Pratt & Whitney’s PurePower PW1000G geared turbofan (GTF) engine will power Lufthansa’s new Bombardier CSeries aircraft. Like the Mitsubishi Regional Jet, the CSeries is powered exclusively by P&W’s GTF engine, which is just about to begin flight testing on the engine builder’s B747SP.
A full-scale GTF demonstrator engine recently completed a 250h ground test programme in Florida and is scheduled for flight testing this month. Later this year the PW1000G will also be flight tested on an Airbus-owned A340 although at this stage neither P&W nor Airbus foresee the GTF being retrofitted to any of the current single-aisle aircraft from Boeing or Airbus.
The GTF concept uses a patented gear system to allow the engine’s fan to operate at a different speed to the low-pressure compressor and turbine. The result is a step-change improvement of around 15% in fuel efficiency and a slower fan speed for much lower noise.
After watching the development of the GTF engine since the very early stages, we are confident that this next generation engine will deliver on its targets of double digit reductions in fuel burn, environmental emissions, engine noise and operating costs,” says Nico Buchholz, Lufthansa’s senior VP, corporate fleet.
Source: Flight International
