New airplane de-icing technology from Battelle could be game changer

Heatable paint prevents ice buildup on airplanes

Carbon nanotube-based coating could provide affordable, durable, lightweight alternative to conventional anti-icing technologies.

Battelle, a leading scientific research and development organization based in Ohio, is closer to having a marketable new anti-icing product for airplanes that could be "game changing." Battelle's anti-icing technology deploys carbon nanotubes into the plane's coating, applied using simple painting methods, so it can be sprayed on a variety of curved surfaces. The key innovation is how the carbon nanotubes are dispersed into the coating that goes on with the plane's standard paint, which then can be heated using available on-board power. The coating is lighter than traditional ice protection systems and can use much less power. It could provide an affordable, durable, light-weight anti-icing solution for all types of aircraft.

Battelle says its product is "radically different" from other ice prevention systems, such as bleed air (heating the surface with hot engine air), mechanical boot (physically breaking the bond between surface and ice) or weeping wing (releasing toxic antifreeze fluid from the wing). Those solutions can be too complex, too heavy or draw too much power to be effective. The Battelle system could be especially valuable for unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs), which have limited payload capacities and power supplies.

Preliminary icing tunnel testing to validate its compatibility with existing coating systems was promising, according to Battelle. Additional icing tunnel testing is expected to further verify the success. After that, Battelle expects to secure additional funding to continue the effort towards full operational status in the next two to three years.