Pratt & Whitney PW4000
The Pratt & Whitney PW4000 is a family of dual-spool, axial-flow, high-bypass turbofan aircraft engines produced by Pratt & Whitney as the successor to the JT9D.
It was first run in April 1984, was FAA certified in July 1986, and was introduced in June 1987.
With thrust ranging from, it is used on many wide-body aircraft.
Development
The 52,000–62,000 lbf, -fan PW4000 made its first run in April 1984, was FAA certified in July 1986, and was introduced in June 1987.It powers the Airbus A300-600 and Airbus A310-300, Boeing 747-400 and 767-200/300, and McDonnell Douglas MD-11 widebodies.
Development of the, -fan version began in December 1991 for the Airbus A330, was FAA certified in August 1993, and made its first flight two months later.
It received 90min Extended-range Twin-engine Operations approval at introduction in December 1994, and 180min ETOPS approval in July 1995.
In January 2000, it was the A330 market leader with more than half of the installed base and one million hours, more than twice that of each competitor.
The Advantage 70 upgrade package for the PW4168A, which powered around one-third of the active Airbus A330 fleet, was launched at the 2006 Farnborough Airshow, increasing thrust to 70,000 lbf, and reducing fuel burn by about 1.2% as well as overall operating costs by as much as 20%.
For the Boeing 777, the, -fan version development began in October 1990, achieved in May 1993, and was approved for 180min ETOPS at service entry in June 1995.The 777 launch engine, it entered service on 7 June 1995, with United Airlines.
The PW4090 entered service in March 1997. The PW4098 received FAA certification in July 1998 and was introduced on the Boeing 777-300 in September 1999 but was a few years later discontinued due to core temperature problems and fuel burn that was not appealing to airlines.
In 2000, over 2,000 PW4000 engines had accumulated over 40 million hours of service with 75 operators.
In 30 years between June 1987 and 2017, more than 2,500 engines have been delivered, logging more than 135 million flight hours.
Design
The PW4000 has a dispatch reliability rate of 99.96% and is approved for ETOPS 180.The average engine stays on wing 13,500 flight hours before a shop visit.
It is claimed to be cumulatively 3.4 dB quieter than other engines in its class.
Like other modern aircraft power plants, it has a Full Authority Digital Engine Control, for better fuel economy and reliability. Furthermore, single-crystal alloys allows higher temperature capability and PW's Floatwall combustor liners improve durability and maintainability.
Also, the Talon single-row combustor improves fuel-air mixing, for over 10% better NOx, CO, and HC emissions.
Variants and applications
The PW4000 series engine family uses a numbering systematic with the last three digits as identification of the application and thrust power:X describes the aircraft manufacturer for which the engine is approved. A "0" stands for Boeing; "1" for Airbus; and "4" for the McDonnell Douglas MD-11.YZ denotes the certified thrust in US pounds in pro-mile fraction.
Example: A PW4090 identifies a PW4000 series engine certified for Boeing and has a certified thrust of 90,000 lbf.
PW4000-94
Variants: PW4052, PW4056, PW4060, PW4062, PW4062A, PW4152, PW4156A, PW4156, PW4158, PW4460 and PW4462.Thrust range: 231–276 kN
Applications:
- Airbus A300-600R
- Airbus A310-300
- Boeing 747-400, Boeing Dreamlifter
- Boeing 767-200/-300, -400, -2C/Boeing KC-46A
- McDonnell Douglas MD-11
PW4000-100
Variants: PW4164, PW4168, PW4168A and PW4170.Thrust range: 287–311 kN
Applications: the engine variants are designed exclusively for Airbus A330-200 and -300 .
PW4000-112
Variants: PW4074/74D, PW4077/77D, PW4084/84D, PW4090 and PW4098.Thrust range: 329–436 kN
Applications: the engine variants are designed exclusively for Boeing 777-200, -200ER, -300..
Accidents and incidents
Involving PW4000-112 series
; 17 March 2003, United Airlines Flight 842; 27 May 2016, Korean Air Flight 2708
; 13 February 2018, United Airlines Flight 1175
; 4 December 2020, Japan Airlines Flight 904
; 20 February 2021, United Airlines Flight 328
Involving PW4000-100 series
; 6 May 2014, Vietnam Airlines VN-A371; 13 February 2018, Delta Air Lines Flight 55
; 18 April 2018, Delta Air Lines Flight 30
Involving PW4000-94 series
; 7 June 2017, Delta Air Lines flight 276; 20 February 2021, Longtail Aviation Flight 5504
; 28 March 2022, United Airlines Flight 134