New technologies shape the future of the aviation sector

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General Electric Aviation has focused its directions over the past year to develop a roadmap that is the most comprehensive in the field of technological development in the company's history that spans more than 100 years, as the company will carry out many ground and air tests to be implemented in this decade, with the aim of creating new technologies to be applied On the next generation of commercial aircraft engines, which are scheduled to enter service at the beginning of the first half of 2030.

Among the technologies that will be tested on test platforms during the coming years in the field of advanced engine engineering, we mention the open rotary engine known as the open fan, and hybrid electric propulsion systems, and new designs for compact motor cores.

All of these technologies are scheduled to top the list of highly anticipated programs in 2022 and beyond.

In addition to developing these flight-readiness technologies and new products, GE also supports efforts to increase the use and sourcing of alternative fuels, such as sustainable aviation fuel (SAF) and hydrogen.

Revolutionary technologies and alternative fuels play critical roles in meeting the aviation industry's long-term climate goal of achieving net-zero emissions from commercial flights by 2050.

Here are some of GE's best innovations and pioneering efforts in the aircraft engine industry. which will be present in its march towards net zero emissions.

Program

In response to a question directed to General Electric chief engineer Chris Lawrence about starting to adopt the open rotary engine.

(why now)?

The reason behind his belief is that since GE first introduced this non-conductive fan engine (super-bypass turbofan) in the 1980s, the open rotary engine design has become simpler and more lightweight, especially with the adoption of methods State-of-the-art manufacturing such as single-stage, carbon fiber rotor blades, and fixed external guide blades.

He elaborates on his opinion of the open rotary engine.

The open rotary engine design is an advanced engine architecture design being developed and tested by CFM International, a 50-50 joint venture between General Electric and the Safran Aircraft Engine Group, under the CFM Rise program.

The two companies met in June 2021 to launch the RISE program, which aims to reduce fuel consumption by more than 20% and reduce CO2 emissions, compared to today's most efficient engines.

The technologies being developed and tested as part of the RISE program will form the basis for the next generation of CFM engines, which are expected to be ready to fly by the middle of the next decade.

The program revolves around applying the latest technologies to develop highly efficient propulsion engines.

Before NASA announced its selection of GE in September 2021 to launch its EPFD program, GE had been advancing the adoption of electric power in aircraft systems and engines for more than a decade.

Throughout this period, the company's engineers worked on testing and preparing the components of a hybrid electrical system, such as the motors, generators and power transformers systems.

Today, the company specialized in the manufacture of jet engines and aircraft systems will adopt what it has learned in its laboratories about the manufacture of the integrated electric propulsion system, and will prepare it for the ground and air tests scheduled to be implemented in the middle of this decade.

Through its $260 million program with NASA, GE will test and equip a megawatt-class hybrid electric propulsion system to confirm its readiness and compatibility with single-aisle aircraft, using a modified version of the Boeing 340 test plane from Saab, CT7-9B turbofans from General Electric partnered with Boeing that will support flight tests for the program, and selected BAE Systems to design, test and supply power management components.

Efforts to electrify aircraft engines build on GE's capabilities from the aviation, energy and research organizations.

Thomas Edison, co-founder of General Electric, established the first electric grid in 1882, and today, GE's power equipment

It generates a third of the world's electricity.

In addition to the Compact Motor Core technology being trialled in the CFM Rise program, another multimillion-dollar program with NASA was announced in late 2021, in which GE has been awarded contracts to test and build new core designs. Jet engines, such as compressor technologies, combustion systems, and high-pressure turbines, to improve thermal efficiency.

The continued development of ceramic-based synthetics, which are advanced heat-resistant materials, is a key part of efforts to improve fuel efficiency, which leads to lower emissions.

GE expects these efforts to begin ground testing of these materials later this decade.

On December 1, United Airlines flew the first passenger flight in which one of its CFM LEAP-1B engines was powered solely by sustainable aviation fuel.

Speaking about the flight that carried 100 passengers from Chicago to Washington, D.C., Gurhan Andak, president of GE's fuel engineering division, said, "The historic flight was significant in supporting efforts to increase the proportion of sustainable aviation fuel (SAF). , in excess of the current blend limit of 50%.

The current use of sustainable aircraft fuel, SAF, is based on blending it with petroleum fuel (Jet A or Jet A-1) by no more than 50%.

It is noteworthy that Andak has chaired an international working group, to develop unified industrial specifications that support the adoption of SAF by 100%, to be used without mixing with any conventional aircraft fuel.

Andak continues: "In the past, there were other flights that used 100% of sustainable aviation fuel (SAF), some of which depended on 'General Electric' engines and others on 'CFM' engines, but in this flight we were able to mix two different types of jet fuel together. This flight taught us that we can actually mix two distinct types of sustainable jet fuel, to get a sustainable synthetic jet aircraft that runs on this type of direct fuel as an alternative to the aircraft Conventional Jet A".

Direct fuel means we don't need to make any kind of changes to the engine or infrastructure of the aircraft to be able to use it, and it can be used in today's aviation equipment.

GE has several plans in store for more test flights using 100% sustainable aviation fuel in 2022 and beyond, including programs announced at the recent Dubai Airshow with Emirates Airlines and Etihad Airways.

By the end of 2022, GE had completed a successful ground test of its Passport long-haul commercial aviation engine using 100% sustainable jet fuel.

The Passport can run on today's certified sustainable jet fuel, with recent testing showing the engine's ability to run 100% on that fuel.

It has become clear that it is possible, today and in the future, for all engines of "General Electric" and "CFM International"

The collaboration announced in February 2022 between CFM and Airbus on a hydrogen testing program will benefit in some respects from GE's experience with hydrogen fuel in land-based gas turbines. General Electric has achieved more than 8 million operating hours on hydrogen fuel blends, including wind turbine engines.

As part of future plans to conduct an air test of the hydrogen combustion engine in the middle of this decade, the CFM Rise and Airbus Zero E programs are collaborating to conduct ground and air tests of a direct combustion hydrogen engine in preparation for a zero-emission aircraft entry into service by Year 2035.

CFM seeks to modify the combustion, fuel and control systems of the General Electric Passport turbofan engine to run on hydrogen.

This engine was chosen because of its size, advanced turbine equipment and distinctive fuel intake characteristics, to be installed along the fuselage of the rear test aircraft, allowing the engine and jet emissions to be monitored, separately from the emissions of the engines that power the aircraft.

CFM will carry out a rigorous ground test program prior to the flight test on the Airbus A380.

For his part, Muhammad Ali, Vice President and General Manager of Engineering Services at General Electric Aviation, said: “We will test take-off of an aircraft with a modified engine in a step to confirm the possibility of achieving the impossible, the feasibility of modern technologies, and the answer about the difficulty of implementing hydrogen engines is yes, but Is it possible? Yes, it is definitely possible. We are about to conduct an amazing experiment, in which I am most excited about the inventions that we have created to meet the challenges ahead."

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