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Parker Aerospace Wins Cessna Denali Bleed Air Control System Contract

Parker’s new system design integrates technology innovations to bring greater efficiency and reliability.

The Cessna Denali is an eight- to eleven-passenger turboprop aircraft with a range of 1,600 nautical miles. (Image source: Textron Aviation)

Parker Aerospace  , a business segment of Cleveland-based Parker Hannifin Corporation  , was awarded the bleed air control system (BACS), a major component of the environmental control system, for Textron Aviation  ’s Cessna Denali  turboprop aircraft. The Denali BACS controls the flow and temperature of bleed air from the aircraft’s engine that serves to pressurize the cabin. The system – designed by the Parker Aerospace Fluid Systems Division  – includes four valves and an electronic controller.

The Denali’s cabin is based on past Cessna Citation designs and can be formatted to accommodate 11 passengers. (Image source: Textron Aviation)

Having successfully completed the development-testing phase, Parker Aerospace’s BACS modulates high-pressure bleed air from the engine, which is used to draw cool ambient air from outside the aircraft as it takes off. Once the outside air pressure is too low to draw in and the bleed air temperatures are cooler, the BACS will transition to use only low-pressure bleed air to pressurize the cabin. At very high altitudes, the BACS will also supplement the low-pressure air with additional high-pressure air as required to meet flow requirements.

The system’s ability to measure and respond to constantly changing variables is what sets it apart. To enable Parker’s controller software to make decisions about which air sources to draw upon in a given flight scenario, special sensors were engineered that measure the mass air flow rate and the temperature of the air.

Another challenge was using electronically actuated valves in a hot environment. To keep heat away from the electronics, the valves use standoffs made of a unique ceramic material to hold the actuators. This ceramic has a thermal conductivity one-third that of titanium, a thermal expansion rate similar to stainless steel, and a tensile strength similar to aluminum and so proved to be an ideal candidate for the standoffs at a lower cost than titanium or mica alternatives.

In addition to its in-house design and manufacturing activities, Parker is working closely with its suppliers to optimize other system components, such as the efficient and reliable high-temperature stepper motor used to drive the flow control valves.

“The Cessna Denali is expanding the envelope in turboprop aircraft design and performance, and Parker’s bleed air control system reflects that commitment to innovation,” says Joe Stilla, pneumatics project engineer, for the Parker Aerospace Fluid Systems Division. “We invested significantly in the up-front design of the system and were able to demonstrate the effectiveness of our solution to Cessna. The Denali program will be a significant piece of business for us, and we believe the win can lead to additional opportunities for Parker.”

The Cessna Denali single engine turboprop aircraft was first announced at EAA AirVenture Oshkosh  in 2015. It is currently in development and is expected to fly in late 2018. The Denali will use the GE Aviation  Catalyst engine  – the first clean-sheet turboprop engine in more than 30 years – which incorporates 3D-printed components, digital full authority digital engine control (FADEC), and advanced multistage turbine blades.

William Kucinski  is content editor at SAE International, Aerospace Products Group in Warrendale, Pa. Previously, he worked as a writer at the NASA Safety Center in Cleveland, Ohio and was responsible for writing the agency’s System Failure Case Studies. His interests include 'literally anything that has to do with space,' past and present military aircraft, and propulsion technology. And also sportscars.

Contact him regarding any article or collaboration ideas by e-mail at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..

Topics:
Air supply Aircraft Aircraft Automotive Aviation Business and general aviation aircraft Cabin pressurization Defense Engine/Powertrain Engines Fixed-wing aircraft Heating, ventilation, and air conditioning systems (HVAC) Jet engines Powertrains Propulsion Turboprop engines Vehicles

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    Transcript

    00:00:05 when Textron Aviation looked at the turbo prop Market we found the single engine segment of that market quite appealing it was a segment of the market we weren't currently serving and when we looked more deeply we saw that there hadn't been significant innovation in many years customers told us they wanted a versatile allnew efficient product in this category and that was the Genesis

    00:00:26 for the Cessna Denali GE has produced over 100,000 jet engines including the largest commercial engine in the world they bring that Innovation and proven reliability to the Denali the partnership between GE and Texon Aviation has been a big deal for us the engine's power and efficiency really set the groundwork for the overall aircraft design having this engine to work with

    00:00:49 allowed our Engineers additional flexibility to focus on cabin Comfort while maintaining range speed and payload objectives we have optimized the airframe propeller interaction propeller design and engine and operating parameters this collaboration generates a product that is quieter more efficient and with greater performance I represent over 6,000

    00:01:09 engineers in GE Aviation together with 3,000 scientists at our GE Global Research Center we're hard at work developing new applications bringing new technologies and new capabilities to the Aviation Space we have over 38,000 engines out flying each and every day at any given time 300 th000 people aoft being powered by our engines every 2 seconds a GE engine somewhere in the

    00:01:36 world lifts an airframe off the ground we will continue this 99-year Legacy leveraging the learning from our installed Fleet and bringing new technologies each and every day to create value for our customers the ATP is really unique in this Marketplace because it combines Technologies from ge's larger commercial transport engines that are used on on Boeing and Airbus

    00:02:01 aircraft and brings those Technologies into the business general aviation Market segment some of the unique aspects of the ATP in the Denali is a single lever control the propeller pitch propeller speed and throttle are all in one lever the engine starts with a fadec it's a full Authority digital engine control just like we have on our large commercial transport engines providing

    00:02:28 improved performance less workload in the cockpit longer time between overhauls it really changes the piloting experience we know the DNA of your engine we know how you flew it and we can monitor it to make sure that it is performing properly and if there's any service that's required we can be there before the service is required to ensure that you have a great flight experience

    00:02:54 and that your aircraft is ready to go whenever you want it it will provide a customer experience like no other turbo prop in history G additive is a new business new technology when we designed the advanced turbo prop we took 855 parts and we reduced them to 12 so automatically you eliminating a lot of probability of mistakes and handoffs

    00:03:24 when you reduce the number of components we started using additive in 2010 so additive really makes the product better it makes the product lighter it combines several parts to one it reduces the cost of the product it helps with eliminating the weak links because you take many parts that previously you would weld or you fasten together all of that goes away that's why the product becomes

    00:03:53 better more durable and more reliable what the Denali really brings to this Market is a luxurious and larger cabin and to push that cabin through the air at the right speed and at the right range requires a more powerful more fuel efficient engine and the ATP can deliver on all of these so the engine is designed to have 4,000 hours with no intermediate overhaul which is about 30%

    00:04:19 more than the Benchmark in the fleet today what's really exciting about the Denali is it's a chance for two companies that are really the best at what they do to work together on a new product Textron Aviation is clearly the world leader in the general aviation space and GE is the world leader in the aircraft engine space and so this is a chance for us to work together and bring

    00:04:39 the best of what we do to a new product of Denali which I know will really change the expectations of customers in this market the Denali is hands down the best-in-class single engine turbo prop aircraft and GE is the perfect fit we're confident and excited to get the aircraft in the hands of our customers

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