Pratt & Whitney
Pratt & Whitney, a division of United Technologies, has over 16,000 large commercial aircraft engines in service. The fleet has logged more than 1 billion hours of flight powering narrow and widebody aircraft around the globe. The company’s current engine line-up includes:
PW2000: entered service in 1984 on the Boeing 757 and still in production as the F117 for the Boeing C-17 military airlifter.
PW4000: a high-thrust turbofan that has been powering Airbus A310-300s, A300-600s, Boeing 767-200s and MD-11s since 1987.The latest production version, the PW4170 Advantage 70 for the Airbus A330 family, received US Federal Aviation Administration certification on 22 December 2008. It offers enhanced engine performance, including a 2 % thrust increase, a 1 % reduction in fuel consumption, increased durability and reduced maintenance costs.
PW6000: the newest product-line entry, developed for the Airbus A318 family of airliners and A318 Elite corporate jets that entered service with LAN Airlines in 2007.
On 3 February 2009, Pratt & Whitney completed ground and flight testing of the new PurePower PW1000G GTF geared turbofan demonstrator engine. The final phase of testing was completed jointly with Airbus on an A340-600 flight-test aircraft. This followed Pratt & Whitney’s own ground and flight-test programme on the company’s Boeing 747SP flying testbed. Total flight testing time was 406 hours on 120 flights. The next phase will involve several months of test data analysis as part of the engine design optimisation process. The PurePower PW1000G combines two-shaft architecture with an advanced gear system that decouples the engine’s fan from the low-pressure compressor and turbine, allowing the fan to turn slower while the LPC and turbine turns faster. The current gearing ratio is 3:1 but the company aims to 4:1. In addition to the gear system and an all-new advanced core the GTF could feature a range of new technologies, including advanced fan and compressor aerodynamics, active combustor controls, use of advanced/lightweight materials and intelligent prognostics and engine health management systems. The GTF is expected to feature a bypass ratio of more than 12:1, as well as an engine pressure ratio of 50:1. Production versions of the GTF are expected to deliver double-digit reductions in fuel burn, engine noise, environmental emissions and maintenance costs on service entry on the Mitsubishi MRJ regional jet and Bombardier’s CSeries in 2013. Another potential application is the proposed next-generation narrowbody airliner from Russia, the MS-21 family. The company has formed strategic relationships with traditional partners, MTU Aero Engines, Avio and Volvo Aero for continued development of key GTF technologies.
As sales of its PW2000 and PW4000 have declined in recent years, much of Pratt & Whitney’s commercial sales effort has been focused on its International Aero Engines (IAE) and Engine Alliance partnerships. The IAE consortium between Pratt & Whitney, Rolls-Royce, Japanese Aero Engines and MTU Aero Engines produces the V2500 engine for the Airbus A320 family of narrowbody jets. The Engine Alliance is a 50-50 joint venture with General Electric to provide the GP7200 turbofan for the Airbus A380.
P&W's Global Material Solution (GMS) is a revolutionary initiative introduced in 2005 to target the replacement parts market on over 4,000 in-service CFM56-3 turbofans. GMS aims to deliver Pratt & Whitney OEM-quality life-limited and gas-path components for the CFM56-3 at competitive prices. The first new part, the HPT shroud, was certificated and delivered in July 2007 and a portfolio of 48 new parts had been certificated for service entry by the end of 2008. Customers include United Services and Jet2.com.
As for the future, Pratt & Whitney would like to propose a non-GTF engine option on the Airbus A350 XWB through Engine Alliance, but it is waiting on negotiations between GE and Airbus. As for the renewed interest, sparked by last year’s record fuel prices, in the open rotor engine, Pratt & Whitney currently believes there are "significant challenges" to bringing an open rotor engine to the market, and doubts the ability of the installed engine to deliver its claimed advantages. Like its IAE partners, Rolls-Royce and MTU, Pratt & Whitney is continuing to focus on the International Aero Engines consortium as its preferred route to market for a next-generation single-aisle powerplant, despite some fundamental differences over the optimum architecture. Whether a Pratt & Whitney or IAE product it is clear, as UTC vice-president, accounting and finance Greg Hayes said last year that "the future at East Hartford is really going to hinge on the gear”[GTF].
To amend, update or comment on this profile, contact Ian Joyce at: ian.joyce@flightglobal.com.
