AIRCRAFT ENVIRONMENTAL CONDITIONING SYSTEM AND ENVIRONMENTAL CONDITIONING METHOD

摘要

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To detect catastrophic system failure that can result in a cabin smoke event.SOLUTION: An aircraft environmental conditioning system 100 is disclosed that includes an air cycle machine for conditioning an airflow comprising hot compressed air by reducing its temperature and pressure. The air cycle machine is disposed in a housing 105 in an unpressurized area of the aircraft, and produces conditioned pressurized air 148 in a conduit 145 for delivery to a pressurized area of the aircraft. The system also includes a smoke sensor 152, 154 disposed within the conduit or within the housing external to the conduit, and a controller 160 in communication with the smoke sensor that is configured to respond to smoke detected by the smoke sensor.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 1