Pratt & Whitney Canada (Booth No. 463) now has two major new business aircraft powerplant programs underway, with Bombardier having just selected it to provide the PW308B turbofan for its new Learjet 85 model. Meanwhile, detailed design work has begun for the PW810 engine that will drive Cessna’s new Citation Columbus large cabin aircraft.

The PW307B with 6,100-pound-thrust is a derivative of the PW307A, which already powers Dassault’s Falcon 7X trijet. “Most of the changes are in the external packaging, but the guts of the engine are the same,” said John Saabas, P&WC’s executive vice president for marketing, customer support, engineering and service centers. It will feature innovative new technology such as the first business aviation application of a brushless starter/generator.

P&WC engineers are working to achieve the first PW810 engine run by mid 2009. It should be ready for flying test bed evaluation in 2010. Following a preliminary design review, the powerplant’s architecture is now frozen.

Germany’s MTU is a partner in the PW810 program and will provide about 50 percent of the high pressure compressor and part of the low-pressure turbine. According to Saabas, MTU has been partner in all of P&WC’s large turbofan models, allowing the Canadian firm to stay focused on other market segments such as new applications for PW500 and PW600 families.

Fellow UTC-group company Hamilton Sundstrand is another major partner, providing control systems such as valves, flow dividers and harnesses. P&WC procurement teams are now doing final supplier selection for other parts of the new powerplant.
Saabas told EBACE Convention News that the PW810 is part of a next-generation engine family with an axial core that is the same as that being developed for Pratt & Whitney’s new geared turbofan. P&WC is in talks with business aircraft manufacturers about other new engine requirements in the 10,000-pound to 14,000-pound thrust class. It believes these projects will be launched within the next two or three years.

P&WC expects the PW810 to deliver a significant step forward in specific fuel consumption that will be at least 5- to 10-percent lower than the industry’s current best performance. It is also expected to surpass International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) emissions standards by up to 50 percent for nitrous oxide and by up to 35 percent for carbon monoxide emissions, as well as achieving low unburned hydrocarbons and smoke emissions. Moreover, it is designed for low noise, well below Stage IV standards.

As it delivers the envisaged family of new turbofans, Saabas said that P&WC is looking for further improvements in thrust to weight ratios, some of which could be achieved through greater use of composites and other materials new to engine design. Over the past 12 years, the company has brought no less than 64 new turbofan models to market.   

P&WC is also active in research to develop new alternative fuels. The company is involved in work by Virgin Galactic and Canada’s National Research Council to develop new bio-ethanols and bio-diesels.