The Hartford parent of Pratt & Whitney & Co. has found one way to put some of its idle cash to use: Buying up the patent behind Pratt’s global jet engine-washing service.
Pratt announced Tuesday its purchase for an unspecified sum of the aviation assets, including the intellectual property at the root of its EcoPower engine-wash system, owned by Britain’s Gas Turbine Efficiency plc.
Pratt said it held exclusive rights to Gas Turbine’s patented technology since the East Hartford engine-builder launched EcoPower in 2004. Gas Turbine Efficiency continues to market parts and services to the industrial gas-turbine market.
Pratt claims scrubbing jet turbines of carbon buildup and other contaminants allows them to run cooler and more efficiently, which translates into better fuel economy.
Pratt has EcoPower contracts with many of the world’s airlines and airline-maintenance operators.
At Sept. 30, Pratt’s Hartford parent, United Technologies Corp., was sitting on $5.7 billion in cash and equivalents — money with which, if it wanted, to go on a shopping spree.
