Joint Design Of Pratt & Whitney And MTU Aero Engines

Pratt & Whitney has launched testing of a full-scale PurePower engine core, marking a major milestone in the development of the new generation of jet engines. The engine core -- which consists of an ultra-efficient high pressure compressor, a low-emissions combustor, and an all new high pressure turbine -- was designed jointly by Pratt & Whitney and MTU Aero Engines. The companies designed the PurePower family of engines for large business jets, regional aircraft and the next generation of narrow-body jets.

"The PurePower family of engines shares a common, advanced core across the PW800 and PW1000G Geared Turbofan engine models," Bob Saia, vice president, Next Generation Product Family, Pratt & Whitney, said in a news release Monday. "The PurePower engine core testing -- combined with hundreds of hours of ground and flight testing accumulated on the PW1000G Geared Turbofan demonstrator engine -- advances the maturity of this technology and brings us significantly closer to final validation and certification."

The engine core testing includes more than 1,200 individual measurements and leverages state of the art testing technologies, allowing Pratt & Whitney engineers to perform a broad scope of tests beyond what is normally possible at this stage of development. The core program aims to evaluate engine performance, operability and structural design characteristics of these key modules.

"This successful first run of the PurePower engine core marks a major step toward bringing an all-new, next generation engine to market," said Dan Breitman, vice president, PW800 Programs, Pratt & Whitney Canada. "The PurePower family of engines will deliver double-digit reductions in fuel burn, environmental emissions and engine noise making these products the most environmentally responsible in their class. The goal of this core testing is to validate the engine's design and confirm our efficiency targets."

Pratt & Whitney PW1000G Display Engine
Photo Courtesy Pratt & Whitney

The PW1000G Geared Turbofan engine has been selected as exclusive power for the Mitsubishi Regional Jet scheduled to enter service in 2014 and the Bombardier CSeries aircraft scheduled to enter service in 2013. After announcing the launch of these two new aircraft programs, Mitsubishi and Bombardier each have announced the receipt of a number of orders for these new models of aircraft. The PW1000G was also recently selected to power the proposed new Irkut MC-21 narrow-body jet scheduled to enter service in 2016. The PurePower PW800 engine is targeted to power the next generation of large business jets.

FMI: www.pwc.ca