Experimental rig for ice accretion and adhesion strength measurement for air cycle machine system

Air cycle machines (ACM) which are part of the air-conditioning pack in every aircraft, are one such turbomachinery device that can be affected by icing issues particularly at the turbine end. Current ice protection solutions for the air cycle machines use a heating system on the downstream pipe to heat the surface, using electric resistance heaters or hot air coming from the ACM compressor stage. Both solutions require high energy, hence the need to reduce energy consumption through the development of passive energy-saving solutions.

Clean Sky 2 ERICE project aims at developing an eco-friendly and cost-effective hydrophobic / ice-phobic solution able to resist ice adhesion in the ACM turbine scroll and its downstream pipe. This paper discusses the implementation of an experimental rig to reproduce the ice formation and accretion conditions within the ACM and a new shear test method to measure the ice adhesion strength on existing and new solutions in the form of coatings. The flow through the ACM turbine exhaust has also been characterized for the first time in published literature. The results from the ice accretion and adhesion tests show that hydrophobic coatings developed for the purposes of ice protection perform better than the current industry baseline material for ACM turbine scroll pipe internal surface. While these coatings could not be used to prevent accretion, they do help in reducing adhesion of ice to the surface.