Michael Markwart

Flight Testing of Alternative Ventilation Systems for Aircraft Cabins

Cabin displacement ventilation (CDV) has been evaluated for the first time in a real passenger aircraft cabin under flight conditions. Two ventilation systems, i.e. pure CDV and a hybrid ventilation (HV) system, which provides 30 % of the total volume flow rate through the lateral mixing ventilation outlets, were tested in an A320 aircraft. While pure CDV was found to provide low air velocities, high heat removal efficiencies and a very good dynamic performance regarding control of the air temperatures, the hybrid system, still allowing for comfortable flow velocities and good heat removal efficiencies, was shown to significantly improve the cooling and heating rates at the cabin surfaces. With both systems, the local temperature in the passenger zone is distributed very homogeneously among the investigated seat and aisle positions.