Rolls-Royce and Trent engines

Rolls-Royce and Trent engines

Rolls-Royce is a world-leading provider of power systems for use on land, at sea and in the air. Rolls-Royce engines power 40 of the world's top 50 airlines and more than 600 airlines depend on our engines, which have thrusts spanning between 2,000lb to almost 100,000lb. Over 40% of new generation widebody aircraft are powered by Rolls-Royce Trent engines.

 

Did you know?

  • CO2 emissions are directly related to fuel consumption. To reduce fuel consumption, options in designing the engine include:
    • increasing component efficiency
    • increasing the fan diameter (or engine bypass ratio)
    • increasing the pressure ratio and combustor burning temperature
  • However, increasing fan diameter also adds weight so this demands new materials and clever design technology to keep the weight down.
  • Additionally, increasing the engine pressure ratio and combustor temperature makes production of NOx worse - so the requirements to simultaneously reduce CO2 and NOx conflict. This requires advanced combustor design technology to enable this.
  • Increasing the fan size is good for noise because it slows down the jet of air that generates the thrust, but it means that more noise comes from the fan. This requires novel fan design and acoustic technology to reduce fan noise.

What are we doing?

  • Rolls-Royce takes its environmental responsibilities very seriously and has been actively reducing environmental impact of its products and operations for 40 years.
  • Part of our environmental strategy is to continue to improve the environmental performance of our current product portfolio, and to work towards a more sustainable future by developing low-carbon and renewable products.

What is the result?

  • Over the last 45 years, the fuel efficiency of aero engines has improved by on average 1% per annum. Rolls-Royce is on track to meet its targets of halving engine noise levels by 2010 relative to 1998 levels, reducing NOx by 50% relative to current regulations, and achieving a 10% reduction in fuel consumption.

For more information, please see http://www.rolls-royce.com/community/environment/default.jsp