The U.S. Air Force Research Laboratory (AFRL) is kicking off a competition to demonstrate a lightweight, fuel-efficient turboshaft engine for unmanned aircraft and other applications with a $2 million prize at stake.
The Air Force Prize seeks a 100-bhp-class powerplant that can achieve the fuel efficiency of an internal-combustion engine with the power-to-weight ratio of a gas turbine. The winning engine will have twice the fuel efficiency of a turbine and power-to-weight ratio three times better than a piston engine.
To win, an engine must produce 50-100 bhp with a specific fuel consumption of no more than 0.55 lb./hp/hr. and power-to-weight ratio of at least 2 hp/lb. The engine must be a turbine and must run on Jet A fuel.
Results will be based on verification testing conducted by AFRL at Wright-Patterson AFB in Ohio. Although reliability is not a competition requirement, AFRL wants two back-to-back tests to show the engine is mature enough to run more than once.
The test profile will be 30 min. at maximum continuous power, followed by 5 hr. at half power, another 30 min. at maximum and 6 hr. to cool down without special handling before repeating the 30-min./5-hr./30-min. cycle.
AFRL will provide the load dynamometer, inlet and exhaust ducting, start power and fuel. The control system will be offboard and not count toward engine weight, but any actuators or pumps required to operate the powerplant will be included.
The turbine prize is a first-across-the-finish-line competition, and the first to meet the power, fuel-efficiency and power-to-weight criteria will win the $2 million. There is no follow-on development or acquisition program, AFRL says.
Teams are required to register for the competition and, when ready, submit a request for a verification test. This will take at least 30 days to arrange, says AFRL. So far five teams have registered, but none have yet requested a verification test.
Teams registered so far include Oregon-based Volta Volare, which is developing a hybrid-electric general aviation aircraft, the GT4. Three individuals and a company called Turbine Innovations also have registered.
AFRL is not buying the engines, it emphasizes, and “the intellectual property and engine remain the property of the contestant.” But the lab believes there is a market, in the Air Force and the civil sector, for an efficient, lightweight, 100-shp-class turboshaft.
Source: Aviation Week