Pratt-Whitney Canada Corp

Pratt & Whitney Canada Corp.

Thomas Trevor Ricci

James Robert Jarvo

Yusuf Razi Syed

Xuening Lu

Ezzat MeshkinFam

Simon Sai-Ming Lam

Michel Bousquet

Etienne Plamondon

Jeremie Barberger

Jeremie Hebert

Nicolas Des Roches-Dionne

Charles Bolon-bruhn

Raphael Gariepy

Todd Young

Piotr Twarecki

James Jarvo

Yusuf Syed

Syed Yusuf

A hybrid electric propulsion system for an aircraft is provided that includes a thermal engine, an electric motor, a gearbox, an electric power storage unit, a propulsion unit, and a controller. The thermal engine has a main oil pump configured to be driven by the thermal engine. The gearbox is in communication with the thermal and electric motors. The propulsion unit includes a propeller having propeller blades, and a pitch change mechanism. The controller is in communication with the thermal and electric motors, the propulsion unit, and a memory storing instructions. The instructions when executed cause the controller to control the electric motor to operate using electrical power from the electric power storage unit to cause the main oil pump to actuate and produce a flow of engine oil to the pitch change mechanism for a period of time sufficient to feather the propeller blades.

Hybrid electric propulsion system with pitch change mechanism operation

An indication system for a hybrid aircraft power plant including an electric motor and a heat engine for driving an air mover configured to propel an aircraft is provided. The indication system includes a display providing a display area and a computer operatively connected to the display. The computer is configured to cause a first visual indication to be generated in the display area of the display. The first visual indication indicates a current amount of energy stored in a battery powering the electric motor of the hybrid aircraft power plant along a scale. The computer is configured to cause a second visual indication to be generated in the same display area of the display. The second visual indication indicates a remaining run time for the electric motor based on the current amount of energy stored in the battery.

Indicator for hybrid aircraft power plant

A hybrid-electric powerplant (HEP) of an aircraft comprises a thermal engine providing a first torque input to the HEP and an electric motor providing a second torque input to the HEP. A power management system connected to one or both of the thermal engine and the electric motor comprises an engine control unit (ECU) connected to the thermal engine. The ECU controls fuel supplied to the thermal engine. An electric propulsion control (EPC) is connected to the electric motor and controls power supplied to the electric motor. The EPC includes an EPC protection module in communication with a power source for the electric motor. The EPC protection module disables power supplied to the electric motor upon receipt of a signal indicative of one or more of an over-speed condition and an over-torque condition detected in the HEP.

Overspeed and/or overtorque protection for hybrid electric aircraft propulsion system

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 method of and system for operating a hybrid electric propulsion system for an aircraft in a start sequence is provided. The hybrid electric propulsion system includes a thermal engine, an electric motor, a gearbox, an electric power storage unit, and a propulsion unit having a propeller having propeller blades. The method includes: driving the propeller from a static state to a target rotational speed within a predetermined range of speeds using the electric motor; transitioning the propeller blades from a feathered mode to an unfeathered mode while the propeller is being driven at the target rotational speed solely by the electric motor; starting the thermal engine; and transitioning the driving of the propeller using the electric motor to driving the propeller using the thermal engine.

Hybrid electric propulsion system with start sequence and shutdown sequence

A system is provided for an aircraft. This aircraft system includes a heat exchanger, a lubricant flow circuit and a bypass valve. The lubricant flow circuit includes an inlet passage, an outlet passage, a heat exchanger passage and a bypass passage. The heat exchanger passage extends through the heat exchanger. The bypass passage bypasses the heat exchanger. The heat exchanger passage and the bypass passage are fluidly coupled in parallel between the inlet passage and the outlet passage. The bypass valve is fluidly coupled inline along the lubricant flow circuit. The bypass valve is operable to regulate lubricant flow through the bypass passage. The bypass valve includes a rotary electric motor.

Aircraft heat exchanger bypass flow control with electric motor

An assembly for an aircraft propulsion system includes an intercooler assembly and a controller. The intercooler assembly includes an intercooler and a flow control assembly. The intercooler includes a primary air inlet, a primary air outlet, a secondary air inlet, and a secondary air outlet. The flow control assembly is disposed at the secondary air outlet. The flow control assembly includes an actuator and at least one flap. The actuator is configured to position the at least one flap in an open position, a closed position, and intermediate positions. The controller is configured to control the actuator to position the at least one flap in the open position, determine a hot-side heat transfer effectiveness of the intercooler and a hot-side mass flow rate for the intercooler, determine a cold-side mass flow rate of the intercooler, identify a position of the actuator, and identify a successful or an unsuccessful actuator range check for the actuator.

System and method for performing an actuator range check for an intercooler flow control assembly of an aircraft propulsion system

The method can include, while the airplane is on the ground: entering a disking mode including positioning the blades at a disking pitch including rotating each blade around the length, the disking pitch oriented parallel to the plane of rotation; maintaining the blades at the disking pitch; and exiting the disking mode when a disking mode exit condition is met, including rotating each blade around the length, away from the disking pitch.

Method and system of operating an airplane engine

A method of deactivating a liquid distribution system of a gas turbine engine in the event of a fire condition includes introducing a quantity of air into the liquid distribution system at a location upstream of a liquid pump of the liquid distribution system. The quantity of air is greater than a liquid discharge capacity of the liquid pump, thereby starving the liquid pump.

Fire mitigation system for gas turbine engine

There is described herein methods and systems for detecting of metallic chips in a fluid system of an aircraft engine. A resistance value is measured across a magnetic chip detector mounted to a fluid system of the aircraft engine. The resistance value is transmitted to an engine computer of the aircraft engine. In the engine computer, The resistance value is compared to a first threshold and a first warning indicative of a chip in the fluid is issued when the resistance value exceeds the first threshold.

Systems and methods for detecting chips in fluid of aircraft engine

The described gas turbine engine includes a fire mitigation system in fluid system thereof, and includes an air-introduction component located in a fluid conveying conduit upstream of a liquid pump of the fluid system. The air-introduction component has a sacrificial element which remains in place during normal operation of the gas turbine engine but has a heat-induced failure point lower than that of a remainder of the fluid conveying conduit such that it fails when exposed to a threshold temperature greater than the heat-induced failure point. Failure of the sacrificial element allows air introduction into the fluid conveying conduit upstream of the liquid pump, thereby starving the liquid pump in the event of a fire condition generating the threshold temperature.

Growing community of inventors

Kirkland, Canada

Thomas Trevor Ricci