PrintBasic press release
Geared turbofan – Pratt & Whitney and MTU are building the engine of the future
- MTU contributes the high-speed low-pressure turbine
- Reductions in fuel burn and CO2 emission, potential for further optimizations
- Airbus offers geared turbofan as an engine option for the A320neo
Munich, June 20, 2011 – Aircraft engines of the future will have to be quieter, more fuel-efficient and cleaner than the engines in service today. Pratt & Whitney and MTU Aero Engines are collaborating on the PurePower PW1000G geared turbofan (GTF) engine to develop a game-changing propulsion concept and are planning to build a complete family of engines based on this concept. The new technology holds the promise of reducing fuel consumption and CO2 emissions by 15 percent each, and of cutting present perceived noise levels in half.
The concept is catching on with airframers: Airbus is offering the geared turbofan engine for its re-engined A320neo. This could be the application for which the largest quantity of geared turbofans will be required; for the European aircraft manufacturer estimates that the market will need some 4,000 of this type of aircraft, taken over its entire life. Bombardier has se-lected it as the exclusive engine to power its new CSeries; Mitsubishi will equip its MRJ with this new type of propulsion system, and Irkut has chosen it for its MS-21. Once the design has been further optimized, the geared turbofan engine is expected to deliver savings of a to-tal of 30 percent. MTU Aero Engines has adopted this target in its Claire (Clean Air Engine) technology program.
What sets the new GTF propulsion system apart is that it features a reduction gearbox between the fan and low-pressure turbine. With today's engines, the two are seated on a common shaft, and the turbine drives the fan. Uncoupling them allows the fan with its large diameter to rotate more slowly and the turbine to rotate much faster. This lets the individual components achieve their respective optimum speed, greatly boosting the geared turbofan's efficiency. The result is a significant reduction in fuel consumption, emissions of carbon diox-ide and noise; moreover, the propulsion system is much lighter than a conventional engine as it has fewer stages, and hence a lower parts count.
MTU contributes the high-speed low-pressure turbine to the GTF, one of its key components. Germany's leading engine manufacturer is the sole manufacturer in the world capable of offering this technology. Moreover, Pratt & Whitney and MTU have collaborated to design a new high-pressure compressor. The new transonic compressor will achieve a compression ratio of 17:1 with no more than eight stages, and will appreciably enhance efficiency. That's enough to beat most commercial models by a wide margin. MTU is responsible for the forward four stages and Pratt & Whitney for stages five to eight. The innovative compressor is a 100-percent blisk construction. Blisks (blade integrated disks) are a high-tech rotor design in which the disk and blades are produced as a single piece, eliminating the need for blade roots and disk slots. This increases strength and lowers weight. MTU's total program workshare in the GTF is 15 percent.
The geared turbofan engine offers even more savings potential: Once it will have been further optimized, in a first step by improving its thrust generation efficiency – for instance through the further development of the GTF or the use of a shrouded, counter-rotating prop fan, the concept for which had been developed by MTU already back in the 1980s – and, in a next step, by using a heat exchanger, it will help achieve fuel consumption and CO2 emission re-ductions of as much as 30 percent. MTU has launched its Claire technology program to work towards this goal, which it wants to have achieved by 2035. With the initiative, the targets set by ACARE will be clearly exceeded, and noise levels at the same time drastically reduced.
MTU Aero Engines is Germany’s only independent engine manufacturer, an established global player in the industry and a technology leader, excelling in high-pressure compressors, low-pressure turbines, and manufacturing and repair techniques. The company has a global work-force of some 7,900 employees and posted consolidated sales of about 2.7 billion euros in 2010. In the commercial area, MTU Maintenance is the world's largest independent provider of engine maintenance, repair and overhaul services. In the military arena, MTU is Germany's industrial lead company for practically all engines flown by the country's armed forces.
Your contacts:
Eckhard Zanger
Tel.: + 49 (0)89 14 89-91 13
Mobile: + 49 (0) 176-1000 6158
Odilo Mühling
Tel.: +49 (0)89 14 89-26 98
Mobile: +49 (0) 176-1001 7859