Green innovation

Aircraft engine manufacturers are making their engines more environmentally friendly to reduce aviation’s impact on the environment. Regional International talks to ERA members Rolls-Royce and Pratt & Whitney Canada to find out more.

Rolls-Royce

Sustainability is inherent to Rolls-Royce’s strategy and the company’s vision is to provide better power for a changing world. Rolls-Royce believes that the company has a fundamental role in meeting the environmental and societal opportunities and challenges that the world faces. In order to do so, it aims to deliver better power for its customers, use innovation to secure a better future, and build on today’s achievements to develop a better business, ready for the opportunities ahead. 

The company’s engineering expertise, coupled with a strong tradition of innovation, keeps it at the forefront of developing more efficient and lower-carbon products. As a result, many of Rolls-Royce’s products are market leaders in terms of environmental performance. The company has a strong track record of reducing the emissions of its products through significant investment  in Research and Development (R&D). Rolls-Royce invests approximately £1bn in R&D each year, of which around two thirds are aimed at reducing the environmental impact of its products.

The engine manufacturer recognises that the challenges posed by climate change must be addressed by a combination of new technology and the ability to execute industrial-scale solutions. The work is driven by market forces as well as public policy and regulations.

Rolls-Royce’s environmental strategy reflects the company’s main focus of investment and effort, and concentrates on two areas; supporting customers by further reducing the environmental impact of its products and services, and developing new technology and capability for future low-emission products and services.

Reducing environmental impact

Rolls-Royce has the youngest fleet of civil widebody engines in the market today and takes its responsibility to maintain and improve their environmental footprint very seriously. The engine manufacturer fulfils this responsibility through in-service upgrades and its service policy, both in the overhaul shop and on-wing.

The company has a proven record of feeding back technology into its existing products to improve their environmental performance. Once in production, engines in its two-shaft and three-shaft engine families have benefited from extensive technology insertion programmes. Each Trent engine has benefited from at least one major performance enhancement programme.

Developing new technology

Rolls-Royce is a key partner in ACARE (Advisory Council for Aviation Research and Innovation in Europe), which has established a set of challenging environmental goals for 2020 and beyond through Flightpath 2050, and the company is making progress towards achieving these goals.

“We have a relentless drive to develop and introduce advanced technology into new engine designs. The Rolls-Royce Trent XWB is over 15 per cent more fuel efficient than the first Trent 700 engine. The Trent 7000 engine will offer 10 per cent improvement in specific fuel consumption and a remarkable 6dB noise reduction compared to the Trent 700, the current engine on the A330”, Romain Chambard, Head of Marketing at Rolls-Royce, comments. “Our next generation ‘Advance’ engine programme will deliver up to 20 per cent fuel-burn reduction compared to the first Trent engine, for an application at the end of this decade, while UltraFan^TM will deliver 25 per cent reduction in the next decade”.

Rolls-Royce is continuously developing advanced solutions to meet the company’s committed product introduction programmes and operational improvement targets. Some of the primary manufacturing technology themes that Rolls-Royce is currently active across include advanced machining; material forming and forging; net shape manufacture; joining and welding; advanced measurement; and process modelling technology. 

Pratt & Whitney Canada

Pratt & Whitney Canada (P&WC), a leader in the regional turboprop market for over 30 years, is enhancing the sustainability of its products and processes to benefit operators and achieve its vision of being the best aerospace company FOR the world. As climate change rapidly rises to the top of the world’s agenda, the Canadian engine manufacturer is devoting significant resources to bring to market products that are designed, produced, operated and retired with a minimal impact on the environment throughout their entire lifecycle. “We are using lifecycle analysis guided by ISO 14040 to understand the impact of our engines over their entire lifecycle and have developed Ecodesign practices that drive lifecycle impact reductions,” says Frederic Lefebvre, Vice President, Marketing, P&WC.

P&WC is adopting a holistic approach to making its engines, including the PW100 and PW150 turboprop families for regional aircraft, more environmentally friendly. Emphasis is being placed on fuel burn reduction since SFC improvement translates directly to lower greenhouse gas (CO₂) emissions. “As one of Canada’s leading R&D investors committed to innovation, much of our effort is focussed on ensuring our existing and new engines surpass emerging stringent environmental standards for air emissions and noise, while offering constantly improved fuel efficiency,” says Lefebvre.

Engine upgrades

For example, an upgraded PW127 engine package for ATR aircraft, scheduled to be rolled out in the first half of 2017, offers an improved hot section and increased time on wing, reducing SFC and operating costs for customers. The PW150C engine being developed for China’s new MA700 regional turboprop  will feature a reduced fuel burn of about 5 per cent over its predecessor. As with all P&WC engines, operators of P&WC-powered regional turboprops enjoy the option to further reduce their environmental impact using any ASTM-certified sustainable alternative jet fuels. (Both Bombardier and ATR regional aircraft have successfully carried out demonstration flights with new generation biofuels).

Improved integration

P&WC also recognises that improved integration, both within the nacelle and between the powerplant and airframe systems, is a key factor for reducing fuel burn, and has completed 37 such turboprop installations since 1992. Eliminating materials of concern in P&WC’s products and adopting more environmentally friendly processes to manufacture them are other top priorities. “Advanced manufacturing technologies can be leveraged to reduce the engines’ material intensity and embodied energy,” notes Lefebvre. “This maximises the value derived from essential but finite resources while ensuring the engines are affordable, reliable and dependable.” Focus is also being given to developing next-generation engine health monitoring systems, (such as the FAST™ Flight Data Acquisition Storage and Transmission System), to go beyond maintenance planning and help customers identify more efficient operating practices and minimise fuel burn.

P&WC’s firm commitment to sustainability is reflected in its drive to develop and bring to market a totally new centerline engine for the next generation regional turboprop (NGRT). Currently in the technology demonstration phase, it promises to deliver more than 20 per cent improved fuel efficiency over today’s fleet while providing exceptional hot and high performance. It will also offer the flexibility of a fully integrated propulsion system and a double-digit reduction in maintenance costs.