Icing Solution

Pretty cool. Low cost (at least until it becones certified), low power consumption and light weight. Almost as good an idea as wrapping heat tape on the leading edge of the wing and tail...
 
So I guess my running-the-exhaust-through-the-leading-edges-of-the-wings idea is going to go the way of the buggy whip.
 
Ron Levy said:
I wonder how durable this thin film is. Will the first bug that hits it perforate it?
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I can see the A.Ds out for plating depth....

Seriously, though, plating technology has come a long way. The new headed and cooled seats in GM upscale autos are simply a piece of plated aluminum- put the current through one way--->heat. The other way--->cool. There will be no propellor boots to delaminate, an advantage. But boy oh boy am I cleaning my own windscreen!
 
bbchien said:
I can see the A.Ds out for plating depth....

Seriously, though, plating technology has come a long way. The new headed and cooled seats in GM upscale autos are simply a piece of plated aluminum- put the current through one way--->heat. The other way--->cool. There will be no propellor boots to delaminate, an advantage. But boy oh boy am I cleaning my own windscreen!
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That's not a just a piece of aluminum, it's probably a semiconductor junction sandwiched between aluminum sheets. The setup is called a Peltier cooler. They work on the same principle as a thermocouple which converts a temperature difference into an electric current. If you pass a current through a thermocouple one junction gets hotter and one gets cooler. Companies have been making beer coolers and CPU coolers with this technology for years.

http://www.tetech.com/techinfo/#1
 
I'd first like to see it work on both a fully covered windshield -all the way out to the entire, unbroken, iced up perimeter and also on the wing's leading edge that's covered from wing root to tip with solid rime/clear ice, in a realistic environmental temp in the mid 20 degree range or thereabouts.
 
That is pretty awesome but I wonder how the electrical charge will effect the avionics on the plane?
 
N2212R said:
So I guess my running-the-exhaust-through-the-leading-edges-of-the-wings idea is going to go the way of the buggy whip.
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Ed,

A few years ago, in an article in "Flying", Peter Garrison discussed this method of deicing...I think he referenced some WWII bomber types where exhaust heat was used for deicing but I think the conclusion for our GA aircraft is that not enough heat is produced and there is too much heat loss by the time it is transfered out to the wings.

Len
 
1375 degrees cools off that quick eh?
 
interesting, so as a CFII i could fly with a student in above freezing IMC, run the "de icer" backwards to accumulate some ice, give student good demo of degraded performance, then shed it? Would that be flight into know icing? hmmmmmmmmmmmm
 
ack!@ that is enough thermodynamics for this year!
 
tonycondon said:
ack!@ that is enough thermodynamics for this year!
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I think the potential for melting and refreezing a microlayer of ice under a more or less immovable, seamless ice shell wrapped over the leading edges (as can happen with conventional deice boots) and also the windshield curvature, has to be demonstrably ruled out in actual icing flight or in a freezing temp/wind tunnel simulation.
 
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