New engines set to power global deals for Rolls-Royce
AERO engine manufacturer Rolls-Royce has unveiled an advanced new power plant, which it hopes will secure major new global business in conjunction with Boeing’s new Dreamliner aircraft.
The Trent 1000-TEN incorporates proven next generation technology from the latest member of the firm’s Trent engine family, the Trent XWB.
The Trent 1000-TEN (Thrust, Efficiency and New technology) will provide an improvement of up to 3% in specific fuel consumption compared with the Trent 1000s in service today.
To be certified to 76,000lb of thrust, but with the capability to deliver 78,000lb, the Trent 1000-TEN is designed to meet the thrust requirements for all versions of the 787 Dreamliner.
The engine will enter service in 2016 when it will be available to power the -8 and -9 versions of the Dreamliner. The engine has also been designed to power the next potential member of the Boeing Dreamliner family, currently under development as the 787-10X.
Rolls-Royce said airlines which operated a combination of different models of the 787 family would be able to use the Trent 1000-TEN engine across their fleets, only needing to select the thrust rating required for each aircraft.
Eric Schulz, Rolls-Royce, President, Large Engines Programmes – Civil Aerospace, said: “The Trent 1000-TEN will incorporate the most advanced turbofan technology available in the world; derived from our latest Trent engine, the Trent XWB, and other advanced propulsion programmes, to produce the ideal engine for the entire Boeing 787 Dreamliner family. This will deliver unsurpassed through-life fuel efficiency, coupled with the same Trent engine family dependability that our customers have come to expect.”
Results from the Trent XWB testing programme show the engine to be the most fuel efficient high by-pass turbofan presently available.
The engine incorporates advances in the high pressure turbine and compressor, `blisk’ technology and sophisticated internal aerodynamics controls.
“This once again underscores our philosophy behind the Trent engine family concept. Rolls-Royce customers continue to benefit from our unique ability to flow-back the latest generation Trent engine technology into established Trent engine programmes,” added Mr Schulz.
The Trent 1000 is the quietest and most efficient engine option for the 787 Dreamliner. It has been selected in eight of the last nine 787 Dreamliner engine decisions and now has a total of 24 customers.
Trent 1000 engines already in service powering 10 Boeing 787 Dreamliners with Japanese airline ANA have completed more than 4000 passenger flights and 14,000 hours of operation with an engine despatch reliability of better than 99.9% – the best ever reliability figures for a widebody engine on entering airline service.
Rolls-Royce has also announced plans to make further performance improvements to the market-leading Trent 700 engine, used to power the Airbus A330.
The Trent 700 is the best-selling member of the Trent engine family, with more than 1,400 either sold or on order. It is the market leader on the Airbus A330, accounting for around three quarters of future engine orders on the aircraft.
The improvement programme will be finalised this year, with enhanced engines expected to enter service in 2015. Improvements will also be available for retrofit to the current engine fleet.
Rolls-Royce said the enhanced Trent 700 would complement the improvements to the A330 aircraft that Airbus has announced.
