Liquid water content measurement apparatus and method using rate of change of ice accretion
First Claim
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1. An apparatus for determining liquid water content in a body of air, comprising a probe system comprising a probe configured to permit measuring a rate at which ice accretes on the probe from supercooled water in a body of air;
- a sensing circuit to sense a parameter that changes as ice accretes on the probe and to provide an output signal which is a function of ice accretion on the probe, means for providing signals indicative of air temperature and relative velocity of the body of air as air moves relative to the probe;
a logic device communicatively connected to the probe system, configured to accept inputs from the sensing circuit, and inputs representing air temperature and relative velocity of the body of air from the means for providing, and a set of stored data providing an input to the logic device, the logic device performing operations on the inputs including determining the rate of change of ice accretion, and producing an output indicating liquid water content in the body of air using the set of stored data.
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Abstract
Ice accretion on a probe is detected with various ice detectors to provide a signal indicating the rate of ice accretion. The rate of change of ice accretion is determined and is combined with parameters including air velocity, air pressure and air temperature for providing a signal that indicates liquid water content in the airflow, as well as ice accretion on the ice detector.
33 Citations
13 Claims
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1. An apparatus for determining liquid water content in a body of air, comprising a probe system comprising a probe configured to permit measuring a rate at which ice accretes on the probe from supercooled water in a body of air;
- a sensing circuit to sense a parameter that changes as ice accretes on the probe and to provide an output signal which is a function of ice accretion on the probe, means for providing signals indicative of air temperature and relative velocity of the body of air as air moves relative to the probe;
a logic device communicatively connected to the probe system, configured to accept inputs from the sensing circuit, and inputs representing air temperature and relative velocity of the body of air from the means for providing, and a set of stored data providing an input to the logic device, the logic device performing operations on the inputs including determining the rate of change of ice accretion, and producing an output indicating liquid water content in the body of air using the set of stored data. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8)
- a sensing circuit to sense a parameter that changes as ice accretes on the probe and to provide an output signal which is a function of ice accretion on the probe, means for providing signals indicative of air temperature and relative velocity of the body of air as air moves relative to the probe;
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9. An apparatus for determining liquid water content in a body of air comprising a probe, a sensing device associated with the probe that provide a signal that changes predictably as a function of a quantity of ice accreted on the probe;
- the sensing device including a probe sensing circuit configured to provide a signal indicating the rate of ice accretion on the probe;
a logic device, communicatively connected to the probe sensing circuit and configured to accept inputs comprising the signal indicating the rate of ice accretion, the temperature of the body of air and the relative airspeed past the probe, the logic device performing operations on the inputs and producing outputs based on the operations;
a memory storage device, communicatively connected to the logic device, configured to supply stored data as an input to the logic device, including stored data representing measurements of liquid water content under known conditions of rate of change of the signal indicating the rate of ice accretion on the probe, the temperature of the body of air and the relative airspeed past the probe, and the logic device correlating the rate of change of the signal indicating the rate of ice accretion on the probe, the temperature of the body of air and the relative airspeed past the probe with the stored data to provide an output indicating liquid water content in the body of air. - View Dependent Claims (10, 11)
- the sensing device including a probe sensing circuit configured to provide a signal indicating the rate of ice accretion on the probe;
- 12. A method of determining liquid water content in an airflow, for signaling icing conditions for an aircraft, wherein the aircraft is moving relative to the air flow, including providing an ice detector probe on the aircraft, providing an ice detector sensor on the probe having an output that changes as ice accretes on the probe, determining changes in the output of the ice detector sensor to provide a rate signal indicating rate of ice accretion on the ice detector probe, determining the rate of change of the rate signal, determining airspeed of the air vehicle, determining air temperature of the airflow, and correlating the parameters comprising the rate signal, the determined airspeed and the determined airflow temperature with previously established relationships between these parameters stored in one of a lookup table and algorithm for providing an output indicating liquid water content of the air.
Specification