Flightpath. Sept 2013 | Page 26

1_Rolls-Royce’s latest engine, the TrentXWB will be 15% more fuel-efficient than the first Trent series engine. 2_Pratt & Whitney use this aircraft as a flying testbed for new engines. 3_Auckland Airport has installed these ‘crocodile’ units to help staff connect ground power to aircraft. 26 Flightpath. [ROLLS-ROYCE] 1 2016. A series of new technologies are enabling the company to push the boundaries of the flight, in terms of eco-friendly propulsion, including revolutionary composite fan blades, ceramic materials, and state-of-theart combustor technology. The LEAP engine will bring a 15% improvement in fuel efficiency over the current best CFM56 engines which translate to savings of half a litre per 100 kilometres per passenger. For a 150-passenger aircraft, that equates to 22 of those passengers flying without consuming fuel. The fuel savings will also result in 4,000 tonnes of CO2 emissions saved each year. When replacing older engines, that number could be as high as 6,000 tonnes per year. If these numbers were applied to the entire CFM56 fleet, this could lead to more than 40 million tonnes of CO2 emissions saved each year. The LEAP engine will also provide a substantial reduction in noise pollution. Advanced technologies such as the composite fan and other noise reducing features will translate to the engine noise being contained within the boundaries of most airports. From design to manufacture, and throughout the service life of its products, Rolls-Royce encourages responsible thinking and prudent use of resources and views sustainability as a fundamental part of business strategy. A relentless drive to introduce advanced technology into new engine designs has enabled the fuel efficiency of the Rolls-Royce Trent engine family to improve on average by about 1% per year. This culminates in the Trent XWB, which is over 15% more fuel efficient than the first Trent engine. The company’s next generation ‘Advance’ engine programmes will deliver up to 20% fuel-burn reduction compared to today’s in-service aircraft. Furthermore, once in production, each Trent engine has benefited from at least one major performance enhancement programme. To ensure increased demand of finite resources can be met sustainably, almost half of a used aero engine is now reclaimed and reprocessed directly into new engine parts. Every one of Rolls-Royce’s manufacturing facilities, in over 100 locations around the world, is part of the company’s ‘Revert’ recycling programme, where the company recovers, recycles and reuses waste manufacturing metals. This saves 20,000 MWh of energy and 9,000 tonnes of CO2 each year. Rolls-Royce’s new Seletar factory in Singapore produces large jet engines and manufactures fan blades. It was designed with five key ‘green’ environmental and sustainability criteria in mind: energy efficiency, water efficiency, environmental protection, indoor environmental quality and other green and innovative features that contribute to better building performance. GE Aviation has, in the last few months, started testing a high pressure compressor module for its next generation of aircraft engine — the GE9X that will power Boeing’s 777X aircraft. GE plans on spending $200 million in 2013 on maturation testing of technologies for the new engine which will be the most fuel-efficient engine GE has ever produced on a per-pounds-of-thrust basis, designed to achieve a 10% improved aircraft fuel burn versus the GE90-115B-powered 777-300ER and a 5% improved specific fuel consumption versus any twin-aisle engine at service entry. In addition, the engine will deliver an approximate 10-to-1 bypass ratio, a 60-to-1 overall pressure ratio and margin to Stage 5 noise limits. F. 2 [PRATT & WHITNEY]