Pratt-Whitney Canada Corp

Etienne Plamondon

Sebastien Bergeron

Jean-Gabriel Gauvreau

Benjamin James Renaud

Jean Thomassin

Michel Bousquet

Edwin Schulz

David Waddleton

Jonathan Brulatout

Andre Julien

Vincent Savaria

Ninad Joshi

Kevin Nguyen

Thomas Trevor Ricci

Leonid Guerchkovitch

Jeremie Barberger

Xuening Lu

Paul C Imel

Samuel Gosselin-Brisson

Benjamin Renaud

Jean Gabriel Gauvreau

A rotary engine, comprising: housings defining a rotor cavity and respective coolant passages fluidly connected in parallel to a source of coolant; a rotor within the rotor cavity; and a cooling system including: a flow regulating device in fluid communication with the respective coolant passages; a heat exchanger facilitating heat exchange between the coolant and a heat-transfer medium; and a controller operatively connected to the flow regulating device to: determine, based on an engine parameter and an environment parameter of the rotary engine, a flow rate of the coolant to be injected towards the respective coolant passages to maintain the housings within a temperature range, the engine parameter indicative of a quantity of heat generated by the rotary engine, the environment parameter indicative of a quantity of heat the heat exchanger is able to transfer to the heat-transfer medium; and cause the coolant to flow towards at the flow rate.

Rotary engine and cooling systems thereof

A rotary engine, has: an outer body defining a rotor cavity; a rotor within the rotor cavity, the outer body and the rotor defining a combustion chamber; a pilot subchamber defined by the outer body and having an outlet communicating with the rotor cavity; a pilot injector having a pilot tip in communication with the pilot subchamber; a main injector having a tip in communication with the rotor cavity, the main injector having a fuel inlet fluidly connected to a fuel source, a fluid inlet fluidly connected to a fluid source, and an injector outlet in fluid communication with the rotor cavity independently of the pilot subchamber, the main injector having: a fuel-injection configuration in which the main injector connects the fuel source to the combustion chamber vi; and a fluid-injection configuration in which the main injector connects the fluid source to the combustion chamber.

Rotary engine with fluid injection cooling

An aircraft power plant, has: a combustion engine having an outlet outputting combustion gases; a turbine downstream of the combustion engine; a detonation combustion tube fluidly connecting the combustion engine to the turbine; a member having an open position in which the outlet of the combustion engine is fluidly connected to the turbine and a closed position in which the combustion engine is fluidly disconnected from the turbine; a fuel injector fluidly connected to the detonation combustion tube; an igniter operatively connected to the detonation combustion tube; and a controller operatively connected to the fuel injector and to the igniter, the controller configured to, in response to receiving of a command: inject fuel into the detonation combustion tube via the fuel injector, and once the member is in the closed position, power the igniter to ignite a mixture of the combustion gases and the fuel into the detonation combustion tube.

Aircraft power plant with detonation combustion tube

A rotary engine rotor and a method for supplying rotary engine rotors are provided. The rotary engine rotor has a center axis, a rotor body, a plurality of peripheral surfaces, and a plurality of recess members. The rotor body has a central bore that extends along the center axis. The plurality of peripheral surfaces are disposed around an exterior perimeter of the rotor body. Each of the plurality of recess members are disposed in a respective one of the plurality of peripheral surfaces. Each recess member includes an interior cavity open to an exterior of the rotor.

Rotary engine rotor and method

An engine assembly for an aircraft propulsion system includes an engine, a rotational assembly, a gearbox assembly, and a controller. The engine includes an engine shaft. The rotational assembly includes a shaft, a bladed compressor rotor, and a bladed turbine rotor. The shaft interconnects the bladed compressor rotor and the bladed turbine rotor. The gearbox assembly includes a transmission assembly. The transmission assembly includes a first pump, a second pump, and a conduit circuit connecting the first pump and the second pump in fluid communication. The first pump is coupled with the engine shaft. The first pump is a variable displacement pump. The second pump is coupled with the rotational assembly. The controller is configured to identify a target rotation speed for the rotational assembly with an outer closed loop, identify a control signal with an inner closed loop using the target rotation speed, and controlling a displacement of the first pump using the control signal.

Transmission assembly for an aircraft engine assembly and architecture for controlling same

A method of operating an aircraft power plant having an interburner fluidly connected between a combustion engine and a turbine, includes: operating the combustion engine at an air-fuel ratio corresponding to a nominal air-fuel ratio to generate combustion gases; receiving the combustion gases generated by the combustion engine into the interburner; increasing a temperature of the combustion gases generated by a combustion chamber of the combustion engine by lowering the air-fuel ratio to an ignition air-fuel ratio lower than the nominal air-fuel ratio; injecting fuel into the interburner to cause ignition of a mixture of the combustion gases and the fuel received into the interburner; and after ignition of the interburner, increasing the air-fuel ratio above the ignition air-fuel ratio.

Aircraft power plant with interburner

A control method is provided for an engine. During this control method, a lambda target parameter indicative of a ratio between a stoichiometric air-to-fuel ratio and an actual air-to-fuel ratio is determined. A control signal is determined using the lambda target parameter. A component of the engine is operated based on the control signal to regulate airflow within a compressor section of the engine.

Compressor boost control for aircraft engine

A rotary engine, has: an outer body defining a rotor cavity; a rotor within the rotor cavity and defining at least one chamber; a pilot subchamber defined by the outer body and having an outlet in communication with the rotor cavity; a main fuel source of a heavy fuel; an alternative fuel source of an alternative fuel; a main injector having a tip in communication with the rotor cavity at a location spaced apart from the outlet of the pilot subchamber, the main injector selectively fluidly connectable to the main fuel source or to the alternative fuel source; and a controller configured for: determining that the rotary engine is in a vicinity of a city or an airport; and operating the main injector in a first configuration in which the main injector fluidly connects the alternative fuel source to the rotor cavity while disconnecting the main fuel source.

Rotary engine with dual-fuel injectors

A method includes using an electric motor to start a thermal engine. The electric motor and thermal engine are connected to one another as the electric motor and the thermal engine of a hybrid-electric power plant in an aircraft. The electric motor can be connected to a combining gear box. The thermal engine can be connected to the combining gear box so that the electric motor and the thermal engine can provide torque to the combining gear box in a parallel hybrid-electric configuration. The combining gearbox can output torque to an air mover for providing thrust to the aircraft.

Starting methods for hybrid-electric aircraft

A rotary engine, has: an outer body defining a rotor cavity; a rotor rotatable within the rotor cavity and in sealing engagement with walls of the outer body and defining at least one chamber of variable volume in the rotor cavity; a pilot subchamber defined by the outer body, the pilot subchamber having an outlet in fluid flow communication with the rotor cavity; and a fuel injector having a tip in communication with the rotor cavity at a location spaced apart from the outlet of the pilot subchamber, the tip of the fuel injector having: a first outlet in fluid communication with the rotor cavity independently of the pilot subchamber; and a second outlet in fluid communication with the rotor cavity through the pilot subchamber.

Rotary engine with single dual-fuel injector

A rotodynamic pump for pumping a fluid includes an impeller, a housing surrounding the impeller, and a pressure regulating mechanism. The pressure regulating mechanism is configured to adjust the clearance between the impeller and the impeller housing to regulate pressure of the fluid downstream of the impeller. A method of regulating the delivery pressure is also disclosed.

Rotodynamic pump having a body defining a body cavity with a first and second housing portion defining a portion of an impeller cavity and disposed within the body cavity wherein the body cavity extends at least in part around the second housing portion and the housing portions defining an impeller clearance

A rotary internal combustion engine with a housing having a fluid passage defined therethrough opening into a portion of its inner surface engaging each peripheral or apex seal of the rotor. An injector has an inlet for fluid communication with a pressurized lubricant source and a selectively openable and closable outlet in fluid communication with the fluid passage for delivering the pressurized lubricant to each seal through the fluid passage. A housing for a Wankel engine and a method of lubricating peripheral seals of a rotor in an internal combustion engine are also discussed.

Rotary internal combustion engine with seal lubrication

A method of controlling a delivery pressure of an aircraft engine fuel system includes operating a rotodynamic fuel pump hydraulically connected to the fuel system to pump a fluid from an inlet of the rotodynamic pump and out of an outlet of the rotodynamic pump for delivery to the fuel system. The method further includes varying an angular relationship between the inlet and the outlet of the pump to control the delivery pressure. An aircraft engine fuel system and a rotodynamic pump are also described.

Rotodynamic pump and method

A liquid fuel system for an aircraft engine includes a first fuel supply conduit hydraulically connected to a fuel source, a second fuel supply conduit hydraulically connected to the engine, a fuel return conduit hydraulically connected to the second fuel supply conduit, and a fuel pump. The fuel pump has a main inlet hydraulically connected to the first fuel supply conduit, an outlet hydraulically connected to the second fuel supply conduit, and an intermediate inlet hydraulically connected to the fuel return conduit. The intermediate inlet is located between the main inlet and the outlet and in use has a pressure between the main inlet pressure and the outlet pressure. A method of supplying a liquid fuel to an aircraft engine is also described.

Aircraft engine fuel system and method

A rotary internal combustion engine (ICE) has: a housing defining a rotor cavity; a rotor received within the rotor cavity to define working chambers of variable volume around the rotor, the rotor having circumferentially spaced peripheral apex seals biased radially outwardly in sliding engagement against a peripheral wall of the housing to separate the working chambers from one another, the housing having a fluid passage defined therethrough and opening into an inner surface of the peripheral wall; and an injector having a lubricant inlet hydraulically connected to a lubricant source, an actuation inlet hydraulically connected to a source of an actuation fluid, and a lubricant outlet, the injector having an open state in which the lubricant outlet is in fluid flow communication with the fluid passage upon the actuation fluid received within the injector and a closed state in which the lubricant outlet is disconnected from the fluid passage.

Growing community of inventors

Candiac, Canada

Etienne Plamondon