Solving Flow Balancing Problem for Hybrid-Electric Aircraft Cooling Systems

Abstract

A flow balancing problem consists of sizing restrictions on flow branches of a fluid system to match desired flow rates on each branch. The problem is rarely trivial as parallel branches routinely contain many components with nonlinear pressure loss characteristics each. This paper introduces the Physics-based Solving capabilities implemented in Modelon Liquid Cooling library. This new capability enables conveniently solving such flow balancing problems with steady-state requirements. The benefits of this solution are discussed using an aircraft thermal management system as example.