Application of scaling-endoreversible thermodynamic analysis model to aircraft environmental control system-methodology development

Abstract

An Aircraft environmental control system (ECS) is a complex thermodynamic system that ensures the health and thermal comfort of passengers. The investigation of the thermodynamic characteristics of the ECS helps improve the energy efficiency of aircraft. Existing research focuses on the optimization analysis of thermodynamic processes. In this study, to obtain the analytical solution of the thermodynamic characteristics of the ECS, a scaling-endoreversible thermodynamic analysis model (SETM) is proposed and applied to a two-wheel bootstrap air cycle system with high-pressure water separation. Results show that the maximum average error between theoretical results and experimental results is 1.82% after humidity correction. In addition, the effectiveness of a heat exchanger significantly affects the coefficient of performance of the ECS and it can be estimated under different inlet parameters using the heat exchanger scaling model. This helps in predicting system thermal performance more accurately.