Open Competition 1 - Chemistry and Materials

Multi-Fuel General Aviation Piston Engine

Sponsor: GSE, Inc.

• Project Performance Period: 11/1/2002 - 5/12/2006
• Total project (est.): $3,000,000.00
• Requested ATP funds: $2,000,000.00

Commercial general aviation is in jeopardy due to the rising costs and potential phaseout of the leaded Avgas LL100 used in spark-ignition piston engines. A switch to turboprop propulsion is impractical because of the upgrade and maintenance costs. Innovative engine technology is needed. However, the general aviation market is unattractive to standard diesel engine makers because of low aircraft production volumes, and the cost to design, develop, and manufacture engines having greatly improved power-to-weight ratios compared with today's production diesel engines. GSE Inc. plans a three-year project to design, build, and test a reliable, high-performance prototype with variable compression-ratio diesel engine that tolerates low cetane rating and physical properties of Jet-A fuel, which is the dominant fuel used in commercial aviation. The proposed powerplant would feature innovative fuel and combustion characteristics, with numerous small cylinders operating at high speed and light load, resulting in modest heat loading and favorable output shaft characteristics. A key challenge is to overcome difficulties associated with using Jet-A and similar fuels, such as JP5 and JP8, which have low cetane rating (affecting combustion knock), low viscosity, and poor lubricity (which wears out fuel pumps and cylinder walls.) The feasibility of the approach has been demonstrated by a preliminary engine design. The engine requires an innovative fuel injection system that must be insensitive to low fuel viscosity and lubricity and operates at high speed for long periods of time. Other technical challenges include the design of heat management and combustion systems that will enable engine restarts while airborne. The ATP funding is needed because GSE is a small business and the research involves too much risk to attract either private or other federal support. If successfully developed and commercialized, the new diesel engine design could be made in a wide range of sizes as appropriate for civilian and military aviation, marine, and generator and auxiliary power applications. The proposed engine design is projected to have capital, operational, and maintenance costs that are lower than those of current aviation gas engines and turbo-prop retrofits. The introduction of a lightweight, inexpensive aero-diesel engine running on Jet-A fuel not only would revolutionize general aviation but also would save millions of dollars in reduced research and development and logistics costs associated with the oil industry and aviation facilities.

For project information:

Greg Stevenson, (775) 831-3917
gse@sbcglobal.net

ATP Project Manager

Richard Bartholomew, (301) 975-4786
richard.bartholomew@nist.gov