Concept Development of Low Power Electrothermal De-icing System

Aircraft icing is a science that requires innovation and understanding of icing formation. Today, airplane manufacturers are looking for alternatives way for removing ice of aircraft surfaces. Conventional electrothermal systems and long used bleed air systems demand considerable amount of energy from the generator and engine respectively. This can compromise airplane performance and energy availability for other subsystems. The novel Low Power Electrothermal De-icing System (LPED) was developed to address the concern of high energy required for an electrothermal ice protection system. The Low Power Electrothermal Deicing system was designed and tested to use an average power of less than 1.5 W/in 2 at -4 degrees Fahrenheit and still comply with the wear and erosion expectations of airfoil surfaces The Low Power Electrothermal De-icing System was successfully tested at the Goodrich Icing Wind Tunnel (IWT), in flight behind an icing tanker and in natural icing on a technology demonstrator airplane during the winter of 2003/2004. Test results have demonstrated the capability of the system to remove ice with little or no runback ice accumulation. This papers briefly describes the Low Power Electrothermal De-icing concept presented in the report AIAA-2005-1460 (reference 1), and discusses the endurance tests, hail tests and additional icing tunnel development tests performed during 2004 and 2005.