Multi-objective optimization of the aircraft environment control system based on component-level parameter decomposition

Abstract

The aircraft environmental control system (ECS) provides stable and comfortable conditions for passengers, and it is also the largest energy consumer among aircraft non-propulsive subsystems. For designing energy-efficient ECSs, this paper presents an integrated model of predicting and optimizing ECS performance at the component level. A parameter decomposition model of the ECS is first developed to predict the component-level parameters, and a tailor-made algorithm with three iteration loops is then proposed to decouple and solve the model. The model is further verified by the test data of a practical flight, showing good correlations between the predictions and the test data. Based on the model, a multi-objective optimization model is proposed to minimize the entropy generation rate (Ns) and the number of transfer unit (NTU) of the ECS, and a decomposition-based solution method is presented for searching the Pareto front solutions. The results of the application case indicate that the present model can offer optimal trade-off solutions by simultaneously considering ECS thermodynamic performance and system compactness, and sufficiently acquire performance parameters at the system and component levels for ECS design. Moreover, the proposed approach could help aircraft manufacturers determine component performance indicators and offer requirements to the component suppliers.