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The Rolls-Royce Trent 1000
The Rolls-Royce Trent 1000 is a turbofan type engine and was created based on the earlier series of Trent engines. The Boeing 787 Dreamliner is powered by the Trent 1000 during its maiden flight and on its first ever commercial flight.
On April 6, 2004, Boeing declared that for their 787 Dreamliners, they have opted for two engine partners, which are Rolls-Royce and General Electric. At first, Boeing played with the notion of sole sourcing the engine for the 787, with General Electric as the main candidate. But, promising customers demanded options, and Boeing gave in. For the first time in commercial air travel, both of the engines will have a standard interface with the aircraft, which allow any 787 to be installed with either a Rolls-Royce engine or a General Electric engine at any given time as long the pylons are modified.
In June 2004, Air New Zealand made its first public engine selection and opted for the Trent 1000. As for the biggest 787 orders, All Nippon Airways of Japan announced last October 13, 2004, that their engine supplier will be Rolls-Royce. The deal was valued at £560m or $1bn and will cover 20 787-8s and 30 787-3s. The Trent 1000 will be the launch engine for planned 787 models, the -9 for Air New Zealand and the -8 for All Nippon Airways.
Rolls-Royce got its biggest order from ILFC, an aircraft leasing company that ordered Trent 1000s worth $1.3 billion to power 40 787s, which they ordered ~ $16.25m per engine that is ~ 22% of airplane price. And British Airways declared on September 27, 2007, that they have selected Trent 1000 for their Boeing 787 airplanes. By the end of August of 2008, Trent 1000 has a 40% share of the 787 engine market.
The Trent 1000 engine types make great use of technology from the Trent 8104 demonstrators. So that Boeing’s demand for a “more-electric engine” is fulfilled, the Trent 1000 was created to be a bleed less design, which means that it has power take-off from the IP or intermediate –pressure spool as a replacement for of the HP or high-pressure spool that is in the other Trent family variants.
It has an 110-inch diameter sweptback fan and a smaller diameter hub to aid in maximizing air flow. The bypass ratio was also improved as compared to other variants through refined adjustments made at the core flow. A high-pressure ratio coupled with contra-rotating the HP and P spools enhance the efficiency, and the utilization of more legacy components drops the parts count to lower the maintenance cost. A tiled combustor is also included.
The Trent 1000’s initial run was on February 14, 2006, with the first flight on Rolls-Royce’s own flying tested successfully performed on June 18, 2007, from the TSTC Waco Airport.
On August 7, 2007, the engine received its certification from both the EASA and FAA. The first engine design failed to meet the required SFC (specific fuel consumption) of Boeing. But, entry into service has been frequently delayed after a number of hindrances on the Boeing 787 airframe program, which permitted two redesign packages to be integrated into the test program.This said to increase the SFC by about 3-4% to get it within 1% of the specification.
On August 2, 2010, a Trent 1000 underwent an uncontained intermediate turbine failure during a test stand and was reported because of a fire in the engine oil system. On October 26, 2011, the 787 had its first ever commercial trip on All Nippon Airways from Tokyo-Narita to Hongkong, which was powered by Trent 1000 engines.
Rolls-Royce was able to create a better version of the Trent 1000, which can accomplish reduced fuel burn through an enhanced intermediate pressure compressor. According to Rolls-Royce that the new design has helped the company decrease the GE’s dominance on the Boeing 787 engine market, with a declared 42% engine order from Rolls-Royce.
Despite the reported case of an uncontained intermediate turbine failure of a Rolls-Royce Trent 1000, nothing to fret about as Rolls-Royce still continues to improve the Trent 1000. Because of this engine’s power, Trent 1000 was and is still being fitted in several commercial jet planes and, of course, private jets for chartered flights.
