Icemart®
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Icemart®
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The
Challenge
Icing represents a complex and expensive problem for different industrial and energy applications: aircraft, wind turbines, power lines.
Ice contamination on aircraft specifically is a multifaceted problem with repercussions on safety, efficiency, costs and the environment. In-flight ice accumulation causes airflow disruption and decreases control and performance. Large pieces of ice separating during flight can cause problems to engines and impact propellers. Additionally, frozen contaminants can jam control surfaces.
Icing is a major cause of delays and severe accidents with 4% of fatal accidents having ice as a contributing factor. The next generation of aircraft targets are to reduce drag by 20%, fuel consumption by 4%, and CO2 emissions. So a clean and smooth wing surface is essential for natural laminar flow (NLF) and to meet those targets with potential global savings of £3BN and 30M tonnes of CO2 emission/year.
The
Impact
All these measures are expensive, inefficient, unreliable, and environmentally harmful. De-icing systems can also add up to 5% of aircraft weight. This increases fuel consumption, costs and CO2 emissions by 4% and creates potential failure points.
De-icing fluids are also used on the ground to remove ice from aircraft prior to take-off, with operations costing over £10,000 per large aircraft, consuming up to 1500 L of fluid. Waste should be collected to prevent pollution and meet environmental regulations (Groundwater Directive 2006/118/EC), as de-icing fluids increase aquatic toxicity and biochemical oxygen demand (BOD) in waters.
The
Cost
The global Aircraft de-icing market is estimated to reach $1.30 Billion in 2020 and set to increase. Other sectors are also affected through increased O&M costs related to Ice accretion or damage such as the wind turbine sector.
Mitigating and reducing these costs through the application of a new technology such as Icemart® will have long term financial and environmental benefits.