Hybrid on-board generation of oxygen for aircraft passengers

摘要

Provided herein is a hybrid system for generating oxygen on-board an aircraft for passengers and/or flight crew to breath. The system includes a first chemical oxygen generator component configured to promptly supply oxygen suitable for breathing upon an emergency situation arising and during an initial descent mode. Heat produced from the exothermic decomposition reactions inherent in several types of chemical oxygen generators can be harvested and feed to a second oxygen generator. The second oxygen generator is a solid electrolyte oxygen separation system that catalytically separates oxygen from air inside specialized ceramic materials at high temperatures, about 650° C. to 750° C., using electrical voltage. The ability to feed heat from the first oxygen generator to the second oxygen generator substantially reduces the lag time until the second ceramic oxygen generator is available to take over as the oxygen supply.

主权项

1. A hybrid system for providing supplemental oxygen for breathing for crew or passengers of an aircraft, comprising:
an on-board oxygen generator that requires heating to reach an operational temperature; and a chemical oxygen generator configured to produce oxygen and heat; a heat exchange interface disposed between said on-board oxygen generator and said chemical oxygen generator to provide thermal communication between said chemical oxygen generator and said on-board oxygen generator, said chemical oxygen generator including a chemical oxygen generating composition that is at least partially coated on said heat exchange interface and that is in direct thermal contact with said heat exchange interface, wherein said heat exchange interface is operative to supply the heat produced by the chemical oxygen generator to said on-board oxygen generator to thereby expedite attainment of the operational temperature for said on-board oxygen generator.