STEP-Tech is focused on developing high-voltage distributed turboelectric propulsion concepts for future advanced air mobility vehicles in the 100-500-kW class.
FARNBOROUGH—RTX companies Collins Aerospace and Pratt & Whitney have achieved sustained operation of a turbogenerator in their STEP-Tech demonstrator, marking a key milestone on the way to running propulsors using a complete hybrid-electric powertrain.
First announced in 2022, STEP-Tech—for Scalable Turboelectric Powertrain Technology—is focused on developing high-voltage distributed turboelectric propulsion concepts for future advanced air mobility vehicles in the 100-500-kW class, with potential to scale to 1 megawatt and beyond.
RTX says concepts demonstrated at the STEP-Tech site—at the RTX Research Center in East Hartford, Connecticut—could also power high-speed electric vertical-takeoff-and-landing aircraft and blended wing body aircraft.
“We've been able to take power from our battery system through our high-voltage system into our turbogenerator and start the engine and do sustained operation of our engines for an extended period of time,” says Zubair Baig, senior technical fellow for Electrical Systems at Pratt.
“This was the first time that we were able to exercise the battery system and also work through our 800-volt DC distribution system as well, which is breaking new ground for us. So we're on our way to a full system demonstrator, as we go from the turbogenerator to our propulsors, which is the ultimate goal of this program,” Baig says.
To date the demonstrator has validated the capability of the battery system to start the thermal engine and use electrical power produced by the turbogenerator to charge the batteries used to drive the propulsor motors. RTX says this follows previous tests of each of STEP-Tech’s system components, including the first engine run at partial power and the electrical system integration test.
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