Ice and Rain

Protection
Ice and Rain
Ice and Rain
Types of Ice
 Ice and Rain Protection
 Ice may be expected to form whenever there is visible

moisture in the air and temperature is near or below

freezing.
 Under certain atmospheric conditions, ice can build

rapidly on air foils and air inlets.

 On days when there is visible moisture in the air, ice

can form on aircraft leading edge surfaces at altitudes

where freezing temperatures start.
 Effects of Ice Buildup

 Destroys smooth flow of air over

wing, leading to severe decrease

in lift and increase in drag forces
can change pitching moment
 As angle of attack is increased to

compensate for decreased lift,

more accumulation can occur on
lower wing surface
 Effects of Ice Buildup

 Causes damage to external equipment such as

antennae and can clog inlets, and cause impact

damage to fuselage and engines
 Considered a cumulative hazard because as ice

builds up on the wing, it increasingly changes

the flight characteristics

 Types of Ice
 Rime: “has a rough milky white
appearance and generally
follows the surface closely”
 Clear/Glaze: “sometimes clear
and smooth but usually contain
some air pockets that result in a
lumpy translucent appearance,
denser, harder and more difficult
to break than rime ice”
 Mixed
 Ice and Rain Protection
 Ice or frost forming on aircraft creates two basic
hazards:
 1. The resulting malformation of the airfoil that
could decrease the amount of lift.
 2. The additional weight and unequal formation of
the ice that could cause unbalancing of the
aircraft, making it hard to control.
 Enough ice to cause an unsafe flight condition
can form in a very short period of time, thus
some method of ice prevention or removal is
necessary
 Cumulative Effects of Icing

Decreases Lift

Decreases Increases
Thrust Drag

Increases Weight
 Cumulative Effects of Icing
 It causes destructive vibration and hampers true instrument
readings.
 Control surfaces become unbalanced or frozen.
 Fixed slots are filled and movable slots jammed.
 Radio reception is hampered and engine performance is
affected.
 When chunks break off, they can also cause engine failures and
structural damage.
 Ice and Rain Protection
The ice and rain protection systems used on aircraft keep ice
from forming on the following airplane components:
• Wing leading edges
• Horizontal and vertical stabilizer leading edges
• Engine cowl leading edges
• Propellers• Propeller spinner
• Air data probes • Flight deck windows
• Water and waste system lines and drains
• Antenna
 Ice Prevention

Several means to prevent or control ice formation are used

in aircraft today:
1. Heating surfaces with hot air
2. Heating by electrical elements
3. Breaking up ice formations, usually by inflatable boots
4. Chemical application
 Types of Ice Removal
 Anti-Icing

 Preemptive, turned on before the flight enters icing conditions

Includes: thermal heat, prop heat, pitot heat, fuel vent heat,
windshield heat, and fluid surface de-icers.
 De-Icing

 Reactive, used after there has been significant ice build up

 Includes surface de-ice equipment such as boots, weeping wing
systems, and heated wings
Ice and Rain Protection
 Thermal Pneumatic Anti-icing

 Thermal systems used for the purpose of preventing

the formation of ice or for deicing airfoil leading

edges usually use heated air ducted span wise
along the inside of the leading edge of the airfoil and
distributed around its inner surface.
 These thermal pneumatic anti-icing systems are

used for wings, leading edge slats, horizontal and

vertical stabilizers, engine inlets, and more
 Thermal Pneumatic Anti-icing

Sources Of Heated Air

 Hot air bled from the turbine compressor,

 Engine exhaust heat exchangers,

 Ram air heated by a combustion heater

Wing Anti-Ice (WAI) System

 Thermal wing anti-ice (WAI or TAI) systems

use hot air bled from the engine compressor

 The hot air is routed through ducting,

manifolds, and valves to components that

need to be anti-iced.
Thermal WAI system.
 Thermal Electric Anti-Icing

 Electricity is used to heat various components on an

aircraft so that ice does not form.
 This type of anti-ice is typically limited to small
components due to high amperage draw.
 Effective thermal electric anti-ice is used on most air data
probes, such as pitot tubes, static air ports, TAT and AOA
probes, ice detectors, and engine P2/T2 sensors.
 Water lines, waste water drains, and some turboprop
inlet cowls are also heated with electricity to prevent ice
from forming. Transport category and high performance
aircraft use thermal electric anti-icing in windshields
 Thermal Electric Anti-Icing

 In devices that use thermal electric anti-ice,

current flows through an integral conductive

element that produces heat.
 The temperature of the component is elevated

above the freezing point of water so ice cannot

form.
 Chemical Anti-icing
 Chemical anti-icing is used in some aircraft to anti-
ice the leading edges of the wing, stabilizers,
windshields, and propellers.
 The wing and stabilizer systems are often called
weeping wing systems .
 Ice protection is based upon the freezing point
depressant concept.
 An antifreeze solution is pumped from a reservoir
through a mesh screen embedded in the leading
edges of the wings and stabilizers.
 Chemical Anti-icing
 Activated by a switch in the cockpit, the liquid
flows over the wing and tail surfaces, preventing
the formation of ice as it flows.
 The solution mixes with the super cooled water
in the cloud,depresses its freezing point, and
allows the mixture to flow off of the aircraft
without freezing.
 The system is designed to anti-ice, but it is also
capable of deicing an aircraft as well.
 Pneumatic Deice Boot System
 Aircraft, especially twin-engine models, are
equipped with pneumatic deicer systems.
 These boots have a series of inflatable tubes.

 During operation, the tubes are inflated and

deflated in an alternating cycle.

 This inflation and deflation causes the ice to crack

and break off.

Cross-section of a pneumatic deicing
boot uninflated (top) and inflated
(bottom).
 Rain Control Systems

 There are several different ways to remove the rain

from the windshields.

 Most aircraft use one or a combination of the

following systems: windshield wipers, chemical rain

repellent, pneumatic rain removal (jet blast), or
windshields treated with a hydrophobic surface seal
coating
 Windshield Wiper Systems
 In an electrical windshield wiper system, the wiper blades
are driven by an electric motor(s) that receive (s) power
from the aircraft’s electrical system.
 On some aircraft, the pilot’s and copilot’s windshield
wipers are operated by separate systems to ensure that
clear vision is maintained through one of the windows
should one system fail.
 Each windshield wiper assembly consists of a wiper, wiper
arm, and a wiper motor/converter. Almost all windshield
wiper systems use electrical motors. Some older aircraft
might be equipped with hydraulic wiper motors
 Chemical Rain Repellent

 When glass is treated with certain chemicals, a

transparent film is formed that causes the water to
behave very much like mercury on glass.
 A rain repellant system permits application of the

chemical repellant by a switch or push button in the

cockpit
 The proper amount of repellant is applied regardless of

how long the switch is held.

 Portable Water Tank Ice
Prevention
 Transport type aircraft have water and waste systems on board,

and electrical heaters are often used to prevent the formation of

ice in the water lines of these systems.
 Water lines carry water from the portable tanks to the lavatories
and galleys.
 Thermostats in the water lines supply temperature data to the

control unit that turns the electrical heaters on and off.

 When the temperature falls below freezing, the electrical heaters
turn on and stay on until the temperature reaches a safe
temperature
The
End
Thank
You