Australian company Swan International is aiming for certification in the third quarter of this year of an in-flight ice detection system that uses optical technologies to detect ice.
The Sydney-based company has recently been demonstrating the Ice-Eye in Europe and the USA and has secured "preliminary contracts" from a number of original equipment manufacturers to take the programme forward, says chief executive Brian McGuire.
The system is suitable for the lower end of the business aircraft market up to small transport aircraft, with interest also coming from the unmanned air vehicle market, he adds.
The Ice-Eye uses optical technologies developed as part of a windshear detection system being developed by Swan. The system detects ice accretion by monitoring its formation on a reference surface using optical discrimination techniques.
Ice responds optically in a different way depending on the incident light wave polarisation, says Swan. This optical polarisation response of ice differs to that of water or other substances.
The high-sensitivity sensor in the system illuminates a small ice collecting window fixed in a sensor housing that is flush-mounted on the tip of a heated sensor tube.
The back-scattered light from the ice collecting surface is collected using polarisation-sensitive optical fibres. The detected light intensity for each fibre, together with the intensity ratio indicates the presence of ice, says Swan. The company has recently been granted a patent from the US Patent Office for the system.
Ice-Eye has received considerable interest from OEMs, says McGuire, with the industry looking for new and improved ice detection systems.
Next month the system will be tested in an ice windtunnel, but with none in Australia, testing is being conducted in the Northern Hemisphere, he says. "In Australia we are a little bit unusual so we have mainly been working with people in Europe, the USA and Canada," says McGuire.
The company is also looking at possible spin-offs from the technology, such as engine icing applications.
Source: Flight International
