AC Starting Demonstration with Allison AE2100 Turboprop Engine

During the month of October 1995, Auxilec successfully demonstrated its newly developped AC engine start concept on the Allison AE2100 turboprop engine. This demonstration took place at the AE2100 engine development test cell, which is located in Indianapolis, Indiana. The Auxilec AC engine start system included an off-the-shelf 3OkVA brushless generator, which was derived from an existing helicopter application, together with a vector-controlled power inverter, which was derived from an existing automotive application. The engine start system was powered either by an 80 VDC conventional power supply, or by four NiCad 24VDC/42Ah batteries connected in series and kept at ambient temperature conditions. During this engine start demonstration, which lasted two days, Auxilec managed to perform forty-four (44) successive starts. Of these forty-four (44) engine starts, seven (7) were powered by batteries, while the rest were powered by the 80 VDC power source. As part of this engine start demonstration, Auxilec also performed a sequence of four (4) successive engine starts using only battery power. During this test, the average engine start time was measured at approximately 40 seconds.