Pulse de-icing for aircraft applications
type: CreativeWork
description: Ice formation and accumulation on aircraft is a major problem in aviation. Icing is directly responsible for fatal aircraft incidents, limiting the safety of air travel and requiring expensive, inefficient, and sometimes ineffective de-icing strategies. In this work, we develop and study electro-thermal pulse deicing capable of ensuring efficient and rapid removal of ice from aircraft during on-ground, takeoff, or flight operation. The pulse approach enables the efficient melting of a thin (<100 µm) ice layer at the aircraft surface in order to limit parasitic heat losses. Only the interface is allowed to melt, with the rest of the ice sliding on the melt lubrication layer due to aerodynamic forces. To study pulse deicing, we develop a transient thermal-hydrodynamic numerical model that accounts for multiple phases and materials, specific and latent heating effects, melt layer hydrodynamics, as well as boundary layer effects. To identify optimal de-icing strategies, we use our model to study the effects of heater thickness (50 µm < t_h < 1 mm), substrate electrical insulation thickness (10 µm < t_i < 1 mm), pulse duration (0.2 s < ∆t_pulse < 4.2 s), and pulse energy (5 KJ < E < 650 KJ). Optimum operating points are identified for large (~100 m, Boeing 747), mid-size (~10 m, Embraer E175) and small (~1 m Cessna 172) aircraft. The scale-dependent thermal-hydraulic model results are used to estimate input conditions required for de-icing and integrated into an electrical model considering energy storage, power electronics, integration, and layout, to achieve overall volumetric and gravimetric power density optimization.
abstract: Ice formation and accumulation on aircraft is a major problem in aviation. Icing is directly responsible for fatal aircraft incidents, limiting the safety of air travel and requiring expensive, inefficient, and sometimes ineffective de-icing strategies. In this work, we develop and study electro-thermal pulse deicing capable of ensuring efficient and rapid removal of ice from aircraft during on-ground, takeoff, or flight operation. The pulse approach enables the efficient melting of a thin (<100 µm) ice layer at the aircraft surface in order to limit parasitic heat losses. Only the interface is allowed to melt, with the rest of the ice sliding on the melt lubrication layer due to aerodynamic forces. To study pulse deicing, we develop a transient thermal-hydrodynamic numerical model that accounts for multiple phases and materials, specific and latent heating effects, melt layer hydrodynamics, as well as boundary layer effects. To identify optimal de-icing strategies, we use our model to study the effects of heater thickness (50 µm < t_h < 1 mm), substrate electrical insulation thickness (10 µm < t_i < 1 mm), pulse duration (0.2 s < ∆t_pulse < 4.2 s), and pulse energy (5 KJ < E < 650 KJ). Optimum operating points are identified for large (~100 m, Boeing 747), mid-size (~10 m, Embraer E175) and small (~1 m Cessna 172) aircraft. The scale-dependent thermal-hydraulic model results are used to estimate input conditions required for de-icing and integrated into an electrical model considering energy storage, power electronics, integration, and layout, to achieve overall volumetric and gravimetric power density optimization.
author: Agarwal, Vaibhav Sunilkumar
language: en
keywords: Pulse power, supercapacitor, freezing, electro-thermal, energy
date published: 2021-09-17T04:06:53Z
date modified: 2026-07-22T22:24:52Z
provider: University of Illinois - Urbana-Champaign
publisher: Networked Digital Library of Theses and Dissertations
type: WebPage
source organization: University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign

PropertyValue
property ID: Handle
value: http://hdl.handle.net/2142/110859