De-Icing Process of Airplanes

The de-icing process of the aircraft is mandatory in terms of safety, when snow starts or ice forms. In fact, ice and snow both disrupt the aerodynamics of the aircraft and increase its weight.

There are four types of liquids available for de-icing. At an airport in Amsterdam, the liquid is stored in tanks and then pumped to a type of vehicle called the “Safeaeros”, which is then used for defrosting.

To make sure there is enough liquid at all times, we need a way to automatically measure liquid levels, which is difficult because pumping liquid to "safearos" requires a high pressure (more than 2.5 bar). For this purpose, pressure transmitters were designed to be installed in each tank, which measure differential pressure. The liquid column of the tank is calculated by the difference between the pressure measured at the bottom of the tank and the prevailing pressure above the fluid (= pressure greater than 2.5 bar). The resulting data can be sent to end devices.