Climate Action 2009-2010

© Pratt & Whitney
Jet engine
technology:
AT THE HEART OF AVIATION
CLIMATE DISCUSSION
PurePower ® PW1000G Engine.
SPECIAL FEATURE 150
The aviation industry, and more specifically jet engine
manufacturers, have aggressively worked for decades
to make their products more fuel efficient with less
noise and significantly reduced emissions.
US-based Pratt & Whitney, which has been building jet
engines for nearly 85 years, is nearing the assembly
phase for a new family of engines that it claims is
revolutionary and will ‘change everything.’
The company’s PurePower ® PW1000G engine is the first
of a new class of ultra-high bypass ratio, geared turbofan
aircraft gas turbine engines that set a new standard
for fuel economy and all aspects of environmental
performance – including significant reductions in CO 2 ,
NO x particulates, and noise.
“Each PurePower PW1000G engine will reduce fuel
consumption by 15 per cent or more and CO 2 by 1,500
tons per year at the 150 passenger size,” said Alan
Epstein, Pratt & Whitney vice president, Environment
and Technology. “We anticipate a market for 10,000-
20,000 engines of this size, for a total CO 2 savings of as
much as 30 million tons per year.”
In addition to pronounced fuel consumption and CO 2
reduction, the PurePower PW1000G engine family will
be the quietest commercial aircraft engine ever built at
this size and will produce the least NO x and numbers of
particulates – less than 50 per cent of the NO x allowed
under current standards. This is important because in
addition to CO 2 , NO x is a greenhouse gas responsible for a
considerable portion of the forces driving climate change.
“Additional environmental benefits include improvements
to local air quality through the reduction of NO x and
particulates as well as a dramatic reduction in aircraft
noise,” Epstein said.
The reduction in noise is so significant that less than one
quarter as many people on the ground will be subjected
to objectionable noise-levels as is currently the case for
the most modern 150 passenger aircraft. This will also
help airlines reduce or eliminate takeoff and landing
noise tariffs, noise-related flight curfews and will provide
opportunities to use more direct flight paths.
The environmental benefits touted by Pratt & Whitney are
possible because of the innovative architecture embodied
in the PurePower engines that represents a step change
from past practice. These engines incorporate three
innovative elements – a light, longlived fan; drive gear
system; an ultra efficient, light weight fan and an advanced
nacelle system. Each element alone could contribute
about a two per cent reduction in fuel consumption if
added to a conventional engine architecture. However,
the combination of all three in an integrated, optimised
design enables low velocity, ultra-high bypass ratios of 12
and above yield-gains of 15 per cent or more reduction in
fuel consumption and thus corresponding CO 2 reduction.
With all of the extraordinary benefits associated with
this engine, it begs the question why other companies
are not pursuing this technology. The answer is that
Pratt & Whitney has invested approximately $1 billion in
research over 20 years to mature the technology.
Bombardier and Mitsubishi apparently recognise the
benefits of this advanced technology as both have selected
the PW1000G engine as the exclusive powerplant for their
all new aircraft, known as the CSeries and Mitsubishi
Regional Jet, respectively. Not surprisingly, the aircraft are
attracting customers with environmental and economic
benefits powered by this amazing engine.
Enquiries
For more information about the PurePower
PW1000G engine, visit www.PW1000G.com
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