Review Article

Calculating the Heating Load of an Aircraft in Accordance with Thermal Comfort

Volume: 2 Number: Aviation Technologies and Applications Conference (ATAConf'25) Special Issue December 31, 2025
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Calculating the Heating Load of an Aircraft in Accordance with Thermal Comfort

Abstract

This study investigates the total heating load of an Airbus A380 wide-body aircraft at four different flight altitudes—9000 m, 10,000 m, 11,000 m, and 12,000 m—under cruising conditions at Mach number 0.85. The purpose is to support the design of thermally ergonomic aircraft environments by calculating the heating load associated with varying flight altitudes. Heat transfers due to conduction, convection, and radiation from the cabin to the external atmosphere, along with internal heat gains from passengers, solar radiation, and electronic–electrical equipment, are comprehensively analyzed. The study reveals that heat loss by conduction increases with altitude, while radiation and convection losses decrease. The results show that conduction heat loss ranges from 6.85 to 10.14 kW, radiation heat loss from 6.64 to 8.26 kW, and convection heat loss from 238.64 to 370.69 kW. The constant heat gains from passengers, solar radiation, and onboard systems are 53.5 kW, 8.01 kW, and 21 kW, respectively. Consequently, the total heating load decreases with increasing altitude, ranging from 172.82 to 303.3 kW. These findings are significant for optimizing the Environmental Control System (ECS) in terms of both energy efficiency and passenger thermal comfort, emphasizing the importance of thermally ergonomic design in modern aviation.

Keywords

Aircraft heating load , thermal comfort , altitude , Environmental Control System , Airbus A380

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APA
Gözüküçük, N. T. (2025). Calculating the Heating Load of an Aircraft in Accordance with Thermal Comfort. Ege Üniversitesi Ulaştırma Yönetimi Araştırmaları Dergisi, 2(Aviation Technologies and Applications Conference (ATAConf’25) Special Issue), 131-150. https://izlik.org/JA24UW62WC