You may wonder how the air conditioning system and the pressurization of an airplane works, and if it only uses internal air from the aircraft, this question runs a lot now with all this of the Covid-19, and it is comprehensible.
Normally there are two ways for the air conditioner to work, one is on the ground and the other is in the air. On the ground, it can work in two ways first from an engine if it is on, called the auxiliary power unit (APU) which is a smaller engine, which supplies the airplane with energy and systems during its stay on the ground and consumes less fuel or second an external source. For this reason, we will describe the different systems and how they interrelate.
Air conditioning systems
In Aircraft, there are normally two equal air conditioning systems designed to work autonomously or in parallel. Usually, each of the systems operates with the air that comes out of the turbine that is closest to it, that is, the right with the right, what is variable is their function, where one can control the temperature of passengers and the other is the temperature of the cabin, but if there is a problem in one, it can supply the temperature to all both areas.
The temperature is controlled from the pilot’s cabin and this can be manual or automatic, which is the one recommended by the manufacturer. When using the external air conditioning, in the ground, what it does is introduce cold air directly and it is distributed throughout the aircraft.
But when in flight the airflow comes from the engines and certain air inlets of the airplane, which is filtered, cooled or heated depending on what is needed by a mixing box. And part of the air is recirculated to maintain the temperature, more easily.
The pressurization system
The pressurization is carried out by means of a controlled airflow from the motors, which passes through the air conditioning system, which cools and filters the air so that when it reaches the cabins, it is at a temperature that is pleasant for humans and It is distributed to the appropriate places to keep the airplane pressurized, there are certain places, like most cargo areas that are not pressurized, in some planes. This system is regulated by valves that allow the expulsion of the extra air that enters and can over pressurize the aircraft.
The operation is normally automatic unless there is a failure and it must be carried out manually. The cabin pressure normally stays at an altitude lower than the altitude that the aircraft has with respect to the earth’s surface, thus giving a controlled environment where there is no effect of altitude on humans.
This system normally has a backup system for any abnormality that may affect the flight and this is activated during the takeoff run and ends once landing, but as it must be configured, people can feel it weakly, unless who has a respiratory problem or is ill which prevents him from regulating the pressures in the body, which can be solved by drinking a little water.
For all this, we explain that the air circulated in the plane is expelled, but another part is recirculated, which is why sometimes it is required on international flights to use air fresheners made to eliminate bacteria that may remain inside the cabin.
What do you think about this topic? Do you want to know more about the systems of an aircraft?
If you want to know more about this you can contact us or write your query at the bottom (comments section)
