Engine Air Inlet
The engine air inlet is located at the front lower section of engine cowling. The air
inlet port is protected against icing by a hot air flow provided by the engine. Air is
driven throughout a duct in the engine casing before entering the engine through a
protective screen. An inertial separator system inside the air duct protects the
engine from ingesting dense particles (water, ice, fine gravels, sand).
The inertial separator consists of two movable vanes. During normal operation, air
is conducted directly towards the engine air intake. To separate particles
suspended in the air, vanes are positioned to force the engine induction air to
execute a sharp turn: under the effect of centrifugal force, denser particles
separate from the air and are discharged overboard through two apertures located
under engine cowling.
Operation of the inertial separator vanes is electrically controlled by the INERT
SEP switch located on the DE-ICE SYSTEM panel. When the INERT SEP switch
is set to ON, an electric actuator activates the vanes;
INERT SEP ON
is displayed
in the CAS window when the vanes have reached their maximum deflection, and
remains displayed as long as the switch remains in the ON position. Full deflection
takes about 40 seconds. If the vanes do not reach the full deflection 50 seconds
after activation or are not retracted 50 seconds after deactivation,
INERT SEP FAIL
is displayed in the CAS window.
The inertial separator is automatically activated when the Ice Detection System is
in the AUTO mode and an ice signal is sent by the ice detector. It can be manually
activated at any moment by pressing the INERT SEP switch. Deactivation is
possible at any moment except if the DE ICE SYSTEM mode switch is set to
AUTO and ice is detected by the ice detector. Description of the Ice Detection
System is presented in
Paragraph Ice Detection System in Subsection 7.14.
.
The table hereafter gives the CAS messages and the status light colors
corresponding to the state of the system.
System state
Status light
CAS
OFF
OFF
ON (AUTO mode)
ON
INERT SEP ON
ON (MAN mode)
ON
INERT SEP ON
Continue ►
Section 7
Description
Pilot's Information Manual
PIM TBM 960 - Edition 0
Rev. 02
Page 7.6.22
PIM - DO NOT USE FOR FLIGHT OPERATIONS