At the Rolls-Royce facility in Derby, away from Farnborough’s hectic airshow schedule, it was heart-warming to see all the Rolls-Royce employees stop work, come out in the open and cheer the Airbus A350 XWB which flew past the facility at 3:35 pm. It was for the first time that they were witnessing their work in action. It was their Trent XWB engine that was powering the A350 XWB for launch customer Qatar Airways. One could feel the sense of satisfaction.

Once the flypast was over, they were back to their stations, focusing on the work on hand – to come up with the best engines that are unmatched in terms of fuel burn, reduced noise levels and enhanced performance. The advancements in technologies have helped Rolls-Royce produce the Trent XWB said to be the world’s most efficient aero engine. The Trent XWB has been designed exclusively for the Airbus A350 XWB family.

Prior to the airshow on July 11, Rolls-Royce successfully ran the 97,000 lb thrust version of the engine which will power the A350-1000. The company also celebrated the first run of the Trent 1000-TEN which incorporates Trent XWB technology and is capable of powering all versions of the Boeing 787.

Rolls-Royce is investing heavily in research to maintain its leadership position in advanced engine technologies such as:

• High efficiency compressors and turbines with fifth-generation 3D aerodynamics.
• Advanced lean burn, low emission combustors
• Advanced light-weight, heat resistant materials such as ceramic matrix composites (CMC) which allow the engine to operate at temperatures equivalent to half the temperature of the surface of the sun, while maintaining component lives.

Earlier this year Rolls-Royce announced not one but two new engine designs. Ths first is “Advance” which offers some 20 per cent better fuel burn than the first Trent engines and the second “UltraFan”, a geared design that could be ready in 2025. There would be at least 25 per cent improvement in fuel burn and emissions. Rolls-Royce also deploys, where beneficial, new technologies to in-service engine programmes.

Giving a perspective of engine developments, Iain Dudley, Product Marketing Manager, Rolls-Royce said that in 1995 when Trent 700 entered into service the price of aviation turbine fuel was $0.6 per gallon and now it has shot up to $3 per gallon. Simply put, it meant that fuel prices would keep going up and it was for the engines to optimally perform to offset rising fuel costs. A tall order indeed, but engine manufacturers are seized of the matter and considerable development is taking place. Rolls-Royce has seven engines in its Trent family – the XWB, 1000, 700, 7000, 800, 900, and 500. It is the engine of choice for this generation and the next, powering about 50 per cent of the next-generation wide-body aircraft. The projected deliveries are 4,000 up to 2023 as against the 1,600 delivered in the last decade. The Trent XWB has over 700 firm orders with 39 customers and some of them include Etihad Airways, Qatar Airways, Thai Airways, Air France KLM, Singapore Airlines, Azul, Japan Airlines, Sri Lankan Airlines, etc.

This is the outcome of painstaking effort of the engineers at Rolls-Royce. The Trent XWB has undergone four years of testing across the globe, starting with Derby; Glacier, Manitoba; Edwards Air Force Base, California; Stennis, Mississippi; INTA, Madrid; and Dahlewitz. Till date, it has completed over 7,116 hours of testing. The climatic engine tests have been successfully completed at Eglin Air Force Base, Florida at +45 and -40 degrees centigrade and -40 degrees. The hot weather tests have been carried out at Al Ain in the United Arab Emirates.

Describing features of the Trent XWB engine, he said that it had high flow fan system enabled with inflected annulus; larger core to increase flow; increased mechanical capability for 97,000 lbs thrust; maintain nacelle aerolines as 84k engine and high capability turbines. The fan and the core have been optimised for 97,000 lbs thrust. The design and technology enablers are increased flow fan system; impingement effusion combustor; adaptive cooling system; advanced tip cooling; shroudless blade system; high temperature materials and coatings.

The Trent 1000 is designed and optimised for the Boeing 787 family. It has been selected by about half of 787 customers. Trent 1000 offers the best lifetime fuel burn performance. It is fitted on the Boeing 787-9 Dreamliner. The Trent 1000 is on 51 aircraft with six operators and one lessor.

The Trent 700, in its 19 years of service so far, is on 605 aircraft, the largest in-service fleet of RB211 and Trent engines. It has completed 28 million flying hours with a dispatch reliability of 99.9 per cent. The Trent 700 Regional is perfectly matched to the A330 Regional. The features are optimised thrust, reduced maintenance cost, interchangeable and is easily upgraded and it is the best value on A330. The evolution to the Trent 7000 has its foundations in the experience of Trent 700, the architecture of the Trent 1000-TEN and the technology of the XWB. The Trent 7000 matches the A330neo. From the Trent 700, the 7000 has double the bypass ratio, 10 per cent better SFC and 10 db less half the noise.

The Trent 900 which entered service in 2007 is on 67 aircraft and has clocked 3.27 million flying hours with again a dispatch reliability of 99.9 per cent. It is an engine of choice with British Airways, Qantas, Singapore Airlines, Lufthansa, Virgin Atlantic, China Southern, Thai, Asiana Airlines, VIP and Skymark, with deliveries for the last two this year. It is the engine of choice on the A380.