GE Aerospace runs one of the world's largest supercomputer simulations to test revolutionary new open fan engine architecture

GE Aerospace is first business to use the U.S. Department of Energy Oak Ridge National Laboratory's Frontier supercomputer, the world's fastest supercomputer

Frontier can process billions upon billions of operations per second

GE-developed models being used to study performance of open fan engine architecture for next-generation commercial aircraft engines

These models developed in partnership with ORNL could help reduce CO2 emissions by more than 20%

To support the development of a revolutionary new open fan engine architecture for the future of flight, GE Aerospace has run simulations using the world's fastest supercomputer capable of crunching data in excess of exascale speed, or more than a quintillion calculations per second.

To model engine performance and noise levels, GE Aerospace created software capable of operating on Frontier, a recently commissioned supercomputer at the U.S. Department of Energy's (DOE) Oak Ridge National Laboratory with processing power of about 37,000 GPUs. For comparison, Frontier's processing speed is so powerful, it would take every person on Earth combined more than four years to do what the supercomputer can in one second.

By coupling GE Aerospace's computational fluid dynamics software with Frontier, GE was able to simulate air movement of a full-scale open fan design with incredible detail. 

"Developing game-changing new aircraft engines requires game-changing technical capabilities. With supercomputing, GE Aerospace engineers are redefining the future of flight and solving problems that would have previously been impossible," said Mohamed Ali, vice president and general manager of engineering for GE Aerospace. 

"Together with the U.S. Department of Energy and Oak Ridge National Laboratory, we are showing supercomputing to be a revolutionary tool for designing aircraft engines for a once-in-a-generation step change in improved fuel efficiency — critical for helping the aviation industry toward its target of net zero CO2 emissions by 2050," Ali said. 

GE Aerospace and Safran Aircraft Engines unveiled in 2021 the CFM RISE* (Revolutionary Innovation for Sustainable Engines) program, which includes development of advanced new engine architectures such as the open fan, along with advanced thermal management, combustion, and hybrid electric capabilities. The goal of the RISE Program is to develop technologies that enable a future engine to achieve at least 20% lower fuel consumption and 20% fewer CO2 emissions compared to today's most efficient engines.

Qatar Airways Signs Order for GE9X Engines

Qatar Airways today announced a new order for GE9X engines as part of its global launch order of up to 50 Boeing 777-8 Freighters. The commitment includes 30 GE9X engines and four GE90-115B engines, plus GE TrueChoice™ services. This order is in coordination of Qatar Airways’ agreement for 34 firm 777-8 orders with an additional 16 purchase right options, and an additional order of two Boeing 777 Freighters.

The total value of the order with GE is more than U.S.$6.8 billion list price, including spare engines and a TrueChoice™ services agreement to cover the maintenance, repair and overhaul (MRO) of the engines.

Qatar Airways Group Chief Executive, His Excellency Mr. Akbar Al Baker, said: “With our status as the world’s largest airfreight carrier, Qatar Airways has ambitious plans for the future of its cargo operations.

“As operators of the Boeing 777 family, including the global launch customer of Boeing’s 777-8 Freighter aircraft, we are delighted to have GE as our partners and these contracts for GE engines further cement the strong relationship between Qatar Airways and GE.

Aviation Industry Chief Technology Officers Issue Joint Call to Action to Deliver Sustainable Aviation Plans

Chief Technology Officers (CTOs) of seven of the world's leading aerospace manufacturers have reaffirmed their commitment to achieving more sustainable aviation and to reaching industry-wide Air Transport Action Group targets in a joint statement. This statement updates a commitment made by a unified group of CTOs in June 2019 as part of a shared position to support the aviation sector's ambition to achieve net-zero carbon emissions by 2050.

The CTOs of Airbus, Boeing, Dassault Aviation, GE Aviation, Pratt & Whitney, Rolls-Royce, and Safran will also issue a call to action to policymakers, research institutions, suppliers, fuel producers and airport operators to build on the progress made in recent years and deliver on the aviation sector's sustainability agenda.

The joint statement comes as the CTOs come together to discuss progress in aviation sustainability at a pre COP26 event and industry showcase held in London by ADS, the organisation that represents the aerospace, defence, security and space industries in the United Kingdom.

The CTOs of each company have committed to working together to focus on three core areas of aviation technology:

Advancing the state-of-the-art in aircraft and engine design and technology

Supporting increased availability and adoption of Sustainable Aviation Fuel (SAF) and investigating hydrogen as a fuel of the future

Continuing to develop novel technologies that will eventually enable net-zero carbon aviation while maintaining the safety and quality standards of the industry.

The seven CTOs, whose firms have spent over $75B in R&D combined over the past five years, are calling for:

A sustained and planned approach from policymakers to support the development of novel technologies and stimulate the ramp-up of SAF and green hydrogen production capacity

A globally consistent approach to regulation and certification standards

Collaboration between research institutions and aerospace suppliers in the development of the new technologies

Investment in SAF production capacity by fuel producers

Investment by airport operators in the infrastructure required to support novel aviation technologies

Since the 2019 joint commitment, actions taken by the seven companies towards achieving net-zero carbon emissions have ranged from improvements to the fleet-in-service today and technologies for the future:

Airbus announced its ambition to deliver the world's first zero-emission aircraft by 2035, unveiling three hydrogen-powered concept aircraft that highlight the company's commitment to developing this high-potential technology for commercial aviation. Airbus is also engaged in 100% SAF climate-impact projects that are a part of its overall roadmap towards certification for the entry-into-service of 100% SAF on its fleet by 2030.

Boeing committed that their commercial airplanes will be capable to fly on 100% SAF by 2030, continues to test new technologies on its ecoDemonstrator program and announced a partnership with SkyNRG and SkyNRG Americas to scale up SAF. Boeing and Kitty Hawk also formed Wisk, a joint venture to advance the future of urban air mobility with more than 1,500 test flights of its self-flying, all-electric air taxi. Boeing completed a fifth hydrogen flight test program; this time with subsidiary Insitu on their ScanEagle3 unmanned aerial vehicle which was powered by a proton exchange membrane (PEM) hydrogen fuel cell.

Dassault Aviation actively promotes the use of SAF and its Falcon range is already SAF-compatible. Within Clean Sky 2 at the European level and France's civil aviation research council (Corac), Dassault Aviation's work focuses on lowering fuel consumption by reducing aircraft drag and weight. With the European Sesar program, Dassault Aviation works to improve flight efficiency and fuel consumption through the use of specially-tailored flight paths. Dassault Aviation is also involved in Corac projects related to the use of hydrogen in future aircraft.

GE Aviation is maturing a megawatt-class integrated hybrid electric powertrain to demonstrate flight readiness for single-aisle aircraft with NASA, and is leading industry efforts to define standards for 100% SAF.

GE and Safran jointly launched the CFM RISE (Revolutionary Innovation for Sustainable Engines) program in June 2021 to demonstrate and mature disruptive technologies including open fan and hybrid electric targeting more than 20% lower fuel consumption and CO2 emissions compared to today's most efficient engines. Program goals include ensuring 100% compatibility with SAF and hydrogen.

Pratt & Whitney announced a major new investment towards developing a hybrid-electric flight demonstrator, in partnership with De Havilland Canada, Collins Aerospace, and the Canadian government, targeting a 30% improvement in fuel efficiency and CO2 emissions compared to current regional turboprop aircraft. Pratt & Whitney is also developing technologies for a more efficient engine core and recently opened a new engineering and development facility in Carlsbad, California, dedicated to ceramic matrix composites (CMC) to support this effort. It is continuing to validate engines operating with up to 100% SAF.

Rolls-Royce has joined the UN Race to Zero and has pledged to prove all its Trent engines – accounting for 40% of the world's long-haul fleet – are compatible with 100% sustainable aviation fuel (SAF) by 2023, aligned with the UN Race to Zero breakthrough on SAF take-up by 2030. It has tied its SAF compatibility goals to executive remuneration and has tested two widebody and one business jet engine types on 100% SAF; and signed an MoU with Shell agreeing to develop and accelerate the use of SAF. It has developed and flown what it expects to be the world's fastest all-electric aircraft and signed agreements in the all-electric and UAM markets with customers to power products due to fly by the middle of this decade.

Safran has created a strategic partnership with TotalEnergies to accelerate the reduction of CO2 emissions of the aviation industry by jointly working for the development and deployment of SAF that could completely replace fossil kerosene in current and future engines.  Safran and Airbus will leverage the skills and test facilities of their JV ArianeGroup to prepare hydrogen technologies for aviation.

In their joint statement, the CTOs note that flying today uses 80% less fuel per Revenue Passenger Kilometer (RPK) than it did fifty years ago and that aviation accounts for 2.5% of all man-made CO2 emissions, while generating 4% of global GDP and supporting 88 million jobs.

Full call for action can be found here. 

More top stories you might be interested in.....

Follow this site here.

GE Aviation and Safran launch sustainable engines programme.

John Slattery, President and CEO of GE Aviation and Olivier Andriès, CEO of Safran sign the agreement.                Photo: Business Wire

GE Aviation and Safran today launched a bold technology development programme targeting more than 20 percent lower fuel consumption and CO2 emissions compared to today’s engines. The CFM RISE (Revolutionary Innovation for Sustainable Engines) programme will demonstrate and mature a range of new, disruptive technologies for future engines that could enter service by the mid-2030s.

The companies today also signed an agreement extending the CFM International 50/50 partnership to the year 2050, declaring their intent to lead the way for more sustainable aviation in line with the industry’s commitment to halve CO2 emissions by 2050.

“The relationship between GE and Safran today is the strongest it has ever been,” said John Slattery, President and CEO of GE Aviation. “Together, through the RISE technology demonstration programme, we are reinventing the future of flight, bringing an advanced suite of revolutionary technologies to market that will take the next generation of single-aisle aircraft to a new level of fuel efficiency and reduced emissions. We fully embrace the sustainability imperative. As we have always done in the past, we will deliver for the future.”

Boeing 777X GE9X Engine Achieves FAA Certification

GE Aviation confirmed this week that GE9X engine has been certified by the U.S. Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) authorities, a key milestone in its journey to power the new twin-engine Boeing 777X family.

The FAR (Federal Aviation Regulation) Part 33 certification involved eight test engines. This certification achievement culminates GE Aviation’s renewal of its commercial jet engine portfolio, including the GEnx for the Boeing 787 Dreamliner and the CFM LEAP engine.

Photo GE Aviation

“It takes the world’s best talent in jet propulsion to create a game-changing product like the GE9X engine,” said John Slattery, president and CEO of GE Aviation. “There is no substitute that can achieve the combination of size, power and fuel efficiency of the GE9X. This engine will deliver unsurpassed value and reliability to our airline customers. I want to congratulate the entire GE9X team and thank Boeing, our partners and suppliers for the collaboration on this incredible achievement.”

Cathay Pacific Group and GE Aviation Expand Digital Partnership

Flight Analytics and FlightPulse agreement: Unlocking the full potential of flight data to help analysts, management and flight crews better understand operations and drive efficiency improvements.

GE Aviation and Cathay Pacific Group have signed a five-year agreement to implement GE’s Event Measurement System (EMS) for flight analytics and the FlightPulse® pilot app. The digital technologies will be deployed across various fleet types in Cathay Pacific Group in September as well as the pilot community later in 2020. The agreement includes Cathay Pacific, Cathay Dragon and Air Hong Kong.

“Cathay Pacific has established our own efficiency best practices for years,” said Capt Mark Hoey, GM Operations with Cathay Pacific. “It is vital to have a flight analytics system that can easily adapt to our policies and procedures instead of the other way around. The good connectivity of the GE EMS system reduces the system migration effort, enables interaction with our corporate BI tool and maintains continuity to our users. The system flexibility and extensive library of measurements, parameters and events reduce the efforts in measuring and monitoring new best practices. After a substantial trial period with EMS, we concluded that it was the best fit for our requirements.”