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  Rolls-Royce

  Stock Code:

  RR

  Date Founded:

  1906-03-15

  CEO:

  Warren East

  Headquarters Location:

  London, United Kingdom

  Business Type:

  Engine Maker

  Key Product Lines:

  Trent Engine, Pearl Engine

Rolls-Royce is making continuing progress on its proof of concept UltraFan demonstrator. The British engine manufacturer is hoping to run the engine later this year. The engine is currently undergoing the final build process at the company's Derby, UK, plant, before it will be transferred to Testbed 80, the largest engine test facility in the world.

Rolls-Royce's current commercial widebody engine lineup, the Trent family, is now over three decades old, with the first prototype running for the first time in 1990. In March 1995, the Trent 700 was introduced on the Airbus A330. In the years since technology and attitudes to aviation sustainability have changed. Embracing this, Rolls-Royce Is embarking on a new proof of concept program.

UltraFan progress

The UltraFan program is making good progress. At a press event held in Derby in the run-up to this year's Farnborough Airshow, the company was keen to show off the vast engine that boasts a 14:1 bypass ratio.

Individual components of the engine have already been assembled and tested. Now the company is working on putting all these individual components together to run the engine later this year. The UltraFan is unlike a "ready to deliver" engine in more ways than one. Clearly, the engine had a totally different design to a Trent.

However, as a test engine, it is also fitted with thousands of internal sensors that wouldn't be found on a production engine. Wires from each sensor must be fed through the engine pylon while not getting in the way of the rest of the engine. The company is currently figuring out exactly where each will go before attaching the giant engine to the test rig.

An awful lot of data

All of these sensors will generate an awful lot of data for Rolls-Royce. Every few days, terabytes of data will be recorded from each of these sensors, far more than will ever be shown to a pilot. The testbed has a control room that resembles a NASA rocket launch. A row of employees will control the engine based on test parameters and the data seen, while a second row of engineers will solely monitor engine data.

Running on 100% SAF

SAF is expensive, though it is being seen as a short-term remedy to aviation's carbon emissions. All commercial aircraft can run on a maximum of 50/50 blend of SAF and Jet-A1 during normal operations.

Rolls-Royce has already shown that its Trent engines can run on 100% SAF. To demonstrate its commitment to the fuel, the British engine manufacturer will only ever run the UltraFan on 100% SAF, which is already sitting in a container outside the testbed.

Not destined for an aircraft wing

The UltraFan itself will likely never be seen in its current form on a commercial aircraft wing. The company hasn't designed the engine with a specific plane in mind. Instead, it is being used to prove that the technology works. This means that Rolls-Royce already has proof the technology works when it wants to bid to power a future aircraft design.

In response to a question by Simple Flying, Rolls-Royce's President of Civil Aerospace, Chris Cholerton, remarked,

"We've spent a lot of money running the UltraFan demonstrator and all its associated technology demonstrations... The value of mature technology at the point of launch is everything. "

The biggest engine?

The UltraFan is the world's biggest engine technology demonstrator, with a fan diameter of 140 inches (3.556 meters). This just beats the giant GE9X engines powering the Boeing 777X with a fan diameter of 134 inches (3.404m). Speaking to the press ahead of Farnborough Airshow, the project's Chief Engineer, Andy Gear, revealed that this engine size is the largest that will ever be viable. However, the technology is scalable from a thrust of 25,000lbs all the way up to 100,000lbs of force, meaning that it could suit a narrow or widebody.

Are you excited about the progress of the UltraFan? Let us know what you think and why in the comments!