COMMERCIAL DEVELOPMENT AND EXPERIENCE WITH CATALYTIC OZONE ABATEMENT IN JET AIRCRAFT

A catalytic ozone abater can effectively decompose the ozone in the air that is fed to the passenger cabin of high flying commercial jet aircraft. The first commercial application of this technology was in 1983. Since that time, catalytic decomposition of ozone has become the state-of-the-art for purifying aircraft cabin air. To date, over 20,000 hours of flight time has been accumulated on many abaters. This paper describes the early development of this technology and the key performance characteristics of the catalyst. With the accumulation of flight hours, many abaters have been returned for performance tests and post analysis for causes of activity decline. This information provides details on the effect of the operating environment and the aging characteristics of the catalyst. Finally, factors that are being considered for the development of a second generation catalyst will be presented.