Pratt-Whitney Emissions Testing

  

An aircraft engine on a test stand at the Pratt-Whitney Facility.

  

Particulate reductions as a function of engine thrust.
Highest reductions were measured at low power conditions

From January to March 2008, the LARGE group participated in test stand measurements with Aerodyne Inc., the Air Force Research Lab, and Pratt and Whitney. NASA studied the impact of alternative fuel and fuel thermal conditioning on the performance and emissions of a modified PW308 gas-turbine engine during static tests. Tests, which took place at the Pratt & Whitney West Palm Beach Facility, involved gas and particle emission measurements as a function of thrust as the engine burns regular JP-8 aircraft fuel and fuel derived by the Fischer-Tropsch process.

The LARGE team took measurements of both primary soot emissions and secondary aerosol formation within the engine exhaust as the plume cools and mixes with background air.

Related Publications:

Timko et al., Energy & Fuels '10 - The alternative fuels had significantly reduced primary soot emissions (due to lower fuel aromatic content) and secondary aerosol formation (due to lower fuel sulfur). http://pubs.acs.org/doi/abs/10.1021/ef100727t