SBIR-STTR Award

Emerging platforms such as stealth aircraft have three to five times the heat load of legacy platforms while being limited in their ability to reject heat to the environment due to the reduction of vents, grills and inlets that create radar and infra-red hotspots. This increased heat load is the result of modern avionics, advanced mission systems; fueldraulic based vectored thrust control systems, increased use of composite structures, and larger more electric aircraft engine accessories such as generators, or environmental controls. To reduce overall fuel system temperature rise through main engine fuel pumps, Turnkey Design Services of Blue Island, IL proposes to design a variable delivery, two stage fixed displacement pump for aerospace applications that can achieve speeds greater than 16,000 RPM, has excellent metering capability due to the ability to vary stroke and speed, good thermal efficiency due to the ability to completely unload one stage, good suction capability because of the small high efficiency 1st Stage and can detect performance degradation and oncoming failures.

Benefit:
The program benefit is that the main engine fuel pump overall fuel temperature rise will be reduced. This in turn reduces maintenance cost of aircraft by reducing the potential of engine fuel nozzles and manifolds from clogging and increasing the life of components that rely on fuel for lubrication. Potential commercial applications include commercial aircraft that that have reduced specific fuel consumption requirements.

Keywords:
Thermal Efficient Fuel Pump, Metering Pump, Variable Displacement, Vane Pump, Turnkey Design Services

Turnkey Design Services of Blue Island IL proposes to develop and demonstrate that a gearbox driven, positive displacement variable delivery fuel system pump can be produced that will reduce thermal output by 35% and be comparable in weight/size to baseline aerospace centrifugal fuel pumps. The advantages of this new technology over baseline aerospace pumps include: •Capability of rotating 2X faster than baseline positive displacement pumps which results in lower size and weight •Capability to vary stroke and speed which leads to flow on demand and improved thermal efficiency •Capability to predict remaining life and compensate for pump internal wear

Benefit:
The benefits of implementing the variable delivery pump include: •Lower pump temperature rise •Accurately provide flow on demand •Lower engine system weight •Health monitoring and fault detection capabilities Potential applications include the P&W1100G geared turbofan and the CFM International Leap-X series turbofan engines.

Keywords:
Thermally Efficient Fuel Pump, Flow On Demand, Variable Displacement, Fuel Metering, High Speed, Low Fuel Temperature Rise