Hybrid System Combining Ice-Phobic Coating and Electrothermal Heating for Wing Ice Protection

Abstract

In-flight icing for aircraft is a large concern for all those involved in aircraft operations. Generally, an electric heater has been used to prevent in-flight icing. A hybrid anti-icing system combining ice-phobic coating and electrothermal heating (ICE-WIPS) has been proposed by the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) to reduce the power consumption in the heating unit. In order to validate the effectiveness of ICE-WIPS, validation and demonstration tests are conducted using icing wind tunnels at the Kanagawa Institute of Technology (KAIT) and at the Icing Research Tunnel in the NASA Glenn Research Center. Using a NACA0012 airfoil as a test model, ICE-WIPS demonstrates substantial reduction in power consumption as compared to the existing heating system. The reduction depends on the in-flight icing conditions; more than a 70% reduction is achieved at a liquid-water content (LWC) of 0.6 g/m3 and a median-volume diameter (MVD) of 15 μm at 75 m/s with zero angle of attack. In wet-icing conditions, more than a 30% reduction in power is achieved.

Experimental Heat Loads for Electrothermal Anti-Icing and De-Icing on UAVs

“…Icephobic coatings can reduce the ice adhesion forces and are a relatively new technology that is currently under research [22]. In the future, these systems may be especially energy-efficient in combination with an active IPS [23].…”

Electro‐/Photo‐Thermal Promoted Anti‐Icing Materials: A New Strategy Combined with Passive Anti‐Icing and Active De‐Icing

“…For specific anti-icing fields (i.e., aircrafts), however, the reliability, efficiency and safety are of the first importance factors for anti-icing/de-icing in the cold weather. [69,78] Usually, accreted ice on passive anti-icing surfaces of aircrafts can be easily blown off by a wind action as long as ice adhesion strength is below 27 kPa, [30] while these passive anti-icing techniques cannot guarantee surfaces of aircrafts to be always free of ice under a cold and harsh environment. Recently, researchers have developed alternative approaches toward efficient and reliable de-icing by combining passive AIM (i.e., SHSs and lubricating surfaces) [79][80][81][82] and active electro-thermal de-icing technique (Table 2).…”

A Review on the Current Status of Icing Physics and Mitigation in Aviation

“…Instead, the hybrid mitigation technique in which the coatings are used to support an active mitigation technique has been considered. One such example is the mitigation technique combining electrical heating and an icephobic coating proposed by Morita et al [161]. To lower the power consumption of the electrical heater, the heating temperature should be lower and/or the heating area should be minimized.…”