Aircraft engines or aero engines as they are popularly known are the power component of an aircraft propulsion system. Most engines are either TurboJet, TurboFan, or Turboprop. Nowadays manufacturing engines that are fuel-efficient, making less noise, with less CO2 and NOx emission is the need of the hour. The key is to preserve the environment and boost the engine performance all the while following the regulations. In short sustainable engines leading to a cleaner, greener aviation is the top agenda of all aircraft engine manufacturers of the world and environmentally sustainable or green engines are the latest in engine technologies. This can be achieved by enhancing the efficiency of combustion engines and simultaneously exploring electric and hybrid propulsion systems.
Let us look at a few latest and most advanced engine technologies currently in use or being tested for future flight.
The GE 9X
The GE9X is the largest and most powerful commercial aircraft engine ever built, incorporating advanced technologies that enable more efficient, quieter, and cleaner travel. Designed specifically for the new twin-engine Boeing 777X family, the GE9X is the most fuel-efficient engine in its class, delivering unmatched reliability and performance.
On receiving the FAA certification in 2020 John Slattery, President, and CEO, GE Aviation said, “It takes the world’s best talent in jet propulsion to create a game-changing product like the GE9X engine. There is no substitute that can achieve the combination of size, power, and fuel efficiency of the GE9X. This engine will deliver unsurpassed value and reliability to our airline customers.”
And true to his world the GE9X today holds the world record for the highest thrust, at 134,300 pounds. Made of Ceramic Matrix Composites (CMC) to provide greater durability it has reduced fan blade thickness that improves aerodynamic efficiency, while its lower fan radius ratio maximizes airflow and minimizes drag. Leveraging additive manufacturing, GE9X combined more than 300 engine parts into just seven 3D printed components, resulting in less weight. It produces half the NOx of any engine in its class at a level that is less than half of current requirements.
The GENx
Known as the fastest-selling widebody engine in GE Aviation history, there are more than 2,700+engines in service and on order. It is the world’s first commercial engine with a carbon fiber composite front fan case and fan blades, It is lighter in weight, corrosion-resistant, and offers the customers less line maintenance and improved reliability with less noise. This engine powered the Qantas’ Project Sunrise nonstop flight from New York to Sydney in a record-breaking 19 hours and 16 minutes. The historic flight covered 10,200 miles of land and sea and crossed 15 time zones
Key to GEnx engine’s performance is its high-pressure compressor, lean-burning combustor, and lightweight durable composite materials. With the highest pressure ratio compressor in commercial service today, the GEnx has the best fuel efficiency in its thrust class, enabling it to power many of the longest routes. These leading-edge technologies and the engine’s elegant architecture bring in high operational reliability, excellent utilization rate, and route flexibility for more flights per year and more revenue for airlines.
“We built the GEnx to allow our customers to be entirely flexible on whatever route they want to fly,” said Jim Leister, GEnx-1B Executive Program Manager for GE Aviation. “From 30-minute flights to 20-hour flights, our technology is enabling new direct flights for the airlines.”
GE T700
Combat proven in the world’s harshest environments, the T700/CT7 is the engine of choice for the world’s most demanding military and civilian applications.
Developed in response to the United States Army’s requirement to deliver added power and improved field maintainability, 25,000 T700/CT7 engines have now surpassed 100 million flight hours in nearly four decades of service.
In addition to proving their mettle in the harshest military operating environments imaginable, T700/CT7 engines are the power of choice in 50 countries and 130 customers for transport, medical evacuation, air rescue, special operations and marine patrol. A product of continuous innovation, the story of the T700 will continue to unfold as it incorporates advanced components and materials for increased power, reliability and fuel savings.
Recently GE began testing on the first T901-GE-900 that will power the U.S. Army’s UH-60 Black Hawk, AH-64 Apache, and Future Attack Reconnaissance Aircraft (FARA) aircraft in the future.
CFM LEAP Engine
The CFM LEAP Engine is known to deliver world-class reliability and unparalleled performance with a 15% improvement in fuel consumption, compared to today’s best CFM56 engines it maintains the same level of dispatch reliability and life-cycle maintenance costs. The LEAP engine is built for 99.98% dispatch reliability – which means more time in the air and less maintenance time.Besides it is 3D woven, i.e its fan blades are manufactured from 3D woven RTM (Resin Transfer Molding) carbon fiber composite, an industry first for CFM. This technology results in fan blades that are not only lightweight but so durable that each individual blade is strong enough to support the weight of a wide-body airplane like the Airbus A350 or Boeing 787. It is the first engine to use additive manufacturing to “grow” complex, fully dense yet lighter engines. Its fuel nozzles are 25% lighter than previous models and five times more durable than parts manufactured conventionally. The LEAP debris rejection system provides the best erosion protection, preventing sand, dirt, and other harmful items from reaching the core. As a result, the highly durable, more efficient LEAP engine stays newer for longer.
Rolls Royce – UltraFan
Rolls-Royce is building the world’s largest aero-engine, UltraFanwhich will redefine sustainable air travel for decades to come. The engine is the basis for a potential new family of UltraFan engines able to power both narrowbody and widebody aircraft and deliver a 25% fuel efficiency improvement compared with the first generation of Trent engines.
Chris Cholerton, Rolls-Royce, President – Civil Aerospace, said: “This is an exciting moment for all of us at Rolls-Royce. Our first engine demonstrator, UF001, is now coming together and I’m really looking forward to seeing it built and ready for test. It is arriving at a time when the world is seeking ever more sustainable ways to travel in a post-COVID 19 world, and it makes me and all our team very proud to know we are part of the solution”.
UltraFan is part of Rolls-Royce’s IntelligentEngine vision – for example, each fan blade has a digital twin which stores real-life test data, allowing engineers to predict in-service performance. When on test at Rolls-Royce’s new £90m Testbed 80 facility, data can be taken from more than 10,000 parameters, detecting the tiniest of vibrations at a rate of up to 200,000 samples per second. Data that helps us understand our engines and further improve them.
Key engineering features of the engine include:
- A new, proven, advanced 3 core architecture, combined with our ALECSys lean-burn combustion system, to deliver maximum fuel burn efficiency and low emissions.
- Carbon titanium fan blades and a composite casing that reduce weight by up to 1,500lb per aircraft.
- Advanced ceramic matrix composite (CMC) components that operate more effectively in high-pressure turbine temperatures.
- A geared design that delivers efficient power for the high-thrust, high bypass ratio engines of the future.
Just recently, the power gearbox (PGB) was dispatched from the company’s site in Dahlewitz, Germany. The power gearbox has set a world aerospace power record on test, has been shipped to the UK where the first UltraFan engine demonstrator (UF001) is being assembled. The UltraFan will go on test in Derby, UK, this year and its first run will be on 100% Sustainable Aviation Fuel.
Pearl 700
The highly efficient Pearl 700 combines the Advance2 engine core, the most efficient core available across the business aviation sector, with a brand-new low-pressure system, resulting in an eight percent increase in take-off thrust at 18,250lb compared to the BR725 engine. The engine offers a five percent higher efficiency while maintaining its class-leading low noise and emissions performance.
It brings together innovative technologies derived from the Rolls-Royce Advance2 technology demonstrator program with experience from the Rolls-Royce BR700, today’s leading engine family in business aviation. This includes a highly-efficient blisked fan, a high-pressure compressor with a market-leading pressure ratio of 24:1 and six blisked stages, an ultra-low emissions combustor, and a two-stage shroudless high-pressure turbine, and an enhanced four-stage low-pressure turbine that is one of the most efficient and compact in the industry.
The TestBed 80
Testbed 80 is the world’s largest and smartest indoor aero-engine testbed. It is used to collect data from more than 10,000 different parameters on an engine, using an intricate web of sensors that detect even the tiniest vibrations at a rate of up to 200,000 samples per second. And that data helps to understand the engines and improve them.
Pratt & Whitney – GTF Engine
Since entering service in early 2016, the GTF engine family has delivered on its promised ability to reduce fuel burn and carbon emissions by up to 20 percent, noise footprint by 75 percent and regulated emissions by 50 percent to the CAEP/6 regulatory standard. The engine’s unique geared fan is the right architecture for the future with a long runway for further development. Pratt & Whitney is committed to continuing to invest in evolving propulsion systems to power the next generation of commercial aircraft.
In a milestone achievement by the Pratt and Whitney’s GTF engines, the Chinese operators have saved more than 95 million gallons (nearly 360 million liters) of fuel and avoided more than 910,000 metric tonnes of carbon emissions, accumulating over 400,000 flights and over 1.73 million hours of experience in China. These engines power 11 airlines across the region on nearly 200 Airbus A320neo family aircraft, which have carried an estimated 57 million passengers since entry into service nearly five years ago. Furthermore, Chinese operators are benefiting from a mature dispatch reliability rate of 99.97 percent globally.
Pratt & Whitney successfully tested the GTF Advantage engine configuration with 100 percent sustainable fuel. The test took place in the West Palm Beach facility and marks a key step on the road toward 100 percent SAF operation of GTF-powered aircraft. The test is also a key element of an extensive development program to ready the GTF Advantage for entry into service in 2024, by validating the engine’s performance on 100 percent SAF in thrust transients, starting, and operability.
Graham Webb, chief sustainability officer at Pratt & Whitney said, “We’re thrilled to have successfully tested the GTF Advantage engine on unblended SAF. The GTF Advantage represents the greenest, lowest emission engine in the industry, and it is now demonstrating full operational capability for the greenest aviation fuels of today and tomorrow. Operation on 100 percent SAF is a key component of the industry’s commitment to net-zero carbon emissions by 2050 and the completion of these tests gets us closer to that goal.”
Pratt & Whitney has been actively involved in testing SAFs for almost two decades and helped to establish the technical standards that allow today’s engines to operate on SAF blends of up to 50 percent with standard kerosene.
F135
The world’s most advanced fighter engine where power, innovation, and dependability are at its core. This engine powers all three variants of F-35 Lightning II fighter aircraft.
With more than 40,000 lbs. of thrust, unmatched low-observable signature, world-class thermal management, and the most advanced integrated engine control system ever created, the F135 engine is the heartbeat of the F-35.
Not only is the F135 the most powerful and most advanced fighter engine ever produced, it’s also the most dependable – demonstrating a step-change in readiness and reliability over 4th generation fighter engines.
The above are a few engines currently in service that are technologically advanced, fuel-efficient, with low noise emission and low carbon footprint.
Read other related… Post-pandemic MRO Inventory planning, a whole different ball-game
Looking at the progress in sustainable aviation technology in use by major engine manufacturers across the world, it can be said that we are on a path to achieving clean, green, and sustainable aviation in near future.
