System Development Test Program for the WR-21 Intercooled Recuperated (ICR) Gas Turbine Engine System

Abstract

Westinghouse Electric Corporation has teamed with Rolls-Royce to develop an affordable, commercially based Intercooled/Recuperated Gas Turbine Engine System (ICR) for the United States Navy. This engine system known as WR-21 will become the next prime mover on Navy new construction surface combatants. The system development test program for the WR-21 engine system will be carried out at two test sites in geographically different locations. These are the US Navy’s Test Site at the Carderock Division Naval Surface Warfare Center in Philadelphia, Pa. and the Royal Navy’s Admiralty Test House at the Test and Evaluation Establishment, Pyestock in the United Kingdom. This paper will briefly describe the WR-21 engine system with a more detailed discussion of the system development test program itself. This will include descriptions of the system development testing to be performed and the test facilities and data acquisition systems at each test site location. Also discussed are the methods used to establish the required design commonality between each test site to establish test bed cross-calibration and provide test program flexibility and interchangeability of testing at each site.