Periodic Reporting for period 2 - HEAVEN (Hydrogen Engine Architecture Virtually Engineered Novelly)
Período documentado: 2023-07-01 hasta 2023-12-31
Climate-neutral aviation, as targeted through the European Commission’s Green Deal, will require the use of alternative fuels such as Green Hydrogen and Sustainable Aviation Fuel (SAF), combined with the power density of an ultra-efficient gas turbine engine for the Short-Medium Range (SMR) market. The SMR market corresponds to approximately 50% of the current share of air transport emissions.
Clean Aviation’s Strategic Research Innovation Agenda (SRIA) considers the efficiency improvement of the gas turbine architecture, combined with the use of Hydrogen or 100% SAF net zero carbon fuel as the main route to achieve its ambition of 30% greenhouse gases reduction by 2035. In addition to delivering net zero carbon, it is also necessary to minimise other emissions that contribute to global warming such as NOx and nvPM, as well as noise emissions which is also an important societal concern.
Rolls-Royce supported by key UK and European academia, industry and research centres are currently developing a new generation of very high bypass ratio geared engine architecture called UltraFan® which was started in 2014. Since inception, this ducted engine architecture has been designed to be scalable while meeting the needs of both widebody and SMR markets.
When scaled to SMR and compared against current best-in-class SMR propulsion systems, the current generation of UltraFan achieves a 10% fuel burn reduction. Work is required to develop a number of key technologies, such as the power gearbox and lean burn emissions system, given the different operating conditions required.
To achieve the necessary 20% fuel burn reduction as targeted by the SRIA, and to accelerate the transition to low carbon and ultimately climate-neutral aviation, the HEAVEN project (Hydrogen Engine Architecture Virtually Engineered Novelly) aims to significantly evolve the UltraFan design into UltraFan H2.
The evolved engine architecture design will take the next steps in improving the efficiency of the gas turbine by taking advantage of the properties of net zero carbon fuels (such as hydrogen) to improve efficiency, combining this with hybrid-electric technology to reduce waste energy, and delivering a disruptive product that provides a 20% fuel burn reduction. The H2 denotes the combination of these two technologies strands with UltraFan.
Numerous innovative enabling technologies already at TRL3 will be incorporated into this new architecture to improve gas turbine efficiency. Together with work proposed on other Rolls-Royce-lead projects in Clean Aviation, and in conjunction with activities in national and regional programmes, this will be synergistically combined to validate the highly innovative UltraFan H2 design up to TRL6 to support a 2035 EIS.
Clean Aviation’s Strategic Research Innovation Agenda (SRIA) considers the efficiency improvement of the gas turbine architecture, combined with the use of Hydrogen or 100% SAF net zero carbon fuel as the main route to achieve its ambition of 30% greenhouse gases reduction by 2035. In addition to delivering net zero carbon, it is also necessary to minimise other emissions that contribute to global warming such as NOx and nvPM, as well as noise emissions which is also an important societal concern.
Rolls-Royce supported by key UK and European academia, industry and research centres are currently developing a new generation of very high bypass ratio geared engine architecture called UltraFan® which was started in 2014. Since inception, this ducted engine architecture has been designed to be scalable while meeting the needs of both widebody and SMR markets.
When scaled to SMR and compared against current best-in-class SMR propulsion systems, the current generation of UltraFan achieves a 10% fuel burn reduction. Work is required to develop a number of key technologies, such as the power gearbox and lean burn emissions system, given the different operating conditions required.
To achieve the necessary 20% fuel burn reduction as targeted by the SRIA, and to accelerate the transition to low carbon and ultimately climate-neutral aviation, the HEAVEN project (Hydrogen Engine Architecture Virtually Engineered Novelly) aims to significantly evolve the UltraFan design into UltraFan H2.
The evolved engine architecture design will take the next steps in improving the efficiency of the gas turbine by taking advantage of the properties of net zero carbon fuels (such as hydrogen) to improve efficiency, combining this with hybrid-electric technology to reduce waste energy, and delivering a disruptive product that provides a 20% fuel burn reduction. The H2 denotes the combination of these two technologies strands with UltraFan.
Numerous innovative enabling technologies already at TRL3 will be incorporated into this new architecture to improve gas turbine efficiency. Together with work proposed on other Rolls-Royce-lead projects in Clean Aviation, and in conjunction with activities in national and regional programmes, this will be synergistically combined to validate the highly innovative UltraFan H2 design up to TRL6 to support a 2035 EIS.
HEAVEN has been continuing to build momentum during the 2nd Reporting Period (RP2), comprising M7-M12, as key resources have been recruited and allocated to the project by all consortium members.
Two General Assemblies were held in RP2, including an in-person meeting arranged at RRD facilities in Dahlewitz, Germany, complete with a visit to UltraFan® hardware.
Significant progress has been made in capturing & maturing the system-level requirements for HEAVEN SMR propulsion, culminating in several different requirement documents being finalised and issued in RP2. Notably, an Operation Requirements Impact Analysis Report was issued following several workshops and placements with partner easyJet, which focused on their operation requirements and impact of future Hydrogen fuel use. A Certification Requirements Impact Assessment has also been produced, which will leverage feedback and expertise from EASA.
Architecture studies continued in RP2, with the first design iteration at powerplant level completed and results generated. This includes engine performance data, key functional models, Bill of Materials, and 3-D Geometry. Product-level attributes such as cost, weight, noise & SFC can now be calculated, and will be further optimised across RP3.
The development of enabling technologies in HEAVEN is ongoing, with concept-level studies as well as methods/modelling improvements underway or completed by several consortium members, including Universidad Politécnica de Madrid, Imperial College London, and Cambridge University. The design of facility hardware and systems is further ahead with hardware being manufactured to support testing at DNW and TU Darmstadt, as well as rig commissioning completed at Nottingham, Cranfield, and Loughborough Universities. A wear test campaign has been launched by ITP, who are also progressing rig mechanical and instrumentation design together with CTA. Experimental data from these new facilities will be used to improve design rules, support new advanced methods, and validate new technologies & designs, which will enable the improvements necessary to deliver the high-level objectives of the project.
Two General Assemblies were held in RP2, including an in-person meeting arranged at RRD facilities in Dahlewitz, Germany, complete with a visit to UltraFan® hardware.
Significant progress has been made in capturing & maturing the system-level requirements for HEAVEN SMR propulsion, culminating in several different requirement documents being finalised and issued in RP2. Notably, an Operation Requirements Impact Analysis Report was issued following several workshops and placements with partner easyJet, which focused on their operation requirements and impact of future Hydrogen fuel use. A Certification Requirements Impact Assessment has also been produced, which will leverage feedback and expertise from EASA.
Architecture studies continued in RP2, with the first design iteration at powerplant level completed and results generated. This includes engine performance data, key functional models, Bill of Materials, and 3-D Geometry. Product-level attributes such as cost, weight, noise & SFC can now be calculated, and will be further optimised across RP3.
The development of enabling technologies in HEAVEN is ongoing, with concept-level studies as well as methods/modelling improvements underway or completed by several consortium members, including Universidad Politécnica de Madrid, Imperial College London, and Cambridge University. The design of facility hardware and systems is further ahead with hardware being manufactured to support testing at DNW and TU Darmstadt, as well as rig commissioning completed at Nottingham, Cranfield, and Loughborough Universities. A wear test campaign has been launched by ITP, who are also progressing rig mechanical and instrumentation design together with CTA. Experimental data from these new facilities will be used to improve design rules, support new advanced methods, and validate new technologies & designs, which will enable the improvements necessary to deliver the high-level objectives of the project.
Assessment of the project’s impact has started, particularly through the use of the Clean Aviation impact monitoring framework, for which HEAVEN has provided an overview of the propulsion system concepts to be developed in the project, the aircraft configurations on which their impact will be assessed, the reference to which impact will be assessed and how the maturity of underlining key technologies will be monitored. The impact monitoring framework will provide a clear link between the project’s results and the impact on the environment, as well as the project’s contribution to the Clean Aviation High Level Objectives.
In the second reporting period, the HEAVEN performance model was optimized for the ACAP F25 aircraft model, with the engine data pack issued to DLR for fuel burn assessment. This enables HEAVEN to provide a status for the yearly Impact Monitoring report to CAJU, which is well on track to meet the SRIA objective of –20% fuel burn reduction at propulsion system level.
In the second reporting period, the HEAVEN performance model was optimized for the ACAP F25 aircraft model, with the engine data pack issued to DLR for fuel burn assessment. This enables HEAVEN to provide a status for the yearly Impact Monitoring report to CAJU, which is well on track to meet the SRIA objective of –20% fuel burn reduction at propulsion system level.