FAA selects Pratt & Whitney for CLEEN technologies program, targets the environmentally friendly PurePower(R) engines

The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) announced today that Pratt & Whitney has been awarded a one-year contract with extension options, which will assist Pratt & Whitney to further develop and mature new jet engine technologies aimed at reduced fuel burn, noise and emissions under the FAA's Continuous Lower Energy, Emissions and Noise (CLEEN) technology development program. The funding will support ongoing development of advanced technologies for the new game-changing PurePower engine family with the geared turbofan™ architecture. Pratt & Whitney is a United Technologies Corp. (NYSE:UTX) company.

Under the CLEEN program, the FAA will support the development and commercialization of CLEEN technologies for current and future civil subsonic airplanes and jet engines to help achieve the Next Generation Air transportation System (NextGen) goals. These goals are intended to increase airspace system capacity by significantly reducing the impact of noise and air quality emissions on communities.

The CLEEN program's goals include the maturation of new aircraft technologies for introduction beginning in 2015. The goals include reduction of aircraft fuel burn by 33 percent below current technology, reduction of noise by 32db cumulative below Stage 4 levels, and reductions of NOx emissions by 60 percent below CAEP 6 standards. Pratt & Whitney will work to further advance jet engine technologies to achieve additional fuel, emissions and noise benefits through 2025.

"The PurePower PW1000G® engine, which is scheduled for entry into service in 2013, already enables Pratt & Whitney to deliver world class levels of fuel burn, noise, and emissions," said Alan Epstein, Pratt & Whitney vice president, Technology & Environment. "Unlike conventional turbofans based on existing technology that have been stretched to its limits to achieve added efficiencies, the geared turbofan engine technology has runway and should achieve fuel burn savings of 25-35 percent by the 2020s. The gear changes everything."

The PurePower family of engines is designed to power the next generation of passenger aircraft. The combination of its gear system and advanced core allows PurePower engines to deliver double-digit improvements in fuel efficiency and emissions with a 50-percent reduction in noise over today's engines.

Pratt & Whitney's PurePower PW1000G engine has been recognized by Popular Science Magazine with a 2009 "Best of What's New Award." In addition to the Popular Science award, Pratt & Whitney's PurePower engine family also received the 2009 Aviation Week Laureate Award for outstanding achievement in Aeronautics and Propulsion and the 2008 Technology Breakthrough Award from the China Aviation Association and AVIC Science and Technology department.