Development of a system that detects electric arcs in aircraft

Researchers from the Universidad Carlos III de Madrid (UC3M), together with Airbus Defence and Space (ADS), have developed a system that rapidly detects electric arcs in aircraft. This technological research project is being funded by the ADS with support from the Centre for the Development of Industrial Technology (CDTI, in its Spanish acronym) and will contribute to developing safer and cleaner aircraft. Significant changes are being made to aircraft electrical systems in order to reduce greenhouse gas emissions from air transport. Among other things, pneumatic and hydraulic actuators are being replaced by electric motors. This results in an increase in the electrical power being produced and distributed by the aircraft. Increasing conventional power voltage levels to higher values is necessary in order to deal with these power levels. These voltage magnitudes in equipment that operate at high altitudes result in undesirable ionisation processes, such as the appearance of electric arcs, due to the low air density.