FEASIBILITY DEMONSTRATION OF LOW COST INTEGRAL STARTER/GENERATOR FOR SMALL TURBOJET

AN OPERATIONAL DEMONSTRATION OF THE TECHNICAL FEASIBILITY OF A LOW COST INTEGRAL STARTER/GENERATOR FOR SMALL TURBOJET ENGINES IS PROVIDED BY THIS PROGRAM. A UNIQUE DUAL PURPOSE STARTER/GENERATOR CONTROL CONCEPT IS EMPLOYED WHICH USES ONLY ONE-THIRD OF THE POWER SWITCHING DEVICES OF CONVENTIONAL SYSTEMS. THIS NEW CONTROL CONCEPT WILL SIGNIFICANTLY REDUCE THE COST OF THE OVERALL STARTER/GENERATOR INSTALLATION. THIS EXPLORATORY DEVELOPMENT PROGRAM WILL CONSTRUCT A PROTOTYPE STARTER/GENERATOR AND EVALUATE ITS PERFORMANCE DIRECTLY COUPLED TO A SMALL TURBINE ENGINE. THE DEVELOPMENT HARDWARE WILL BE CONSTRUCTED FROM AS MANY EXISTING COMPONENTS AS POSSIBLE TO PROVIDE THE NECESSARY TECHNICAL RESULTS WITHIN THE TIME AND COST LIMITATIONS OF THE PHASE I PROGRAM. THIS PROGRAM WILL FOCUS ON THE CRITICAL COMPONENTS TO THE SUCCESS OF THIS SYSTEM CONCEPT IN ORDER TO ADDRESS THE AREAS OF MAJOR TECHNICAL RISK. TEST DATA WILL BE OBTAINED ON THE CRANKING LOADS OF SMALL TURBINE ENGINES TO PERMIT THE SCALING OF THE STARTER/GENERATOR SYSTEM TO LARGER UNITS IN THE NEXT PHASE OF THE PROGRAM.