Early Detection of Ice Buildup on Aircraft Heat Exchangers

Honeywell Aerospace Engineering, 2009-10

Liaison(s): Joe Borghese
Advisor(s): Anthony Bright
Students(s): Ian Bullock (TL-S), Julia Diaz (F), Marco Fernandez (F), Benyue Liu (TL-S), Andrew Macrae (S), Christopher Nield (TL-F)

Heat exchangers used in environmental control systems often experience significant ice buildup during use. Currently, severe ice buildup is detected by pressure sensors, and hot air is used to melt the ice. Our project is concerned with designing and testing a novel sensor system to enable reliable detection of small amounts of ice so that the ice can be melted earlier to provide more efficient and consistent system performance.