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As aviation enters the future, new technologies and philosophies are required to keep up with ever changing demands and increased market competition. Aircraft designers are required to come up with new and innovative ways to optimise systems and improve efficiencies. Onboard thermal management is an area that can take advantage of several new technologies to do just that. This paper is based on the development project “Advanced Thermal Management in Aeronautics” (ATMIA). Project ATMIA focuses on the use of Loop Heat Pipes (LHPs) in the aeronautical industry, specifically their onboard feasibility and the unique requirements found on an aeronautical platform such as those due to vibrations, gravitational forces and the need for disassembly due to maintenance. LHPs are passive two-phase devices that allow free-energy heat transportation between certain subsystems without needing additional power consumption.

Advance thermal management systems are being developed to optimise the energy balance within aircraft. This is being done in parallel to the concept of the More Electrical Aircraft (MEA) which has been developing throughout the last decades. The objective of such complex systems is to use efficiently the hot and cold sources available within the air vehicle to reduce the engine fuel consumption. A reduction of electrical power consumption, minimisation of weight, optimisation of aircraft aerodynamics (for example RAM inlets area minimisation) and the reduction of bleed air from engine all result in fuel consumption savings. Any thermal management system to optimise energy consumption implies complex and advanced systems. This requires a high engineering effort to design and integrate the system within an aircraft due to the large quantity of variables and interfaces that need to be taken into account.