Pratt & Whitney has completed assembly of its first engine to test for its PurePower(r) PW1100G-JM engine – the first engine to power the Airbus A320neo aircraft.
Company leadership, Airbus, MTU, JAEC and employees celebrated the program milestone with a Last Bolt Ceremony at Pratt & Whitney’s West Palm Beach facility Oct. 26, where the full engine is scheduled to begin testing soon.
The engine, rated at 33,000 pounds of thrust, is the third member of the PurePower PW1000G family of engines to begin testing. Pratt & Whitney is a United Technologies Corp. company.
“The PurePower engine is an integral part of the Airbus A320neo family of aircraft,” Airbus Senior Vice President A320neo Family, Klaus Roewe, told Pratt & Whitney employees and partners at the ceremony today. “We continue to work closely with Pratt & Whitney to integrate the engine with the airframe, and we look forward to reviewing the initial test results from this first engine to test.”
The PW1100G-JM engine test program will run a total of eight test engines over the next 24 months. Test engines will be built both at Pratt & Whitney’s West Palm Beach and Middletown facilities. Entry into service is scheduled for October 2015. To date, Pratt & Whitney has firm orders for 1,136 PW1100G-JM engines to power the Airbus A320neo family of aircraft.
“Pratt & Whitney’s Geared Turbofan(tm) architecture is revolutionizing the single aisle marketplace with game changing benefits – reduced fuel burn, emissions, noise, and operating cost. We are confident the Geared Turbofan is the best value proposition for our airline customers,” said Paul Adams, senior vice president, Operations & Engineering, Pratt & Whitney. “Our technology readiness execution for this engine family is robust. We’ve proven its benefits with extensive rig, ground, and flight testing; and, we are excited to begin the A320neo test program.”
“Pratt & Whitney is very proud to have the lead engine to enter service on the Airbus A320neo aircraft,” said Greg Gernhardt, vice president, PW1100G-JM engine program, Pratt & Whitney. “We have achieved excellent market acceptance of our Geared Turbofan engine with announced orders for more than 1,100 firm PW1100G-JM engines with 11 customers. The PW1100G-JM engine for the A320neo family reduces fuel burn by about 15 percent compared to today’s A320ceo family, and it is well positioned to support Airbus in this market segment.”
The PurePower engine uses an advanced gear system allowing the engine’s fan to operate at a different speed than the low-pressure compressor and turbine. The combination of the gear system and an all-new advanced core delivers fuel efficiency and environmental benefits. Pratt & Whitney’s PurePower engine family testing recently exceeded 3,700 hours and 11,000 cycles of full engine testing.
In September, 2011, Pratt & Whitney, Japan Aero Engines Corporation and MTU Aero Engines AG announced they will collaborate to provide the PurePower PW1100G-JM engine for the A320neo program. The “JM” designation in the engine name recognizes JAEC and MTU’s participation. Under the collaboration agreement, MTU is responsible for the low-pressure turbine and participates jointly with Pratt & Whitney in the high pressure compressor. JAEC is responsible for the fan, low-pressure compressor and combustor/diffuser. Pratt & Whitney is responsible for the remainder of the engine and systems integration.
