Patent Description:
Airports have ground support equipment, such as ground power units, for powering aircraft when parked next to an airport building. This ground-based power supply allows the electronic systems of the aircraft to remain on without needing the aircraft engines to be running which would require additional aviation fuel.

Airports also have a number of powered and non-powered equipment on the tarmac which provide various functions. Powered equipment such as refuelers, tugs, eGPUs and buses, are required periodically throughout the day to move fuel, aircraft and passengers. However, one barrier to wider adoption of electrifying these vehicles is a lack of battery charging capacity at airports.

The present invention seeks to address at least some of these issues.

<CIT> discloses an airport electric vehicle charging system that includes a current transducer electrically coupled with a power source; a solid state converter electrically coupleable with an aircraft at or near an airport gate and configured to provide and maintain power to the aircraft; and a controller. The system further includes a first feedback loop between the controller and the current transducer; a second feedback loop between the controller and the solid state converter; and a battery charger electrically coupled with the power source and configured to charge one or more electric vehicles. The first feedback loop provides a first feedback signal generated by the current transducer to the controller. The second feedback loop provides a second feedback signal generated by the solid state converter to the controller. The battery charger is configured to consume power from the power source in accordance with the first and second feedback signals.

<CIT> discloses a charging pile device designed for use with an airport ground power supply. The device comprises a bus, a power input module, a power module, a charging pile module, and a control module. The power input module is connected to the power module via the bus and is configured to access mains power and transmit it to the power module. The charging pile module is connected to both the power module and the power input module through the bus. The control module is connected to the bus, the power input module, the power module, and the charging pile module. The control module is configured to collect data on the power output of the power input module and the load power of the power module. When the difference between the power output of the power input module and the load power of the power module falls within a pre-set range, the control module controls the power input module to supply power to the charging pile module.

Viewed from a first aspect, the present invention provides a ground support equipment for powering an aircraft on the ground, the ground support equipment comprising: a solid state converter configured to power an aircraft on the ground from an airport power source having a pre-determined maximum power, and a battery charging unit comprising a battery charging unit controller configured to charge an external battery from the airport power source. The solid state converter comprises a solid state converter controller configured to measure an instantaneous power drawn by the aircraft. The solid state converter controller is operatively connected to the battery charging unit controller by a communication channel. The solid state converter controller is configured to communicate a control signal to the battery charging unit for controlling the battery charging unit, the control signal being indicative of a maximum power available for the battery charging unit based on the difference between the pre-determined maximum power of the airport power source and the instantaneous power drawn by the aircraft.

Thus, the present invention provides a ground support equipment which can function as a ground power unit for powering an aircraft on the ground and divert any excess power to a charging port for charging a battery of an electric vehicle at the same time. Thus, the battery of different ground handling equipment or vehicles can be charged when the aircraft does not require the maximum power from the ground support equipment, or when the aircraft does not need powering, such as at night or when no aircraft is present at the gate. As the solid state converter includes a controller for monitoring the power drawn by the aircraft, the present invention does away with the need for additional power controllers to determine how much power can be diverted to the charging port. A further advantage of the present ground support equipment is to utilise the same, either a new or existing, airport power source to power the aircraft's equipment as well as mobile battery powered equipment close to where they are used. This is in contrast to providing double the power infrastructure to power the charging port which would add significant costs to the airport.

The communication channel between the solid state converter controller and the battery charging unit controller allows the battery charging unit controller to receive the control signal from the solid state converter controller. The battery charging unit can therefore provide power to the charging port in a manner that is limited based on the power drawn by the aircraft and based on the known maximum power output of the airport power supply. As the airport power supply has a known power output (i.e. the maximum power output for the airport power supply is pre-determined or pre-set for the airport), the ground support equipment can be pre-set or pre-programmed or manually set to work with the known airport power supply. As such, the present ground support equipment does not have a separate transducer to measure the total power being drawn by the ground support equipment to determine how much power can be drawn by the battery charging unit.

The solid state converter may be configured to receive a user input for setting the pre-determined maximum power. Thus, a ground operator can easily set or adjust the pre-determined maximum power level at the gate based on the requirements of the aircraft and/or based on the known output of the airport power supply.

The control signal may be based on the difference between the pre-determined maximum power level and the current power level drawn by the aircraft. In some cases, the power to the battery charging unit is reduced as power to the aircraft is required. This advantageously reduces the risk of any components being overloaded when there is a high power demand of the aircraft.

The battery charging unit may comprise a plurality of power modules configured to receive power from the airport power source. The plurality of power charging modules may be connected in parallel.

At least one of the plurality of power charging modules may be configured to provide a 30kW output.

At least one of the plurality of charging modules is configured to convert an AC input to a DC output. The battery charging unit may be configured to provide a DC power output. In some cases, the DC power output is a high voltage output.

The ground support equipment may comprise a common rectifier configured to convert an AC input to a DC output. This advantageously provides a DC bus which can be used to power the battery charging unit and any other components of the ground support equipment, such as the solid state converter for powering the aircraft. The DC bus may be configured to provide power to each of the plurality of power charging modules.

The solid state converter may be configured to provide a <NUM> output. The solid state converter may be configured to receive power from an AC power source. The solid state converter may be configured to provide up to 180kW output power. The solid state converter may be pre-fused.

The battery charging unit may be configured to provide an output power of 120kW. The battery charging unit may be configured to provide a DC power output.

The ground support equipment may comprise a plurality of solid state converters configured to provide power to the aircraft. The plurality of solid state converters may be connected in parallel.

An exemplary ground support equipment <NUM> is shown in <FIG>. The ground support equipment <NUM> will typically be installed as a fixed unit on the ground close to where an aircraft will be parked on the ground.

The ground support equipment <NUM> has a cabinet <NUM> having a first side <NUM> of the ground support equipment includes a user interface <NUM> for a charging port shown in <FIG> connected to a CCS2 connector <NUM>. By way of example, only a single charging port is shown, but it would be apparent that more than one charging port could be provided in each ground support equipment <NUM>. The charging port may be configured to connect to a CCS2 connector as shown in <FIG> or to a CHAdeMO connector. The CCS2 and CHAdeMO connectors are both able to provide DC charging. It would be apparent that these were merely exemplary connectors and that other connectors could be suitable for use with the present ground support equipment.

<FIG> illustrates a panel of the first side <NUM> removed to show an exemplary electrical circuit of a charging unit which provides the battery charging functionality described herein. A charger control unit <NUM> is operatively connected to four 30kW charging modules <NUM>. The charging modules <NUM> may be any of the charging modules <NUM>, <NUM> explained below with reference to <FIG>. A moulded case circuit breaker (MCCB) <NUM> is provided to provide overload protection to the electrical circuit. A charger input contactor <NUM> is provided adjacent to an Earth leakage supervision relay <NUM>. Two DC fuses <NUM> with respective DC contactors <NUM> provide output power for the connector <NUM>. A battery (not shown) of a ground support equipment or vehicle can thus be charged via the connector <NUM>.

On a second side <NUM> of the cabinet <NUM>, there is provided a ground power unit (GPU) section for powering the aircraft as shown in <FIG>. The second side <NUM> of the cabinet <NUM> has a user interface <NUM> for the GPU section. Within the cabinet <NUM>, there is an input breaker <NUM>, an output contactor <NUM> and an auxiliary power supply <NUM> for powering the aircraft. The auxiliary power supply <NUM> is connected to a miniature circuit breaker, MCB, <NUM>. A control unit <NUM> provided within the cabinet <NUM> controls the operation of the GPU section. A converter part <NUM> is also provided for providing the output to the aircraft. The converter part <NUM> may be any of the solid state converters <NUM>, <NUM> described below with reference to <FIG>.

The GPU section includes a solid state converter to control the power supplied to the battery charging unit. As the solid state converter has a pre-set maximum power that it can draw from the airport power source and can monitor the power drawn by the aircraft (if any), the solid state converter can determine how much of the airport power source is surplus to present requirement and divert excess power to the battery charging unit. This can be achieved, for example, based on a control signal that is indicative of the maximum power available for the battery charging unit based on the difference between the known maximum power of the airport power source and the instantaneous power drawn by the aircraft. This would provide near-instantaneous power management within the ground support equipment to ensure power to the aircraft is always prioritised and that the electrical circuit is not overloaded. This advantageously does not require a current transducer or a separate load sharing controller as in the prior art. The present ground support equipment <NUM> is therefore simpler in design as the controller of the solid state converter is used to detect input current of the ground support equipment as a whole and generate a control signal based on the input current drawn by the solid state converter to determine any remaining power capacity of the airport power source. This control signal can then be transmitted or sent to the battery charging unit to control the amount of power drawn by the charging modules <NUM>, for example from a DC bus <NUM> when present, as explained below.

In one example, the ground support equipment <NUM> is pre-fused by an external 200A fuse in the feeder line of the ground support equipment <NUM>, which corresponds to approximately 138kW at 400V mains. In some cases, the GPU section is able to provide 90kW of power. In the illustrated example, four 30kW constant power charging modules <NUM> are used to generate a total of 120kW. However, it would be apparent that other pre-determined maximum power levels, for example 180kW, could be provided by using a different arrangement of charging modules <NUM>.

The battery charging unit section is illustrated with charging modules <NUM> connected in parallel, which are powered from the airport power source, for example a <NUM>/<NUM> AC power source. In some cases, it is possible to use DC/DC modules powered from a <NUM> internal DC bus which provides an AC power output for the aircraft.

The control unit <NUM> is able to reduce the power consumption of the battery charging unit to avoid overloading the feeder circuit when there is a high power demand from the GPU section. As the aircraft rarely draws maximum power from the GPU section, there is typically capacity for charging battery-powered ground support equipment or vehicle while <NUM> power is supplied to the aircraft when on the ground. The DC charging is combined with a GPU section in the present ground support equipment <NUM> to further utilise the existing electrical circuits that are present in GPUs. Specifically, a solid state converter which is able to monitor the power drawn by the aircraft and can control the amount of power that can be drawn by the charging modules <NUM>.

<FIG> are schematic illustrations of exemplary electrical circuits which are suitable for implementing the ground support equipment described above. <FIG> illustrates an electrical circuit within the cabinet <NUM> described above. The cabinet <NUM> has an input for an airport power source <NUM> and an output <NUM> for an aircraft <NUM> and a separate output <NUM> for DC charging a battery-powered ground support equipment <NUM>, such as an electric vehicle in the manner described above. The input <NUM> is connected to a rectifier <NUM> which provides a DC bus <NUM> for a solid state converter <NUM>. The solid state converter <NUM> has an in-built inverter which provides a suitable output <NUM> for the aircraft <NUM>, for example 200V AC at <NUM>. The input <NUM> is also connected to a battery charging unit <NUM> comprising a series of charging modules 70A-70D each having their own rectifier. The charging modules 70A-70D are connected in parallel and arranged to provide a DC output <NUM> for charging as explained above. The controller of the solid state converter <NUM> is operatively connected to the battery charging unit <NUM> and is able to send a control signal <NUM> to the battery charging unit <NUM> in the manner described above.

<FIG> illustrates an alternative circuit where the rectifier <NUM> is connected to both the solid state converter <NUM> and the battery charging unit <NUM>, where the battery charging unit comprises a parallel arrangement of charging modules 72A-72D. In the electrical circuit of <FIG>, the arrangement of charging modules 72A-72D do not require an in-built rectifier, as the AC to DC conversion is provided by rectifier <NUM>. In this example, the DC bus <NUM> is able to power the charging modules 72A-72D of the battery charging unit <NUM>, the solid state converter <NUM> and any other components within the ground support equipment. The controller of the solid state converter <NUM> is operatively connected to the battery charging unit <NUM> and is able to send a control signal <NUM> to the battery charging unit <NUM> in the manner described above.

In some cases, the solid state converter and/or the charging modules can have their own in-built rectifier. This advantageously does away with the need to have a separate rectifier <NUM> to provide a DC bus <NUM> for powering the respective components. Similarly, it is possible to provide multiple smaller solid state converter modules rather than a single large component. This advantageously allows for the space within the cabinet <NUM> to be better utilised. <FIG> illustrate an example, where there is no separate rectifier and the single solid state converter has been replaced by smaller solid state converter modules 62A-62D each with an in-built rectifier. The airport power source <NUM> is connected to the parallel arrangement of solid state converter modules 62A-62D and also to the parallel arrangement of charging modules 70A-70D of the battery charging unit <NUM>. Charging modules 70A-70D provide power for DC charging as explained above, while the solid state converter modules 62A-62D provide the output <NUM> for powering the aircraft <NUM> as explained above. It would be apparent the controller of any of the solid state converter modules 62A-62D is used to provide the control signal <NUM> to the battery charging unit <NUM> in the manner described above.

In some cases, the rectifier can be implemented as a series of smaller rectifier modules 55A-55D as shown in <FIG>. This advantageously allows for the space within the cabinet <NUM> to be better utilised. The rectifier modules 55A-55D are connected in parallel and provide a DC bus <NUM> for power components within the cabinet <NUM>. <FIG> illustrates a parallel arrangement of solid state converter modules 60A-60D for providing an output <NUM> for powering the aircraft <NUM>. In this case, the functionality of a rectifier is separated from the solid state converter modules 60A-60D, so that solid state converter modules 60A-60D without an in-built rectifier can be used with the present ground support equipment. As with <FIG>, the charging modules 72A-72D of the battery charging unit <NUM> also do not have an in-built rectifier. It would be apparent the controller of any of the solid state converter modules 62A-62D could be used to provide the control signal <NUM> to the battery charging unit <NUM> in the manner described above.

A further electrical circuit is shown in <FIG>. The cabinet <NUM> includes an input for receiving the airport power source <NUM>, and output ports <NUM>, <NUM> for the aircraft <NUM> and the battery charger <NUM> respectively. In this circuit, a separate rectifier <NUM> is connected to the airport power source <NUM> and provides a DC bus <NUM> for powering the charging modules 72A-72D of the battery charging unit <NUM> independently of the solid state converter <NUM>. In this case, a single solid state converter <NUM> is connected directly to the airport power source <NUM> and includes an in-built rectifier and inverter to provide the output <NUM> for the aircraft <NUM>. The controller of the solid state converter <NUM> is operatively connected to the battery charging unit <NUM> and is able to send a control signal <NUM> to the battery charging unit <NUM> in the manner described above.

Claim 1:
A ground support equipment (<NUM>) for powering an aircraft on the ground, the ground support equipment comprising:
a solid state converter (<NUM>, <NUM>) configured to power an aircraft on the ground from an airport power source (<NUM>) having a pre-determined maximum power, and
a battery charging unit (<NUM>) controlled by a battery charging unit controller, configured to charge an external battery from the airport power source,
wherein the solid state converter comprises a solid state converter controller configured to measure an instantaneous power drawn by the aircraft,
characterised in that
the solid state converter controller is operatively connected to the battery charging unit controller by a communication channel (<NUM>); and
wherein the solid state converter controller is configured to communicate a control signal to the battery charging unit controller for controlling the battery charging unit, the control signal being indicative of a maximum power available for the battery charging unit based on the difference between the pre-determined maximum power of the airport power source and the instantaneous power drawn by the aircraft.