PROGRESS IN DEVELOPING ULTRA-HIGH PRESSURE RATIO CORE-ENGINE TECHNOLOGIES - LEMCOTEC Summary of Results Exploitation Strategy

摘要

This paper describes the research carried out and the preliminary achievements in the European Commission co-funded integrated research project LEMCOTEC (Low Emission Core Engine Technology) on compressors, combustion, turbines and structures. The aim is to significantly contribute to the reduction of the environmental footprint of aviation with regard to emissions from aero engines. The integrated project LEMCOTEC is led by Rolls-Royce Deutschland, comprises 36 partners from aero-engine industry, universities, research establishments and small to medium size enterprises. It commands a research budget of 68 million Euros. LEMCOTEC is developing advanced aero-engine technologies to improve the thermal cycle efficiency. Key research areas are intermediate and high pressure compressors, lean combustion and injection systems, materials and hot structures, cooling technology and combustor-turbine interaction. An assessment is proving the achievement of the research objectives by application of three generic engine platforms (i.e. Regional Turbofan, Mid-size Open Rotor and Large Turbofan) using a whole engine system approach. The latest assessment of the research results demonstrated the technological advancements at an integrated level and validated the project achievements. Exploratory studies on innovative core concepts revealed additional improvement potentials. LEMCOTEC technologies (engine alone) can drive the fuel consumption towards 2 litres per 100 passenger kilometres. It can be estimated that together with the contributions from other sectors (e.g. airframes, operations and air traffic management) the fuel consumption of future aircrafts might become as small as 1 litre per 100 passenger kilometres in the long term provided the research efforts will continue.