FUEL TANK WITH WATER BLADDER
FIG5 is a schematic illustration of a fuel tank assembly at an intermediate operational state in accordance with embodiments
As shown in FIG5, while the aircraft 10 is in a high power mode during climbing operations or combat (in the case of a fighter jet), engine temperatures and/or thermal loads increase substantially in relatively short amounts of time and water is pumped out of the bladder 14 in order to support cooling in various systems such as environmental cooling systems and the ACM 17 even while the fuel is spent. In such cases, the controller 20 may control the first flow control element 30 to prevent a flow of water into the bladder 14 and may control the second flow control element 31 to allow a flow of the water from the bladder 14. This results in the bladder deflating and, in some cases, deflating as a substantially increased rate as compared to its inflation rate (i.e., bladder 14 inflation may require hours versus minutes during which the bladder 14 can be deflated). At this point, the controller 20 may control the first and second flow control elements 30 to allow or prevent flows of water relative to the bladder 14 but may, in particular, control the second flow control element 31 to allow a flow of water from the bladder 14 to the environmental cooling systems and the ACM 17 in order to save power during final minutes of flight time.
schematic
171
heat exchanger
17
ACM
12
water separation component
151
second portion
20
controller
16
coolant flow system
162
outlet pipe outlet pipes
31
second flow control element second flow control elements
150
first portion
170
compressor
161
inlet pipe
['5. The tank assembly according to any preceding claim, further comprising a controller (20) configured to sense the volume of the first fluid and to control the flow system accordingly, wherein the controller is further configured to control the flow system to draw at least a portion of the volume of the second fluid from the bladder and the housing based on an external requirement.', '7. The tank assembly according to any preceding claim, wherein the flow system comprises: inlet (161) and outlet (162) pipes which are respectively fluidly communicative with the bladder; and flow control elements (30, 31) respectively disposed along the inlet and outlet pipes and respectively controllable to control a flow of the second fluid through the inlet and outlet pipes.']