ATW Daily News

Engine OEMs going green as Pratt's GTF leads the way

Monday June 23, 2008

Pratt & Whitney's Geared Turbofan has achieved better-than-expected fuel burn figures, officials claimed at last week's Eco-Aviation conference presented by Air Transport World and Leeham Co. in Washington.

The GTF, which has completed 250 hr. of bench testing, has achieved a 15% improvement in fuel burn compared to the initial target of 12% over comparable 737/A320 powerplants. The new engine will commence flight tests next week on Pratt's 747SP before heading to Toulouse for testing on an A340-600 later this summer.

Pratt VP-Technology and Environment Alan Epstein said testing has been "unusually boring" and that it simulated the engine's 30,000-hp gears to 40,000 takeoffs with no significant wear (ATWOnline, April 22). He told attendees that the GTF will deliver a 50% reduction in NOx and a saving in CO2 emissions equal to 1,500 tonnes per aircraft per year. The area affected by noise will be reduced a massive 72%.

GE Aviation Manager-Advanced Applications, Strategy and Evaluations Steve Csonka said there are "technologies on the horizon that promise a step change in fuel consumption. The picture is bright." He said that change is related to achieving burn reductions in single-aisle engines that are realized on widebody aircraft with two-stage, high-bypass engines.

Rolls-Royce's Nuno Taborda, who handles business development and environmental strategy, told attendees that the company is confident of meeting the ACARE targets of a 50% reduction in CO2 and 80% reduction in NOx compared to a 2000 baseline by 2020.

by Geoffrey Thomas

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