Preconditioned Air Unit
(PCA) – ZEPHIR

The use of air conditioning for an aircraft during its turnaround is necessary whether on a warm or sunny day, or in cold ambient conditions as the cabin would otherwise become quickly uncomfortable.

To achieve this, when no appropriate facilities are available on the ground, the aircraft will use its on-board APU (Auxiliary Power Unit) which is a jet turbine fed from the main aircraft fuel tanks primarily used in flight for example in case of a main engine failure.

Using the APU on the ground is a last resort solution being uneconomical for the airline and an aggression against the environment as this jet engine has an overall energy efficiency of only 4%! Simultaneously, large amounts of air contaminants are emitted. Among these the CO2, creating a Greenhouse effect in the Earth’s atmosphere, as well as NOx and small particles which directly affect our daily lives.

Running the APU on the ground is very expensive for the Airline; for example a Narrow Body aircraft consumes about 100 kg/hour of Jet Fuel to which must be added the cost of maintenance for APU. A ground-based Pre Conditioned Air (PCA) system offers an attractive alternative. Being powered by electricity from the grid, the PCA unit will dramatically reduce the on-site emissions and noise pollution. As a rule of thumb, let’s consider that a single narrow body aircraft running its APU during one hour every day produce in excess of 100 tons of CO2 in one year.

ADELTE’s PCA is specially designed for heating and cooling all types of aircrafts and
for providing maintenance personnel fast and easy access to all components.