Geoff Thomas
Pratt & Whitney's ubiquitous JT8D-200 family of engines will now be much 'greener', thanks to a new Environmental Kit (E-Kit) combustor system which exceeds all ICAO standards for new production engines.
It also qualifies for one of the world's toughest emission categories, Switzerland's Class 5.
Kits will be available from the fourth quarter of 1999 for the 217, 217A, 217C and 219 variants of the engine.
The JT8D-200 family, which powers the MD-80 series of aircraft, already meets Stage 3 noise requirements. However, the E-Kit burner - the product of a four-year development programme - reduces already-low NO2 emissions by 25%, unburned hydrocarbons by 99% and smoke by 52%.
This improvement is made possible by a unique fuel nozzle and burner can system which work together to optimise fuel mixing and airflow distribution.
The E-Kit is directly interchangeable in sets with existing hardware and has essentially no impact on engine performance, operability or weight. The system received US Federal Aviation Administration FAR 25 certification in late May after successful flight testing in Spain, installed on a Spanair MD-80.
More than 2,600 JT8D-200 engines are in service throughout the world.
Source: Flight Daily News
