An aircraft has a fuel storage tank monitoring system 100 with one or more sets of sensors 104A,104B,104C, a memory unit 110, and a transmitter 112 arranged to receive sensor data. Each set of sensors has one or more individual sensors arranged to detect the condition of a respective aircraft fuel storage tank 10A,10B,10C and to generate corresponding data. Data may be downloaded from the memory unit of the monitoring system, or receiving data from the transmitter, and processed to determine the condition of the fuel storage tank; this may be processed in part by an artificial intelligence. Fuel storage tanks may be replaced following determining their condition. The fuel storage tanks may be for gaseous hydrogen fuel and the sensor sets may be embedded within a carbon-fibre composite laminate wall structure of the tanks. The monitoring system may include one or more sensors of the following type: fibre-optic, ultrasound, thermography, shearography, acoustic emission, acousto-ultrasonic, vibro-acoustic, modal analysis, electrical resistivity, eddy current, or particle-tagging sensors.
Aircraft comprising fuel storage tank monitoring system
2022-08-24
Patent
Electronic Resource
English
IPC: | B64D Ausrüstung für Flugzeuge , EQUIPMENT FOR FITTING IN OR TO AIRCRAFT / B64F GROUND OR AIRCRAFT-CARRIER-DECK INSTALLATIONS SPECIALLY ADAPTED FOR USE IN CONNECTION WITH AIRCRAFT , Boden- oder Flugzeugträgerdeckeinrichtungen besonders ausgebildet für die Verwendung in Verbindung mit Luftfahrzeugen |