High-tech made by MTU

Technology programs In engine development programs plagued by time and cost pressures, there is little room for experiments. Innovations must be devel- oped, tested and matured for production in advance. For the purpose, technology projects are launched to build concept engines to demonstrate the feasibility and capability of new technologies. These are normally funded under cooperative or sponsored programs. MTU participates in all major European avia- tion research programs and has launched its own long-term technology initiative, dubbed Claire (Clean Air Engine). Claire MTU experts, in partnership with futurologists of Bauhaus Luftfahrt, have defined the long- term goals for aircraft engine technology de- velopment. 15 percent, 20 percent, 30 percent less carbon dioxide are the staged goals the company has set for itself to achieve by 2035. The Claire program revolves around a novel engine concept, the geared turbofan. That engine alone already provides a reduction in carbon dioxide emission by fully 15 percent. Concurrently, plans are to reduce oxides of nitrogen and noise. JTDP Between Pratt & Whitney and MTU Aero Engines, a successful partnership has existed for decades. Their cooperative development effort bases on a Joint Technology Demonstra- tor Program (JTDP) stipulating the joint exploi- tation of demonstrators to test new technolo- gies. An outstanding result of their joint activ- ities is the geared turbofan demonstrator that has successfully completed several test flights on the wing of a Boeing 747 and an Airbus A340. Used as a demonstrator so far has been a PW6000 engine, to which MTU contributed the high-pressure compressor and the high- speed low-pressure turbine the company devel- oped for the geared turbofan. At present, the partners are focussing on the development of the high-pressure compressor for a new engine generation. Newac/Vital/Lemcotec After several years of research, the Newac (New Aero Engine Core Concepts) and Vital (Environmentally friendly Aero Engine) tech- nology projects, which were sponsored by the European Union under its 6th Research Frame- work Program, have now been successfully completed. Under the Newac and Vital technology pro- grams, promising new technologies were iden- tified and validated in rig tests. Taken together, these technologies make a substantial contri- bution towards achieving the ambitious ACARE targets of cutting CO2 emissions by 20 percent and NOX emissions by as much as 80 percent. The research work will be continued under the successor project Lemcotec (Low Emissions Core-Engine Technologies). The MTU-led Newac project was aimed at im- proving the core engine. 41 partners—Rolls- Royce, Snecma and Avio being the largest 16 The PW1000G is put through its paces on Pratt & Whitney’s open-air test facility.

High-tech made by MTU

Pages