Management and intelligent control of in-flight fuel distribution in a commercial aircraft

Abstract

Fuel management is an important issue in aviation for safety and efficiency reasons. This work develops an alternative solution based on an artificial intelligent technique to the fuel distribution management problem in commercial aircrafts. The fuel flow control amongst tanks during the flight is addressed. A fuzzy management system is implemented that decides the best fuel distribution based on safety criteria (keeping engines fed) and dynamic stability (placing the centre of gravity at the appropriate position), amongst other specifications. Expert knowledge is used to define the rules of the fuel fuzzy control, taking into account that the dynamics of the system changes, whilst fuel is being consumed. It has been simulated on a real long-range-type commercial aircraft with satisfactory results regarding stability, even in the case of internal malfunction (in pipes, pumps, or valves), and with external disturbances (engine failure). The knowledge-based fuzzy control is able to maintain the centre of gravity position within the stability and manoeuvrability margins along the flight. Besides, the intelligent control strategy minimizes the action of the actuators, providing some advantages to the control solution.