevier Masson SAS.