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Source: CBS MarketWatchPratt & Whitney aims high for big-jet engine sales
UTX unit touts its geared turbofan engine as a "game changer"
NEW YORK (MarketWatch) -- Pratt & Whitney once dominated the commercial aircraft market with its jet engines, and it intends to do so again with a new engine design the aerospace supplier said will run more quietly and use less fuel than those offered by rivals General Electric Co. and Rolls Royce Group.
A subsidiary of United Technologies Corp. (UTX:United Technologies Corporation) , Pratt & Whitney is developing the first geared turbofan for commercial aircraft, aiming to win contracts at Boeing Co. and EADS Co.'s Airbus unit for the aircraft makers' next-generation narrow-body planes, the widely popular aircraft used for domestic travel.
Unlike typical turbofans, a geared turbofan has a gear box that allows the engine intake fan to turn independently of the low-pressure compressor and turbine, producing the same thrust with 1,500 fewer airfoils, which makes for a quieter ride and could reduce fuel burn by 12%.
"The next-generation single-aisle aircraft demands something different to meet the higher operating costs the world is experiencing," said Tom Pelland, Pratt & Whitney's director of next generation products. "This is our game-changing engine."
Altogether, Pratt & Whitney expects aircraft makers will demand more than 48,000 such engines over a 20-year period beginning in 2013.
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Pratt & Whitney says it's addressed those issues [complex design, longer fan width, extra weight and issues in thermal management] with a new, smaller design for the gear box that uses lighter-weight materials and an improved cooling system. Additionally, it predicts maintenance costs for the engine will be 30% to 40% less because of the reduced number of airfoils.
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Interesting developments! Certainly - if this works - it will dramatically reduce fuel consumption.
"1,500 fewer airfoils" seems awfully large. But then I haven't counted the blades in current turbine design. I curious as to what the typical blade number is per stage.