Flying to new heights: At its Amherst facility, Zulu Pods makes lubrication systems for the military’s jet engines, helicopters
Published: 06-14-2023 6:07 PM |
AMHERST — In the aerospace industry, how limited-life engines in airplanes and helicopters are lubricated hasn’t changed in more than a century, with many of these mechanical systems often being over-lubricated, according to the founders of an Amherst-based aerospace company.
Recognizing the opportunity to address the problem of overusing oils to lubricate the engines, and simplifying short-duration engine architecture by reducing weight, cost and complexity, is at the heart of the work being done by Zulu Pods, a company created by Rob and Daniella Sladen and Todd Currier.
With their primary research laboratory in North Amherst, the founders, who previously worked on engines and lubricants as employees at Pratt & Whitney, a Connecticut-based aerospace manufacturer, are aiming to both improve efficiency and reduce environmental impacts with their technology, which uses pods, or a package oil delivery system.
“We look at ourselves as a company that will take market share from traditional aerospace companies with our unique products,” says Rob Sladen, the company’s chief executive officer.
“We can innovate quickly,” he added. “We don’t have to abide by what’s been done in the past.”
The research laboratory aims to improve the systems for high-tech engines in airplanes and helicopters using the pod-like systems that are lighter and more environmentally friendly with less oil as lubricant.
“The pods can replace a primary oil system,” Rob Sladen said. “They can back up or be complementary, they can be a whole complementary piece, a brother or a sister oil system.”
Work on the various projects is being done in a 2,300-square-foot garage at 65 Sunderland Road, where the interior has been overhauled to make it suitable for a modern research facility. Inside, various machines and equipment are set up, along with office furniture, tables and chairs, a couch and a white board. Both paid staff and several interns from the University of Massachusetts mechanical engineering department work out of the space.
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Based in Florida, the Sladens recall they were in a car, with their children asleep in the back seat, discussing ways to reduce the amount of lubricant and using smaller amounts of oil in engines, especially in the secondary lubricated systems.
“We were taking a drive to Orlando when we came up with the concept of a Tide Pod for a jet engine,” Rob Sladen said.
Daniella Sladen, as chief technology officer, like her spouse, had worked on big and small engines, and saw merit in figuring out ways to get engines to last longer with less oil.
“The processing of the Tide Pod engines began,” Daniella Sladen said. “Why not do the same philosophy with engines?”
Already, Zulu Pods, which takes its other name from military jargon of a mission that can’t fail, have been able to win several government contracts with the Navy and Army and build partnerships with GE and Rolls Royce, two of the leading airplane manufacturers, as well. Zulu Pods is also raising capital, a total of $3 million over the past two years, and meeting with smaller jet engine manufacturers.
At the Amherst site, a significant amount of testing is being done on various aspects of the engine lubrication system, such as demonstrating the effectiveness of bearings that are part of short duration fluid and lubrication components.
Currier, the chief scientific officer who earned his doctorate in mechanical engineering at UMass, said sometimes secondary lubricant systems are too heavy for helicopters, and thus eliminated.
“When you make things that fly, you need them to be as light as possible,” Currier said.
One of the tests is to design bearings to withstand extreme airflow, to simulate the bearings that live inside the jet engines. This is through a compressor that can put 750 cubic feet of air per minute, or the air flow that would go through a jet engine.
During the tests, the company will also use high speed photography and thermal imaging to capture how the bearings function as they spin at 130,000 RPS, or revolutions per minute.
Zulu Pods is already developing patents, to protect the technology and development of a better product that Currier is confident may be years ahead of where others are.
“We have a talented corps of engineers trying to solve problems,” Rob Sladen said.
At the same time, the company has launched Zulu Manufacturing, which can do small prototyping jobs with its metalworking equipment, including a lathe and a cylindric grinder. This includes working with a local doctor who is seeking a better way to sharpen his instruments, and another to make small titanium screws for dental implants.
But most of the equipment continues to support product development.
For that, Alex Jez, engineering project manager, was crafting a metal adapter, using a CNC Mill to shave off pieces that will mate with another piece for the testing.
“No two days are the same,” Jez said.
Zulu Pods has a team of 10 full-time employees, others part-timers and interns, split with another site in Florida where the Sladens live.
Daniella Sladen said she takes pride in trying to make the industry, which is a male-dominated field, more welcoming to women. As a working mother, she said there is a need to feel belonging, especially after returning from maternity leave.
“It’s important to me that it’s an inclusive culture to women and to working mothers,” Daniella Sladen said. One way is build flexibility into the work schedules.
Some of the work on airplane engines can also apply to engines for other uses, such as offshore wind turbines, where contaminants in the oil system have been a leading cause of failure, Currier said.
While Zulu Pods is most focused on applications for military work, the hope is to create commercial products that can eventually be sold to the larger civilian airplane industry.
Currier said success is dictated by moving at lightning speed.
“How quickly can we develop a product that makes its way into an aircraft?” Currier said. “The team is working at a breakneck speed to make this happen.”
Scott Merzbach can be reached at smerzbach@gazettenet.com.