Design and Commissioning of the IRIS
A Setup for Aircraft Vapour Compression Cycle-Based Environmental Control System Testing
Federica Ascione (TU Delft - Flight Performance and Propulsion)
A.J. Head (TU Delft - Facility Aerodynamics Laboratory)
P. Colonna di Paliano (TU Delft - Flight Performance and Propulsion)
Carlo de Servi (TU Delft - Flight Performance and Propulsion)
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Abstract
The aircraft Environmental Control System (ECS) is the main consumer of non-propulsive energy, accounting for 3% of the total energy consumption among all the aircraft subsystems. The ECS efficiency can be improved by recurring to an electrically-driven Vapour Compression Cycle (VCC) system for cabin cooling. This work documents the detailed design and the commissioning of a novel experimental test rig, called Inverse organic Rankine cycle Integrated System (IRIS). The setup has been conceived for testing the performance of VCC systems and some of their components for aircraft ECS applications in different operating conditions, and for validating the numerical models developed for systems and components simulations. The facility implements a single-stage compression refrigeration cycle with two test sections: a volumetric compressor testing setup and an air-cooled condenser test bed. The evaporator is heated by a glycol-water mixture, warmed up in an independent loop. The design working fluid is R-1233zd(E). The successful commissioning of the facility is documented by discussing the data recorded during steady-state operation at the design operating point, together with the operation of the setup during start-up and shut-down procedures. The system cooling capacity is equal to 17.88 ± 0.8 kW, which is slightly higher than the design value of 15.5 kW. The difference has a positive effect on the system efficiency, which is 4% higher than the one calculated at design.