Industry is driven by cost constraints more than ever before. Often, it is important for aircraft companies, developing an Environmental Control System (ECS), to have cost information based on a given level of system performance. An analysis tool during the proposal and preliminary design period, to determine the cost sensitivity of various components within the system such as air cycle machines, heat exchangers, valves, filters and pre-coolers, would be valuable.
The study presented describes the various constraints and requirements for a typical ECS. Each process variable including: quality control, manufacturing, material, system size, output and input power from air pack, reliability, etc., have an associated cost. Each of these variables relates to the system performance and in some cases are subject to constraints.
There are minimum Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) requirements for ventilation, pressurization and temperature regulation; however, the system is typically designed with additional margins for safety and margins for future program growth. Based on a number of given constraints, including a minimum level of performance as required by the FAA, what is the minimum system cost? What is the sensitivity of the various major ECS components? These questions, if answered, will allow companies to fully understand their product.
With reduced design cycle times and lower system cost requirements, it will become necessary in future ECS programs that industry has an understanding of the cost drivers in their system. Using various design optimization algorithms, we can closely model system performance and ultimately determine the lowest cost system that meets the technical criteria.