Sensors for Air Quality Aboard Jets

Teledyne Controls received this month approval from the Federal Aviation Administration to install its new aircraft cabin environment sensor on the Boeing 737 aircraft. It is the first FAA-certified product of its type that allows aircraft operators to monitor and measure air quality in the cabin and cockpit. Certification for other aircraft types is currently in progress.Teledyne Controls is the El Segundo-based aircraft data management business of Teledyne Technologies Inc., the Thousand Oaks aerospace, marine and digital imaging products manufacturer.George Bobb, president of Teledyne Controls, said that the division was excited to bring the new sensor, known as ACES, to the aviation industry, as the need for accurate and comprehensive air quality data has been recognized for decades.“The combination of Teledyne Technologies’ world leading expertise in air quality and gas monitoring, and Teledyne Controls’ decades of experience in aircraft data acquisition and connectivity is a powerful one, and we have leveraged it to deliver this groundbreaking product,” Bobb said in a statement. Multiple sensor units are distributed in the aircraft to capture a comprehensive perspective of the air quality. They measure and record data on airborne particulates including carbon dioxide, carbon monoxide, ozone and volatile organic compounds. The recorded data is stored in the compact sensor units and is automatically transmitted to the ACES Cloud Service portal for processing and analysis upon landing, the company said.The combination of air quality data from the sensor and aircraft performance data already available from Teledyne’s other avionics will give airlines insight on how their aircraft are performing and how they can improve their operations and the passenger experience, the company said in a release.