Jane Edwards
Pratt & Whitney has received a two-year contract from NASA to come up with combustor designs for small core engines to help reduce fuel consumption for single-aisle aircraft.
The contract was awarded under the Hybrid Thermally Efficient Core project, which is part of the space agency’s Sustainable Flight National Partnership that seeks to advance the development of technologies to help the aviation sector reduce carbon emissions by 2050, the company said Thursday.
Pratt & Whitney will use sustainable aviation fuels to assess the performance of new combustor designs that will be developed under the HyTEC project.
NASA said the cost-share contract awarded to Pratt & Whitney is valued at $13.1 million.
“HyTEC’s role is to develop these small core engine combustors that are more efficient, more durable, and able to use sustainable aviation fuel without compromising the engine performance and while providing significant emissions benefits,” said Tony Nerone, HyTEC project manager at NASA’s Glenn Research Center in Cleveland.
In October 2021, the company received two NASA contracts to develop gas turbine technologies.
Geoff Hunt, senior vice president of engineering and technology at Pratt & Whitney, said the partnership with NASA on the HyTEC project will enable the company’s engineers to build technologies meant to improve the sustainability of future propulsion systems.
“The use of SAF blends is increasing today to 50% and will reach 100% within a few years. This is a key pathway to achieving the industry’s goal of net zero carbon emissions by 2050,” added Hunt.
