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There is a need in the gas turbine industry for an inexpensive fuel control unit for the new breed of high performance small gas turbine engines. To answer this demand, it is proposed to couple an automotive type fuel pump with a stepper motor driven in microstepping mode. The speed of the motor and the fuel flow rate can be controlled by the frequency signal from the computer. This concept is particularly well suited for the gas turbine engine fuel supply where the fuel pressure at low speed is low and the fuel leakage in the pump is not high. The stepper motor driven by a microstepping driver can reach high speeds of several thousands rpm. The unit can be installed inside the fuel, supply tank, as is the case with electric fuel pumps found in automobiles. Prototypes have been made and tested. Both steady state and transient response are showing an impressive performance of such an electronic fuel metering pump.

A new family of low cost electronic fuel control units is being proposed for small gas turbine engines of remotely piloted vehicles and auxiliary power units. It has a modular design incorporating an electronically actuated metering valve which can be matched with various types of differential pressure valves controlling the pressure drop across the metering valve. Four different configurations are proposed: metering valve only, metering valve with diaphragm type differential pressure valve, metering valve with bypass valve and double valve configuration, the latter with a back-up capability. These configurations can satisfy various demands from gas turbine engine producers. Some components of automotive fuel injection system could be used to reduce the cost of these units as well as components from the DP-F2 fuel control which has been in production for a long time. This adds to the confidence of the reliability and durability of this new design.