Daimler-Benz Aerospace Airbus Gmbh

Manfred Becher

Juergen Halm

Jochen Mertens

An apparatus for cleaning hydraulic fluid includes a centrifugal fluid-spinning disk arranged in a housing, of which an upper portion forms a vapor chamber and a lower portion forms a fluid collecting basin. A vacuum pump is connected to the housing through an oil mist separator, such that water vapor is vacuumed away and hydraulic fluid collects in the oil mist separator to then be pumped away. The apparatus further includes preferably a single container that contains both the contaminated hydraulic fluid that is to be cleaned and the cleaned hydraulic fluid. A flexible inlet line and a flexible outlet line with respective hydraulic quick connectors are provided to connect the apparatus and particularly the oil container to a hydraulic system of an aircraft, for example. A high pressure pump connected to the outlet line pumps the cleaned hydraulic fluid into the aircraft hydraulic system and a pressure maintaining valve in the inlet line maintains the system pressure. The apparatus is embodied as a self-contained and self-sufficient mobile unit mounted on wheels. With this apparatus, the hydraulic fluid in the hydraulic system of an aircraft can be cleaned directly plane-side, and it is unnecessary to provide an exchange quantity of hydraulic fluid.

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Dreieich, Germany

Manfred Becher