CONTENTS

1.0

INTRODUCTION............................................................................................ 3

1.1
2.0

HISTORY OF TRENT 900.............................................................................4

ENGINE TYPE AND CONSTRUCTION..............................................................9

2.1

ENGINE CHARACTERISTICS......................................................................12

3.0 OPERATING PRINCIPLE AND APPLICATION OF TRENT 900 ENGINE.................30

3.1 OPERATING PRINCIPLE................................................................................ 30
3.1.1 INLET, FAN AND COMPRESSOR.............................................................32
3.1.2 COMBUSTION SECTION.........................................................................34
3.1.3 TURBINE SECTION................................................................................35
3.1.4 EXHAUST SECTION............................................................................... 36
3.1.5 ACCESSORIES SECTION........................................................................37
3.3 OPERATING LIMIT........................................................................................ 37
3.3.1 THRUST RATING.................................................................................... 38
3.3.2 TEMPERATURE LIMIT............................................................................. 39
3.3.3 PRESSURE LIMIT..................................................................................40
3.4 APPLICATION OF TRENT 900.......................................................................42
3.4.1 MILITARY............................................................................................... 42
3.4.2 INDUSTRIAL........................................................................................... 43
3.4.3 COMMERCIAL AIRCRAFT.........................................................................43
4.0 ADVANTAGES AND DISADVANTAGES..............................................................44
4.1

GENERALS COMPARISON.........................................................................44

4.2

TRENT 900 VERSUS GP7200...................................................................47

4.2.1

COMPARISON BETWEEN SPECIFICATIONS.........................................48

4.2.2

ADVANTAGES TRENT 900 OVER GP 7200..........................................49

4.2.3

DISADVANTAGE TRENT 900 VERSUS GP 7200...................................49

5.0

FUTURE TRENDS......................................................................................... 50

5.1

ACTIVE MAGNETIC BEARINGS..................................................................50

5.1.1

INTRODUCTION................................................................................. 50

5.1.2

WORKING PRINCIPLE.........................................................................50

5.1.3

ADVANTAGES OF JET ENGINE RUNNING ON MAGNETIC BEARINGS....51

5.2

THE MULTI-FUEL BLENDED WING BODY AIRCRAFT...................................52

5.3

HYBRID ENGINE....................................................................................... 53

6.0 SUMMARY....................................................................................................... 56

7.0 REFERENCES.................................................................................................. 58

1.0INTRODUCTION
An aircraft engine is the component of the propulsion system for an aircraft that
generates mechanical power. A good engine must produce enough thrust to drive the
aircraft, high power-to-weight ratio, fuel efficient, quiet, easy to maintains and low in
cost. Big commercial aircraft like Airbus A380 must compensate to this feature to
become one of the leading and largest passenger airliners and therefore must has
an optimum engine to achieve it. Because of that, this report will focus on the heart
of this humongous aircraft which is the Trent 900 to know why it is chosen to driven
the Airbus A380, the largest commercial aircraft in the world.

For ease of understanding and future reference, we will divide this report into five
parts:

1. History
2. Engine Parts and Construction
3. Operating Principle
4. Advantages and Disadvantages
5. Future Trend

1.1 HISTORY OF TRENT 900

Figure 1.1 Trent 900 Engine

Rolls-Royce Trent 900 (T900) is manufactured by the British engine public

multinational holding company, Rolls- Royce Holdings. Rolls-Royce Limited is an
English company famously known for making cars and then, aero-engine
manufacturing company founded by Charles Stewart Rolls and Henry Royce Sir
Frederick on March 15, 1906 as a result of the partnership established in 1904.
Rolls-Royce Trent 900 is a series of turbofan engine, developed from the
RB211 and is one of the Trent engine families.
The Rolls-Royce RB211 is a type of high-bypass turbofan engines made by
Rolls-Royce plc and could generate 37,400 to 60,600 pounds-force (166-270
kilonewtons) thrust.
Originally developed for the Lockheed L-1011 Tristar, it entered service in
1972 and is the only engine to power this type of aircraft. This RB211 engine has
turn Rolls-Royce from a decent competitor in the aircraft engine industry into a world
leader. Already in the early 1970's engine has been calculated by the company to be
able to at least 50 years of continuous development.

When Rolls-Royce was privatised in April 1987, its share of the large civil
turbofan market was only 8%. Despite increasing sales success with the RB211,
General Electric and Pratt & Whitney still dominated the market. At that time, the
aircraft manufacturers were proposing new planes that would require unprecedented
levels of thrust. Furthermore the Boeing 777 and Airbus A330 were to be twinengined, and their airline customers were demanding that they be capable of
operating in the Extended-range Twin-engine Operations (ETOPS) environment at
the time of their initial introduction into service.
Rolls-Royce decided that to succeed in the large engine market of the future,
it would have to offer engines for every large civil airliner. In view of the enormous
development costs required to bring a new engine to market, the only way to do this
would be to have a family of engines based on a common core. The three-shaft
design of the RB211 was an ideal basis for the new family as it provided flexibility,
allowing the high-pressure (HP), intermediate-pressure (IP) and low-pressure (LP)
systems to be individually scaled. Rolls decided to launch a new family of engines,
which was formally announced at the 1988 Farnborough Airshow. Reviving a name
last used 30 years earlier, the new engine was named the Trent. The Trent name
had been used for two previous Rolls-Royce engines. The first Trent was the world's
first turboprop engine. The name was reused again in the 1960s for the RB203
bypass turbofan designed to replace the Spey. Rated at 9,980 lbf (44.4 kN) it was
the first three-spool engine, forerunner of the RB211 series, but it never entered
service.
Rolls-Royce has obtained significant sums of "launch investment" from the
British government for the Trent programmes, including 200 million approved in
1997 for Trent 8104, 500 and 600 and 250 million for Trent 600 and 900 in 2001.
No aid was sought for Trent 1000. Launch investment is repaid to the government by
a royalty on each engine sold.The basis for the Trent was the RB.211-524L, work on
which began in 1987.
Like its RB211 predecessor, the Trent uses a three-spool design rather than
the more common two-spool configuration. Although inherently more complex, it
results in a shorter, more rigid engine which suffers less performance degradation in
service than an equivalent twin-spool. The advantage three spools gives is that the

front-most fan (driven by the third, rearmost turbine) can be tuned to rotate at its
optimal (fairly low) speed; the two compressors are driven by the two other turbines
via their spools. The three spools are concentric, like a matryoshka doll.

All the engines in the Trent family share a similar layout, but their three-spool
configuration allows each engine module to be individually scaled to meet a wide
range of performance and thrust requirements. For example, the large 116-inch (290
cm) diameter fan of the Trent 900 keeps the mean jet velocity at take-off at a
relatively low level to help meet the stringent noise levels required by the Airbus
A380's customers. Similarly, core size changes enable the (High Pressure) turbine
rotor inlet temperature to be kept as low as possible, thereby minimising
maintenance costs. The overall pressure ratio of the Trent 800 is higher than the
700's despite sharing the same HP system and Intermediate Pressure turbine; this
was achieved by increasing the capacity of the IP compressor and the Low Pressure
turbine.
Trent engines use hollow titanium fan blades with an internal Warren-girder
structure to achieve strength, stiffness and robustness at low weight. The blades can
rotate at 3300 RPM with a tip speed of 1730 km/h, well above the speed of sound.
The single-crystal nickel alloy turbine blades are also hollow, and air is pushed
through laser-drilled holes in them to cool them because the gas temperature is
higher than the melting point of the blades. They each remove up to 560 kW from the
gas stream.
The completely redesigned core turbo machinery delivers better performance,
noise and pollution levels than the RB211. So significant are the improvements that
Rolls-Royce fitted the Trent 700's improved HP system to the RB211-524G and
-524H, creating -524G-T and -524H-T respectively.
When the RB211 programme originally started, it was intended that none of
the compression system would require variable stators, unlike the American
competition. Unfortunately, it was found that, because of the shallow working line on
the Intermediate Pressure Compressor (IPC), at least one row of variable stators
was required on the IPC, to improve its surge margin at throttled conditions. This

feature has been retained throughout the RB211 and Trent series. Although the
original intent was not met, Rolls-Royce eliminated the need for many rows of
variable stators, with all its inherent complexity, thereby saving weight, cost and
improving reliability.
Versions of the Trent are in service on the Airbus A330, A340, A380, Boeing
777, and Boeing 787, and variants are in development for the forthcoming A350
XWB. The Trent has also been adapted for marine and industrial applications.
First run in August 1990 as the model Trent 700, the Trent has achieved
significant commercial success, having been selected as the launch engine for both
of the 787 variants (Trent 1000) note 1, the A380 (Trent 900) and the A350 (Trent
XWB). Its overall share of the markets in which it competes is around 40%. Sales of
the Trent family of engines have made Rolls-Royce the second biggest supplier of
large civil turbofans after General Electric, relegating rival Pratt & Whitney to third
position.
In keeping with Rolls-Royce's tradition of naming its jet engines after rivers,
this engine is named after the River Trent in the Midlands of England. Singapore
Airlines is currently the largest operator of Trents, with five variants in service or on
order.
Airbus had begun development of a larger successor to the Boeing 747, an
aircraft designated A3XX which was later to be launched formally as A380 and RollsRoyce has announced it would develop the Trent 900 to power the A380 in 1996.
The Trent 900 became the A380's launch engine when Singapore Airlines specified
the engine for its order for 10 A380s in October 2000 and swiftly followed by Qantas
in February 2001.
To build the Trent 900, Airbus has share their risk and revenue with seven
partners: Industria de Turbo Propulsores (low pressure turbine), Hamilton
Sundstrand (electronic engine controls), Avio S.p.A. (gearbox module), Marubeni
Corporation (engine components), Volvo Aero (intermediate compressor case),
Goodrich Corporation (fan casings and sensors) and Honeywell (pneumatic
systems). In addition, Samsung Techwin, Kawasaki Heavy Industries and
Ishikawajima-Harima Heavy Industries (IHI) are programme associates.

ON May 17 2004, T900 made the first flight with 340- 300 by replacing the
internal CFM56-5 port. The engine is certified by EASA on October 2009 and the
FAA gave their certification on December 4, 2006. In October 2007, Rolls-Royce
announced that T900 has resumed production after a 12-month suspension caused
by the delay in producing the A380. On September 27, 2007, British Airways has
chosen T900 to provide the thrust of their 12 A380 aircraft. This order provides share
of the A380 engine market to 52% at the end of February 2009. For A380 it comes in
two thrust rating 310 kN (70,000 lbf) and 320 kN (72,000 lbf) but was able to achieve
360 kN (81,000 lbf). It has a large number of technology inherited from the 8104
demonstrators with its 2.95 m (116 in) diameter, swept-back fan which provides
greater thrust for the same engine size and also about 15 percent lighter than
previous wide-chord blades. It is also the first member of the Trent family to have a
counter-rotating HP spool and use highly reliable core Trent 500. It is the only A380
engine that can be transported on a Boeing 747 cargo aircraft. Characteristics of the
engine has 2.95 m (116 in) diameter propeller struck the back of a larger terrace to
the same engine size and also about 15 percent lighter than the previous wide-chord
blade. Trent 900 is the first of the Trent family to have a contra-rotating HP spool
andusing highly reliable core Trent 500.
Goodrich FADECs is used as an engine controller on most Trent family while
Hamilton Sundstrand engine controller is used for Trent 900. Hamilton Sunsdtrand is
a United Technologies (UTC) company which is the parent company of Pratt &
Whitney who produce another engine for A380, GP7000 with the help of GE Aircraft
Engines. This kind of cooperation among competitors is common in the aircraft
industry as it provides for risk-sharing among them and variety in source countries,
which can be an important factor in the choice of the airline's airframe and
powerplant.
The Trent 900 will be the first Trent engine fitted with the advanced Engine
Health Monitoring (EHM) system based on QUICK Technology.
Rolls-Royce Trent 900 engines have many variants such as Trent 970B- 84
with 78,300. terrace use by Singapore Airlines, Lufthansa, China Southern Airlines
and Malaysia Airlines., Trent 972B- 84 (80 210 lbs. Used by Qantas), Trent 977B- 84

(83 840 lbs. Variants for A380-843F) and Trent 980- 84 (84 100 lbs.for the A380-941
variant).

2.0ENGINE TYPE AND CONSTRUCTION

Rolls-Royce Trent 900 series turbofan engine is one that has been developed
from the RB211 and belongs to Trent engine family. Besides that, Trent 900 is a type
of turbofan engine or fanjet that utilized air-breathing jet engine that widely use in
aircraft propulsion. It consists of multi-blade ducted propeller driven by a gas turbine
engine. The word "turbofan" is derived obviously from "turbine" and "fan": turbo
refers to a gas turbine engine that convert mechanical energy from combustion, and
the fan is a ducted fan that used the mechanical energy from gas turbine to generate
forward thrust that accelerate air rearwards.
Therefore, all the air taken by turbofan engine passes through the engine
core, in a turbofan called bypasses air. Turbofan is a turbojet that being used to drive
a ducted fan, with both of those contributing to the thrust. How turbofan engine
work? The incoming air is accumulating by the engine inlet. Part of the air entering
through the fan and go through the core compressor and then the burner, where it is
mixed with fuel and combustion occur. The hot air passes through the core and fan
turbines and then out through exhaust nozzle, as in the basic turbojet. The rest of the
incoming air passes through fan and bypass, or go around the engine, such as air
through the propeller. Incoming air through the fan has slightly increased velocity due
to free flow. Thus, a turbofan engine gets it thrust both from the core and the fan. The
ratio of air that goes around the engine to the air that goes through the core is called
bypass ratio.

The Trent 900 engine consists of triple-spool high bypass ratio, axial flow,
turbofan with Low Pressure (LP), Intermediate Pressure (IP) and High Pressure (HP)
Compressors driven by separate turbines through coaxial shaft. The LP compressors
fan diameter is 2.95 m (116 in) with a swept fan blade and OGVs to increase

efficiency and reduce noise. The combustion system utilizes single annular
combustor chamber. The LP and IP assemblies rotate independently anti-clockwise
direction; the HP assemblies rotate clockwise, when viewed from the rear of the
engine.
The Compressor and Turbine have the following features:
Compressor

Turbine

Low Pressure 1 stage (ccw)

Low Pressure 5 stages

Intermediate Pressure 8 stages (ccw)

Intermediate Pressure 1 stage

High Pressure 6 stages (cw)

High Presssure 1 stage

*ccw counter-clockwise rotation, cw clockwise rotation

The fan consists of 24 blades swept design that reduces the effects of the
shockwaves, as the tip of the fan rotates supersonically, making it lighter, quieter and
more efficient. Fan contaminant system used in Trent 900 is also the first to be
manufactured from Titanium and does not need the additional Kevlar wrap, making it
lighter and smaller.
At the engine core, the high pressure shaft rotates in the opposite direction to
the other two shafts, meaning the engine can be made lighter and more fuel efficient.

Figure 1.2 Trent blade of turbofan engine

Figure 1.3 Swept fan blades

Figure 2.20 Rolls-Royce Trent 900 4th generation fan blade the most
complicated aerodynamic structure on the A380. (1.07 metres long, 14
kg, pure titanium, honeycomb hollow wide chord, supersonic swept

2.1 ENGINE CHARACTERISTICS

GENERAL CHARACTERISTICS
Type: Three-shaft high bypass ratio (8.78.5) turbofan engine
Length: 5,477.5 mm (215.65 in) tip of spinner minus rubber tip to Tail Bearing
Housing Plug Mount Flange
Diameter: 2.95 m (116 in) LP compressor fan
Dry weight: 6,246 kg (13,770 lb.)

Components
Compressor: Single stage LP (CCW), Eight-stage IP compressor (CCW),sixstage HP compressor (CW)
Combustors: Single annular combustor
Turbine: Single-stage HP turbine, single-stage IP turbine, five-stage LP
turbine

Performance
Maximum thrust: 334374 kN or 75,00084,000 lb. take-off (5min)
Overall pressure ratio: 3739
Thrust-to-weight ratio: 5.466.11 (assuming 6,246 kg (13,770 lb.) mass /
weight of engine and certified to 334374 kN or 75,000
84,000 lb. of thrust)

EQUIPMENT
Trent 900 engine certification stated that the engine has been approved for
used with Aircelle Thrust Reverser Unit (TRU) at the inboard engine positions (part
numbers ASE 0010-XX-0 for the left hand installation and ASE 0050-XX-0 for the
right hand installation). Whilst, for Fixed Fan Duct (FFD) in the outboard engine
positions (part numbers ASE 5010-XX-0 for the left hand installation and ASE 5050XX-0 for the right hand installation). The Thrust Reverser Unit (TRU) and Fixed Fan
Duct (FFD) actually do not form part of the engine design and must be certified as
part of the aircraft part design.

DIMENSIONS
Generally, this engine measurement as table shown below:
Dimension

Total

Overall Length (mm)

5477.5 (215.65 in)

Maximum Diameter (mm)

3944

Dry engine weight (kg)

6246 (13770 lbs.)

Length measured from tip of spinner minus rubber tip to Tail Bearing Housing
Plug Mount Flange
Diameter around centre line, inc. VFG cooler not includes drains mast.
Weight not including fluids and Nacelle EBU

ENGINE BUILD THEORY

Module 01 low pressure (LP) compressor rotor
Fan disc on its shaft driven by the LP turbine
Dovetail slots machined into the disc locate the fan blades

 Trent engines have between 20 and 26 fan blades, with 20 on the Trent 1000
Module 02 intermediate pressure (IP) compressor
The front bearing housing holds the roller bearings for locating the LP and IP
compressors
The IP compressor is an assembly of discs and blades into a drum
The latest Trent uses weight-saving blisks to improve engine efficiency

Figure 2.1 Blisks used in

Trent engine

Module 03 intermediate case intercase

Sits between the IP compressor and the HP compressor
Internal hollow struts provide access for oil tubes, cooling air and the gearbox
drive shaft
Houses the location bearings for each shaft
Module 04 high pressure (HP) system
Consists of the inner casing, HP compressor, combustion system and HP
turbine
Trent 700, Trent 800 and Trent 500 have co-rotating HP systems

 All Trents, from the Trent 900 onwards, operate a contra-rotating HP system

Module 05 intermediate pressure (IP) turbine

Consists of the turbine casing, blades, vanes, turbine disc, shaft and the roller
bearings for HP and IP shafts
Nozzle Guide Vanes (NGVs) are mounted into the casing
LP stage 1 vanes contain thermo-couples for measuring gas temperature

Module 06 high speed gearbox (HSGB)

Mounted onto the LP compressor case and driven by the internal gearbox
housed in the Intercase
Provides drive to accessories including fuel, oil, hydraulic pumps and
electrical generators for the aircraft
The drive speed provided by the gearbox can be as high as 15,000rpm

Module 07 low pressure (LP) compressor fan case

The largest module is formed through the assembly of cylindrical casings and
the ring of outlet guide vanes
The forward case is designed for fan containment
Both casings contain acoustic linings to reduce noise levels

Module 08 low pressure (LP) turbine

Bolted discs with blades form the LP turbine rotor
The LP turbine drives the fan through the LP turbine shaft
The Trent 900 LP turbine provides 80,000 horsepower, the equivalent of
around 1000 family car

CONSTRUCTION MATERIAL
1) COLD SECTION
For construction of compressor cases, inlet cases and accessory cases, aluminum
and magnesium alloys are extensively used where lowest heat and moderate
strength is the primary consideration. These materials have approximately 30-40
percent the weight of steel.

Figure 2.2 Aluminium and magnesium

For fan cases, fan blades, compressor blades and compressor disk
manufacturing, aluminium alloy are used due to its low density, high specific strength
and corrosion resistance characteristics.
In the compressor high pressure stages, nickel-chromium alloys, referred to
as stainless steel and nickel-base alloys are often used. Epoxy-resin materials have
been developed for cold section construction of cases and shroud rings where lower
strength is permissible and light weight is the major consideration.

2) HOT SECTION
For this section, a variety of high strength to weight materials has been
developed, often referred as super alloys. These alloys have a maximum
temperature limit of 2000

when uncooled and 2600

when cooled

internally. Super alloys were developed for use in high temperature areas where
oxidation resistance is needed and where high thermal, tensile and vibratory
stresses present. Super alloys are complex mixtures of many critical metals such as
nickel, chromium, cobalt, titanium, tungsten, carbon and others metallic elements.

ENGINE INLET DUCT

Figure 2.3 Trent 900 engine inlet

The air entrance or flight inlet duct is usually identified as Engine Station
Number One and normally considered to be part of the airframe, not part of the
engine.
Understanding the function of the inlet and its importance to engine
performances makes it a essential part of any discussion on turbofan engine design
and construction.
The turbofan engine inlet must provide a uniform supply of air to the
compressor if the engine is to enjoy stall-free compressor performance. Inlet duct
must also create as little drag as possible. In addition, the use of inlet cover is
recommended to promote cleanliness and to prevent corrosion and abrasion.

Figure 2.3 Divergent duct inlet

Trent 900 used subsonic inlets duct that has fixed geometry and divergent
shape. A diverging duct progressively increases in diameter from front to back as
shown in figure above. This kind of duct is sometimes referred to as an inlet diffuser
because of its effect on pressure. Air enters this duct will reduced in velocity and
increased in static pressure. Added pressure increase engine efficiency and produce
most compression for best fuel economy. Inlet of Trent 900 is the short duct design
of a high bypass turbofan engine.

Engine Inlet Vortex Dissipator

Trent 900 inlets have a tendency to form a vortex between ground and flight
inlet. The suction by the fan creating the vortex is strong enough to lift water and
debris such as sand, small stones, nuts, bolts, and others, from the ground and
direct it into the engine, causing serious compressor damage.
To dissipate the vortex, a small jet of compressor discharge air is directed at
the ground under the inlet from a discharge nozzle located in the lower part of the
engine flight cowl as figure below.

Figure 2.5 Trent 900 vortex

dissipater

The system generally activated by a landing-gear switch which opens a valve

in line between engine compressor bleed port and the dissipator nozzle whenever
the engine is operating and weight is on the main landing gear.

COMPRESSOR

Figure 2.6 Inner section of compressor

case

Compressor Type

Axial flow

Low Pressure Compressor Stage

1 (Fan)

Intermediate Pressure Compressor Stages

High Pressure Compressor Stages

Triple-spool axial flow compressor has been used in Trent 900 for the
operational flexibility that provide engine with the feature of high compression ratios,
quick acceleration and better control of stall characteristics

Figure 2.7 Stator and rotor of

The axial flow compressor has two main components, the rotor and stator. A
rotor and following stator make up a stage, and several stages are combined to
make up the complete compressor. Each rotor consists of a set of blades fitted into a
disk, which move air rearward through each stage. For compressor section in Trent
900, blades of each stage are bulb root fitted and secured with a pin, lock tab or
lock-wire.

COMBUSTION
Combustion section or burner, as it is called, consists basically of an outer
casing, an inner perforated liner, a fuel injection system and a starting ignition
system. The function of burner is to add thermal energy to the flowing gases, thereby
expanding and accelerating the gases into the turbine section.
Trent 900 used single annular combustion chamber that is the most common
configuration for through-flow, in which gases entering from compression are
immediately ignited and then pass directly into the turbine sections.

Figure 2.8 Single annular combustor and its liner

The annular combustor takes air at the front and discharges it at the rear. It
consists of outer housing, containing only one liner. The perforated inner liner is
often referred to as a basket. Primary and secondary air provide for combustion and
cooling as in other combustion designs.
This annular combustor installed in Trent 900 is the most efficient design if we
consider the thermal efficiency versus weight and for its shorter length compared to
other types.

TURBINE

Figure 2.9 Turbine Section

Turbine Section

No of stages

Low Pressure Turbine

Intermediate Pressure Turbine

High Pressure Turbine

The turbine section is bolted to the combustor and contains the turbine wheels
and turbine stators. Furthermore, turbine stators that engage under high heat and
high centrifugal loading conditions are fir-tree fitted. Turbine stators act as nozzles,
increasing velocity and decreasing pressure.

EXHAUST

Figure 2.20 Exhaust section of Trent 900

Exhaust section of Trent 900 is located directly behind the turbine section and
is a convergent outer cone and an inner tail cone. The cone, sometimes referred to
as the turbine exhaust collector, collects the exhaust gases discharged from turbine
discharge and gradually converts them into a uniform wall of gases.
Tail cone shape acts to form a diffuser within the exhaust cone and the
resulting pressure build-up reduce turbulences downstream of the turbine wheel.

THRUST REVERSER
Trent 900 equipped with engine thrust reverser to:
Aid in braking and directional control during normal landing and to reduce
brake maintenance.
Provide braking and directional controls during emergency landings and
rejected take-offs.
In some aircraft to act as a speed brakes to increase the aircraft rate of
descent.
Back an aircraft out of a parking pot in what is called power back operation.

Figure 2.11 Aerodynamic thrust reverser operations

A common method for operating this aerodynamic blockage type is a

pneumatic actuating system powered by compressor discharge pressure. Thrust
reverser provides approximately 20% of the braking force under normal runway
conditions. Reversers are capable of producing 35 to 50% of rated thrust in the
reverse direction.

ENGINE STATION
Engine manufacturer numbers the engine location either along the length of
the gas path or along the length of the engine for ease of identification purposes.
The station number start at either flight cowling inlet or engine inlet.
However, manufacturers do not always number engine stations the same way.
Engine symbols such as Pt and Tt are often used in conjunction with station
numbers. For example, to describe Pressure Total at Station-2 (inlet), Pt is used. To
describe Temperature Total at Station-7, the turbine outlet on a triple-spool engine, Tt
is used.

Figure 2.13 Engine station number on turbofan engine

DIRECTIONAL REFERENCES
For purpose of identifying engine construction points, or component and
accessory placement, directional references are used along with station numbers.

Figure 2.14 directional references

These references are described as forward at the engine inlet and aft at the
engine tailpipe, with a standard 12 hour clock orientation. The terms right- and lefthand, clockwise and anticlockwise, apply as view from the rear of the engine looking
forward to the inlet.

BEARING
The main bearings of Trent 900 are either ball or roller anti-friction types. Ball
bearings ride in a grooved inner race and support the main engine rotor for both axial
(thrust) and radial (centrifugal) loads. The roller bearings put on a flat inner race
because of their greater surface contact area than the ball bearings.

Figure 2.15 (A) Roller type and (B) Ball type bearing

Figure 2.15 Location of bearing in Trent 900 engine

ACCESSORY

Figure 2.16 Main accessory gearbox location

Figure 2.17
(A)

Main accessory gearbox positioned at 6 o clock

(B)

Main accessory gearbox positioned at rear

Trent 900 driven external gearbox is the main unit of accessory section.
Accessory unit essential to the operation of engine, such as fuel pump, oil pump, fuel
control and starter and components such as hydraulic pumps and generators are
mounted on the main gearbox.

Fluids such as fuel, from the fuel control or fuel pump; engine oil, from the
main pump or scavenge oil pump; and hydraulic, from the hydraulic pump may be
leak into, or, from, the gearbox through the drive shaft seal. A system of seal drain
tubes connects to each drive pad and is normally routed to the bottom of the engine
cowling. The leakage is generally minute and presents little problem as it leaves the
drain point into the atmosphere.
The allowable leakage rate of the various fluids is listed in the manufacturers
maintenance instructions and is generally in the range of 5 to 20 drops per minute,
depending on the source of the leak.

NOISE SUPPRESSION
The Trent 900 engine is using acoustic liners. Acoustic liners in the nacelle
(engine housing) play an important role in reducing turbomachinery noise before it
escapes from the engine, converting acoustic energy into very small amounts of
heat. The manufacturers have used key manufacturing, materials and design
technologies to increase the effective acoustic areas in the nacelle without
increasing the overall nacelle length, and to enable acoustic liners to be employed
reliably in areas where the engine conditions are more extreme. Attention to detail is
important, and the zero-splice intake liner (which first entered service on the Airbus
A380 with our Trent 900 engine) has been very effective in reducing fan noise at
aircraft departure, far greater than might be expected for a relatively small increase
in acoustic liner area.
The Trent 900 engine also uses a 116 inch swept fan, a low NOx combustor
and a contra-rotating HP system which minimise emissions, noise and fuel
consumption, making the Trent 900 the most environmentally friendly engine
powering the Airbus A380.

Figure 2.18 100% a coustic inlet on Trent 900

Figure 2.19 Acoustic Liners

3.0 OPERATING PRINCIPLE AND

APPLICATION OF TRENT 900 ENGINE

3.1 OPERATING PRINCIPLE

Trent 900 is a one type of turbofan engine. It is powered by a 3 spool high

bypass, axial flow, turbofan with low pressure, intermediate pressure, high pressure
compressors driven by separate turbines with through coaxial shafts. The figure 3.1
below shows the cross section of the Trent 900 engine.

Figure 3.1 Cross Section of Trent 900 Engine

From the figure 3.1 above, the Trent 900 engine is using triple spool or three
set of compressor and turbine. The compressor is consists of 1 stages of low
pressure compressor (LPC) or fan blades, 8 stages of intermediate pressure
compressor (IPC), and 6 stages of high pressure compressor (HPC). The turbine
section consists of 5 stages of low pressure turbine (LPT), 1 stages of intermediate
pressure turbine (IPT), and 1 stages of high pressure turbine (HPT). The speed of
rotors is defines as N1 for LP rotor, N2 for IP rotor and N3 for HP rotor. From the
figure 3.1, it is also stated that the rotation direction for the blade if view from the rear
is clockwise for HP rotor and counter clockwise for LP and IP rotor. This type of gas
turbine engine is using 3 ball bearings for axial and radial load and 5 roller bearings
for radials load only.

3.1.1 INLET, FAN AND COMPRESSOR

Figure3.2 Air inlet of Trent 900

During the operation of the Trent 900 engine, the first stages or section that
the air will flow through is the air inlet. Type of air inlet that use on the Trent 900 is
engine mounted inlet. The purpose of designing the air inlet is to recover as much of
the total pressure of the free airstreams and deliver this pressure to the compressor.
Trent 900 used subsonic inlets duct that has fixed geometry and has a divergent
shape as shown in figure 3.3. A diverging duct progressively increases in diameter
from front to back. Air that enters this duct will be reduced in velocity and increased
in static pressure.

Figure 3.3 Divergent shape of inlet duct

Trent 900 is a multiple spools type of engine which made of three shafts.
Then, each shaft has own set of compressor and turbine. Figure 3.4 is showing the
compressor section of Trent 900. The first compressor is low pressure compressor or
N1 compressor. The fan is the first stage compressor and is a LPC. The Trent 900
are equipped with 24 fan blades which is swept design to reduces the effect of
shockwaves, as the tip of fan blades are rotates supersonically, making it lighter
quieter and efficiently. Trent 900 is a high bypass engine, which means not all of the
airflow will go through the engine core. Trent 900 bypass ratio is 8.7:1, which is 8.7
kg of air passes around the combustion chamber through the ducted fan or the

engine core for every 1 kg of air passing through the combustion chamber. After the
air that goes through to the engine core will then pass through IP compressor or N2
compressor. From the figure 3.4 it can be seen that IP compressor comprise of 8
stages. At each stage the pressure of airflow will increase by ratio of 1.25:1. At this
part also the shape of the duct is convergent. This will allow the pressure of the
airflow to increase, the velocity to decrease and the temperature to increase. All of
these properties will help greatly in combustion process. After the airflow leaving the
N2 compressor, it will enter the HP or N3 compressor which is has 6 stages. The
process that occurs at N2 will repeat at this stage. After the airflow pass through N3
compressor it will enter the combustion chambers. The airflow will mix with fuel to
produce combustion process.

Figure 3.4 The compressor section of Trent 900

3.1.2 COMBUSTION SECTION

Combustion section is a place where the combustion will occur by igniting the
mixture of air and fuel. This section is a hot section located after the compressor
section. After the air is compress by the last stage of a compressor which is N3
compressor, the airflow will be reduce in velocity first before entering the combustion
section by means of diffuser. This diffuser is located at the last stage of compressor
section and before combustor inlet. For the Trent 900 engine, it uses the annular
type combustor as shown in figure 3.5.

Figure 3.5 Cross section of an annular combustor of Trent 900

Air and fuel flow through the annular combustor. The fuel is injected through
the fuel injector. Air is diffused around the outside of the combustion chamber,
slowing down the speed at which the air leaves the compressor would blow out the
flame were it to pass directly through. From the figure, blue shows the combustion
chamber feed air from the HPC. Some of air will enter into the combustion chamber,
whilst most of air directed around the combustion chamber for cooling purposes. The
white color is where the higher temperature occurs. This is because at white it is the
primary zone where the ignition of fuel and air mixture takes place. Before the air
that entering the combustor, it is first being swirl by the swirl vane then the fuel is
injected through the fuel. The gas temperatures within the combustor are above the
melting point of the nickel alloy walls. Fuel is burned in the combustion chamber at

temperatures of over 2000C, about half the temperature of the sun. Cooling air and
thermal barrier coatings are therefore used to protect the walls and increase
component lives. At the dilution zone, dilution air is used to cool the gas stream
before entering the turbines.

3.1.3 TURBINE SECTION

After the hot gases leaving the combustion chamber, the high thermal air will
now entering the turbine section. The turbine will extract energy from the hot gas
stream that received from the combustor. In a turbofan this power is used to drive the
fan and compressor by means of drive shaft. As mentioned earlier there are three
parts of turbine, each part drive their compressor counterpart; i.e: HP turbine will
drive HP compressor. The first part of the turbine is the HP turbine. It has only one
stage and drive the HP compressor. HP turbine blades and nozzle guide vanes are
designed with cooling passages and thermal barrier coatings, to ensure long life
while operating at such high temperatures. Cooling air is taken from the compressor
and is fed around the combustor into the blades to cool the airfoils. Aft of it is IP
turbine, it drives IP compressor and also contain only one stage. The final stage of
turbine section is the HP turbine. Since HPT is the last stage the airflow pressure
and temperature both fall as it passes through the turbine. It will also affect the
velocity by reducing it. Therefore to prevent from this situation occurs the LP turbine
is equipped with five stages. This is because turbine blades will convert the energy
stored within the gas into kinetic energy. In conclusion, if the number of blades is
increasing, the higher amount of kinetic energy produces.

Figure 3.6 Cross section of turbine blade

Figure 3.7 Turbine section of Trent 900 engine

3.1.4 EXHAUST SECTION

After leaving the turbine, the air flow will now move to the exhaust section.
Exhaust provides air flow with the final boost velocity. Exhaust nozzles will be
mounted at the rear exhaust duct flanges. Trent 900 produces exhaust gas at
subsonic velocity, so the shaped of the exhaust will be convergent duct and this type
of shaped will increase the exhaust gas velocity thus produce thrust. This will be
achieved by reducing the diameter of the front back. As stated before Trent 900 is a
high bypass engine means there will be two gas streams emitted into the
atmosphere. High temperature gas is discharged by the turbines while the cold air
mass is moved rearward by the fan section (high bypass air from the compressor
N1). Both streams are channeled outboard through two coaxial nozzles.

Figure 3.8 Cross section of Exhaust section

3.1.5 ACCESSORIES SECTION

Accessories section is where the accessories of the engine are located.

Usually the accessories located around the engine. Engine accessories including
Electronic Engine Controller (EEC), starter, fuel pump and oil pump, while the
accessory set included hydraulic pumps and electric generators to power the cabin.
The power required to drive accessory is taken from the shaft main power of this
engine. Beveled gears shows in figure 3.10 are used to drive an accessory shaft
then turn the gears in an accessory gearbox. That accessory gearbox provides a
mounting location for each accessory. Because the engine is operated at high
speed, reduction gearing is needed to drive accessory at the right speed.

Figure 3.9 Bevel gears used to drive the gearbox

3.3 OPERATING LIMIT

Based on the TCDS that has been referring to, there will be 3 limitations during
operation of the engine which is temperature, pressure and maximum or minimum
permissible rotor speed.

3.3.1 THRUST RATING

The table below is showing the thrust rating for the Trent 900 series. From the
table, it shows that the thrust produce by the engine on specific condition such as for
take-off (net) and equivalent bare engine take-off is increasing through the series of
engine, whilst the thrust calculated for maximum continuous (net) and equivalent
bare engine maximum continuous is remain constant.

Table 3.1 The ISA thrust rating (EASA, 2013)

This thrust rating was calculated by using basic formula which is shown below:
F=

Ms (V 2V 1)
g

F= force/thrust
m= mass flow rate
V2= air velocity at exhaust section
V1= air velocity at intake section
g= acceleration of gravity (32.2 ft/sec)

3.3.2 TEMPERATURE LIMIT

3.3.2.1 Climatic Operating Envelope

The engine may be operated in ambient pressure up to ISA +40. At take-off

ratings, the Trent 970-84, 972-84, 977-84 and 980-84 are flat rated to ISA +15C at
all altitudes, whilst Trent 970B-84, 972B-84 and 977B-84 are flat rated to ISA +10C
at all altitudes.

3.3.2.2 Turbine Gas Temperature (TGT) Trimmed (C)

Turbine Gas Temperature is measured by thermocouples positioned at the 1st

stage Nozzle Guide Vane of the LP Turbine. Table below shows the TGT.

Below 50% HP speed, maximum during starts

on the ground:

700

Maximum during relights in flight:

850

Maximum for take-off (5 min. limit):

900

Maximum Continuous (unrestricted duration):

850

Maximum over-temperature :

920

Table 3.2 The TGT

3.3.2.3 Fuel temperature (C)

The fuel temperature is taken as that in the Wing Tank. The minimum and
maximum fuel temperature and pressure are not measured on the engine and
therefore, not provided to the flight deck. However, the wing tank temperature is
available on the flight deck and it is assumed that there is negligible difference in
temperature between the tank and the engine inlet.

Minimum fuel temperature in flight

Maximum fuel temperature

: 54 or the fuel freeze point (whichever is

the higher).

(i) On ground to top of climb

55

(ii) At the top of descent

50

3.3.2.4 Oil temperature (C)

Combined oil scavenge temperature

Minimum for engine starting with Special Starting procedure:

Minimum for engine starting with no Special Starting procedure:
Minimum for acceleration to take off power:
Maximum for unrestricted use:

3.3.3 PRESSURE LIMIT

3.3.3.1 Fuel pressure (kPa)

Minimum absolute inlet pressure (measured at the pylon interface): 34

Maximum pressure at inlet (measured at the pylon interface):

(i) Continuous
(ii) Transiently
(iii) Static

3.3.3.2 Oil pressure (kPa)

Minimum oil pressure:

:
:
:

276
690
345

40
30
- 40
- 196

(i) Ground idle to 70% HP rpm 172

(ii) Above 95% HP rpm 344
Maximum allowable Oil Consumption (l/hr):

0.46

3.3.3.3 Maximum / Minimum Permissible Rotor Speeds

The table below is showing the maximum or minimum permissible rotor speeds.

Table 3.3 Table of Rotor Speed

3.4 APPLICATION OF TRENT 900

3.4.1 MILITARY

Turbofan engine are usually used for making aircraft move or flying, in other
words to develop thrust. So a Trent 900 engine could certainly be used on a military
aircraft such as C17. But its use on ground or ship based platform would be limited.
However its Trent familys, the Trent 800 has the uses on ground and ship based
platform. Example the uses of Trent 800 in military is MT30 gas turbine or also
known as Marine Trent. The MT30 has 80% parts commonality. Example of MT30
that powered on military ship is US Navys Freedom class Littoral Warfare ships and
the Zumwalt class destroyers (figure 3.12 and 3.13).

Figure 3.10 The Zumwalt class destroyers

Figure 3.11 US Navys Freedom class Littoral Warfare ships

3.4.2 INDUSTRIAL
Since the Trent 900 engine is designed to move large volumes of air through
its fan section so there is not a lot of practical use for that in an industrial area. Trent

has other engine designed for industrial uses such as pumping stations that run now
stop for several years, but those are turbo shaft and not turbo fan type power-plants.

3.4.3 COMMERCIAL AIRCRAFT

As you know that, the Trent 900 engine was first use to power the A380. This
commercial aircraft was power the A380, when Rolls-Royce companies was able to
announce that it would develop the Trent 900 to power the A380 by 1996. In October
2000, the Trent 900 became the A380s launched engine when Singapore Airlines
specified the engine for its order for 10 A380s then followed by Qantas in February
2001. The A380 also powered by GE7000 engine.

Figure 3.12 A380 powered by Trent 900 engine

4.0 ADVANTAGES AND DISADVANTAGES

4.1

GENERALS COMPARISON
A gas turbine is also named with combustion turbine. It is a type of engine that

performs the combustion internally. It has the upstream rotating compressor coupled
to a downstream turbine, and combustor in between.
In an ideal gas turbine, the gasses will go through the three processes. An
isentropic compression, isobaric (constant pressure) combustion and an isentropic
(expansion). Today, gas turbine are one of the most widely used power generating
technologies. There are four types of gas turbine engine which is Turbojet,
Turboprop, Turbo shaft and turbo fan. Most of them using turbine to generate power.
Turbo jet is the first and simple design which produce all of its thrust from the
exhaust from the turbine section. However, because all of the air is passing through
the whole turbine, all of its must burn fuel. It is inefficient, and the solution is turbo
fan.

Figure 4.1 Cross Section Turbojet Engine

While turboprop is combination of turbojet and propeller. The turbine primarily

drives a propeller at the front of the engine. There is no cowl around the prop. Some
air enters the turbine, the rest does not. The propeller is geared to allow it to spin
slower than the turbine. Although this diagram shows only a single shaft, many
turboprops have two, with a high pressure shaft driving the compressor and a low
pressure shaft driving the propeller. Some engines such as the popular PT6 also
reverse the flow direction multiple time.

Figure 4.2 Cross Section Turboprop Engine

Meanwhile, the turbofan is a jet engine developed from combination of

turbojet and turboprop. In a turbofan, the turbine primarily drives a fan at the front of
the engine. Most engines drive the fan directly from the turbine. There are usually at
least two separate shafts to allow the fan to spin slower than the inner core of the
engine. The fan is surrounded by a cowl which guides the air to and from the fan.
Part of the air enters the turbine section of the engine, and the rest is bypassed
around the engine. In high-bypass engines, most of the air only goes through the fan
and

bypasses the rest of the engine and

providing most of the thrust.

Figure 4.3 Cross Section Turbofan Engine

Turboprops are more efficient at lower speeds since the prop can move much
more air with a smaller turbine than the fan on a turbofan engine. Turboprops also
are efficient on the short-haul operation and the aircraft with turboprops requires only
shorter runway to achieve the required lift compared to other types.
Turbofan is the most efficient engine and most of the thrust is produced from
the bypass air. The efficiency of the engine mainly depends on the engine bypass
ratio. The cowl around the turbofan's large fan allows it to perform better than an
open propeller at high speeds, but limits the practical size of the fan.
Turbojet is mainly used on the fighter or acrobatic aircraft. These aircrafts
thrust is further increased by the after burner installed at the nozzle of the engine.
At supersonic speeds, turbojets have more of a performance benefit. They develop
all of their thrust from the high velocity turbine exhaust, while turbofans supplement
that with the lower velocity air from the fan. Since the air from the fan is also not
compressed nearly as much as the core turbine flows, it is also harder to prevent the
flow from going supersonic and causing losses.
The noise from turbojet is produced from the high speed exhaust through the
ambient air, together with the noise from the core. Turbofan engines have several
features which is by pass air will keep the core noise inside the engine more silent;
more efficient operation significantly reduces noise caused by bad air flow round
sharp edges and such. Other than that, the bigger the fan, the slower it spins. The
slower it spins the less noise it makes.
The need of industry is to make aircraft move faster, its means that the
engine/propeller need to rotate faster too. Due to the limitation of propeller also has
limitation to certain speed of rotation, the propeller will be stall if it exceed 4000rpm
(thrust not be or slightly produced). The blade in the turbofan engine can also stall
but it can reach higher speed compared to the propeller so aircraft with turbofan can
go faster compared to aircraft which utilized turboprop.
The Concorde used turbojets because it was designed to cruise for long
periods at supersonic speeds. Modern fighter jet engines are turbofans, which
provide a compromise between efficiency and speed.

Turbo shaft, is the engine mainly used on the helicopter and the energy
comes out of the turbine is used by the rotor to achieve the required rpm.

4.2

TRENT 900 VERSUS GP7200

As generals, Trent 900 was developed by Rolls Royce company meanwhile

GP7200 were manufactured by Engine Alliance which it was a collaboration between

General Electric (GE) and Pratt & Whitney (PW) to produce an engine suitable for
Airbus A380-800 superjumbo even thought at first, GP7200 was planned to power
Boeing commercial airplanes cancelled 747-500X/-600X due to lack of demand from
airliners.

4.2.1 COMPARISON BETWEEN SPECIFICATIONS

Trent 900
General Specifications

GP 7200
General Specifications

Type : Three-spool high bypass ratio(8.7-8.5)

Type : Two-spool high-bypass ratio (8.8)

Length : 5.48m

Length : 4.74m

Diameter : 2.95m

Diameter : 3.16m

Dry Weight : 6,246kg

Components

Dry Weight : 6,712kg

Components

Compressor : 1 stage LPC, 8 stage IPC, 6

Compressor : 5 stage LPC, 9 HPC

stage HPC
Combustor : Single Annular Combustor

Combustor : Single Annular Combustor

Turbine : 2 stage HPT, 6 stage LPT

Turbine : 1 stage HPT, 1 stage IPT, 5 stage

LPT
Performance

Performance

Maximum Thrust : 344 to 357kN or 77000 to

Maximum Thrust : 36,980kgf, 363kN,

88000 lbf

81,500lbf

Overall Pressure Ratio : 37 to 39

Overall Pressure Ratio : 43.9

Thrust-to-weight ratio : 5.46 to 6.11

Ratings

Thrust-to-weight ratio : 5.508

Ratings

Maximum Take Off : 334.29-372.92 kN

Maximum Take Off : 332.437 kN or 74735 lbs

Maximum Continuous : 319.60 kN

Maximum Continuous : 326.81 kN

Table 4.1 Table of Specification GP 7200 and Trent 900

4.2.2 ADVANTAGES TRENT 900 OVER GP 7200

Based on table above, it is clearly that, why the airliners choosing Trent 900
rather than GP7200. As per their general specifications, Trent 900 lighter than GP
7200 even the GP 7200 using less components but providing higher by pass ratio

which means more thrust will be generated. The issue is, the airliners will choose
which one will reduce the total weight of aircraft and at the same time providing
sufficient power to fly the Airbus A380. When there is more weight, more power will
needed, more fuel will be consumed and more cost will be generated.
From the components section, Trent 900 has 22 stages and same goes to GP
7200. The difference is just how much spool they used. Trent 900 used three spool
which will reduce the noise and of course it is more silent than GP 7200 and at the
same time the acceleration of Trent 900 more faster than GP 7200.

4.2.3 DISADVANTAGE TRENT 900 VERSUS GP 7200

In compressor section, Trent 900 divided their stages more complex to

achieve more compression in increasing the pressure of air before entering the
combustion chamber, compared to GP 7200 which divided their stages to two spools
only, simpler construction but the efficiency of compression is much more better
compared to Trent 900. But In maintenance side, the simplicity of GP 7200 will help
the maintenance personnel in maintain the engine due to the GP 7200 easier to
maintain due to not too much work will be done on a simple construction rather than
Trent 900 which more complex and need more attention.
Second issue is, the price of the engine slightly higher than GP 7200. In 2000
Qantas were quoted a price of US$ 12.85 million per Trent 900. The price higher
because one engine produced from more than one country and company.

5.0FUTURE TRENDS

5.1

ACTIVE MAGNETIC BEARINGS

5.1.1

INTRODUCTION

The new generation of aircraft engines will display has multiple applications,
offering fuel burn lower, lower production and lower noise levels. For example, LEAP
engines from CFM International and Pratt & Whitney PW1000G, they promises
maintenance costs equal to or better than existing engines. In this section, from the
research conducted, found that using active magnetic bearings by replacing the ball
bearing where existed in jet engines. It is will reduce the losses and service intervals
in jet engine to meet the goals of their maintenance costs.
Active magnetic bearings (AMB) have been successfully used in various
applications for several decades. They show great abilities to work under extreme
conditions, such as vacuum, high rotation speed or at high temperature. AMB are
used today in applications such as turbo-molecular pumps, turbo expanders, textile
spindles, machine tool spindles, hard disk drives and magnetically levitated vehicles
(MAGLEV). The idea here is to use magnetic bearings in aircraft jet engine.

5.1.2

WORKING PRINCIPLE

Figure 5.2.1 shows the basic components of a magnetic bearing and its
working principle. A rotor magnet is suspended by an electromagnet. To get control
of active players, position measured by the position sensor. Position signal is then
treated by a controller, which gives a current set point. This signal is then amplified
by the power amplifier, to obtain the necessary current generator. A closed-loop
control is realized and the system can be stabilized.
This single actuator allows lifting it along only one axis and only in one
direction. In the AMB system, some actuators are used to control the lifting rotor with
several degrees of freedom (DOF). The generator is usually arranged as a pair
facing each - other. This allows for interesting players in two opposite directions
along one axis

Figure 5.1

5.1.3

ADVANTAGES OF JET ENGINE RUNNING ON MAGNETIC BEARINGS

Current jet engine system supported by ball bearings and dampers, it is

limited in speed and temperature. In addition, these systems require complex
passwords secondary cooling and lubrication system is complicated. Significantly,
these components increase the weight of the airplane, the complexity and cost of a
single actuator allows lifting jet. This along only one axis and only in one direction. In
the AMB system, some actuators are used to control the rotor lift with few degrees of
freedom (DOF). Generators are usually arranged as a pair facing each - other. This
allows players to pull in two opposite directions along one axis
A way to develop and improve the jet engine is by develop it to more
electrical. The idea is to replace lubrication, hydraulic and pneumatic systems to a
single powerful electrical generator, and electrical components.
While, magnetic bearings can operate at high temperature, the entire system
can be dramatically improved. It is because there are no contacting parts in magnetic
bearings; the lubrication system can be eliminated. Studies have shown than a jet
engine with AMBs weights up to 5% less that the equivalent engine with conventional
bearings.
By removing lubrication in the bearings, oil emissions are reduced, which
provides direct environmental benefits. The removal of oil in the system makes it

more fire safe as well. It also will reduce the weight of the engine due to the hydraulic
and pneumatic systems was removed.
Since AMB are non-contact bearings, the friction losses are eliminated. This
provides a direct improvement in terms of kerosene consumption. Furthermore a
non-contact system avoids fatigue and wear, which occur with ball bearings. The
operating speed and the efficiency can be increased as well.
Magnetic bearing is an active system, thus it provides several advantages
over a passive one. The controller can compensate unbalance and control the rotor
behaviour actively at critical speeds. System monitoring is then possible by using the
AMB as a sensor, which provides indications about the changes in shaft dynamics.
This system diagnosis enables to reduce the maintenance cost by increasing the
intervals between engine services.

5.2

THE MULTI-FUEL BLENDED WING BODY AIRCRAFT

During the past years, an innovative Blended Wing Body (BWB) configuration

has been studied by many researchers around the world including the CleanEra
group from TUDelft, and it seems to be a promising candidate to replace the existing
aircrafts. Instead of a separate fuselage with wings, an integration of body and wing
is used for the BWB (R.H, Liebeck, January-February 2004). A larger amount of
space available within the aircraft, thus making it possible to carry cylindrical fuel
tanks to store the cryogenic fuel. A novel way to overcome the storage problems of
the hydrogen is a multi-fuel BWB aircraft presented in Figure 5.2. The wings of a
BWB have sufficient room for storing LH2 tanks, without interfering with the
passenger section. Further away from the central line where wing thickness is
reduced, liquid biofuel can be stored.

Figure 5.2 Futuristic BWB aircraft layout with LH2 tank and biofuel

5.3

HYBRID ENGINE
Alternative energy advances have been remarkable. However, new

technology, processes and products must be evaluated against the expense of

bringing them to market. With a difficult economy, limited budgets and engineering
resources, airplane manufacturers find it much more difficult to invest in developing
new technology during tough economic times. Unfortunately, this means innovation
can be delayed, perhaps when we need it most.
Electric motors are highly efficient, robust and do not lose power at higher
density altitudes. They are also quiet and emission free. Perhaps most important for
aviation, electric motors are relatively light weight. A 200-horsepower electric motor
weighs only one-third that of an equivalent horsepower internal combustion engine.
These features are certainly compelling. The critical question is how to efficiently get
energy to the electric motor. For that, its need a battery.
The system and architecture are different as compared to the conventional
turbofan engine. The hybrid engine uses several unique technologies like shrouded
contra-rotating fans, bleed cooling, dual hybrid combustion system (using hydrogen
and biofuel under flameless conditions to reduce CO2 and NOx emission
respectively). The hybrid engine will constitute a leap forward in terms of
environmental friendliness, will use advanced multiple fuels and will enable the
design of fuel-efficient Blended Wing Body (BWB) aircraft configurations. The
efficiency of BWB aircraft will be enhanced significantly due to embedded hybrid
engines using the boundary layer ingestion (BLI) method.

Figure 5.3 Schematic of the hybrid engine

The novel engine proposed is quite different than a conventional turbofan and
includes many breakthrough technologies. The various novel technologies involved
in the engine configuration are described as follows.
Boundary Layer Ingestion (BLI): this is a method of increasing the
propulsive efficiency of the engine by embedding the engine within the airframe such
that the engine can ingest the low velocity boundary layer flow of the aircraft,
reducing the engine ram drag. Also, the jet of the engine contributes to aircraft wake
filling, thus reducing the overall dissipation.
Counter Rotating Fans (CRF): The aircraft-engine integration of future BWB
aircraft presents unique challenges due to BLI. Such configurations also require that
engines be smaller in diameter to reduce the nacelle-wetted area. Thus, it can be
seen that the current trend of increasing bypass ratio and diameter of engines will
not be able to meet the requirements of future BWB class of aircraft. The proposed
hybrid engine with counter rotating fans has a smaller diameter and higher
propulsive efficiency for the same bypass ratio. Furthermore, since each stage of the
fan is less loaded than a single stage fan, a CRF can sustain more non-uniformities
in the flow generated due to BLI compared to a conventional architecture.
Bleed Cooling: With increasing pressure ratio, the temperature of bleed air
(the air that is used for cooling the hot section components like the turbine blades
and vanes) increases leading to the increase of the amount of bleed air required for
the hot components cooling. This increase has an adverse effect on the
thermodynamics of the gas turbine engine, reducing the efficiency of the cycle. The
cryogenic fuel used in the proposed hybrid engine is an excellent heat sink which
can be used for cooling the bleed air, therefore, reducing the amount of bleed air
required. Meanwhile, the temperature of the cryogenic fuels is increased which
reduces the use of combustion heat to increase its temperature, thus resulting in less
fuel consumption for a given temperature within combustion chamber.
The Hybrid Dual Combustion System: The proposed innovative hybrid
engine uses two combustion chambers as shown in Figure 5.3. The main combustor
operates on LH2/LNG while the second combustor (between HPT and LPT) uses

biofuel in the flameless combustion mode. Such a novel combustion system has
never been used before for aero-engines. There are several advantages of this
unique. Firstly, since the flammability limits of H2/Methane are wider than kerosene,
the combustion can take place at lean conditions, thus reducing NOx emissions
significantly compared to a conventional kerosene combustor. Secondly, the LH2
used for the first combustor can be used for cooling the bleed air (the features has
been mentioned in the previous session). Moreover, using LH2 in the first
combustion chamber will increase the concentration of water vapor and reduce the
concentration of O2 in the second combustion chamber, thus creating a vitiated
environment in which Flameless Combustion can be sustained. The implementation
of the flameless combustion can minimize the emission of CO, NOx, UHC and soot.
Additionally, the reduced emission of soot and UHC also reduces the amount of
nucleation centers available for condensation of water vapor in the plume, thus
reducing the contrail formation

6.0 SUMMARY
Trent 900 is a turbofan engine developed from RB211. Turbofans usually designed
with either two or three shafts configuration. Three-shaft design, the Rolls-Royce
pioneered over 50 years ago, has proven beneficial for various applications. The fan
module is the assembly of the fan disc, the low pressure (LP) fan shaft and the fan
blades. The compressor is made up of the fan and alternating stages of rotating
blades and static vanes. The compression system of a Trent engine comprises the
fan, eight intermediate pressure stages and six high pressure stages.. The annular
combustion chamber located within the casing structure.
Kerosene is introduced through the fuel injector to the front of the chamber. The
turbine is a compilation disc with blades attached to the turbine shaft, nozzle guide
vanes, casings and structure. Beside thrust, the engine also provides power for
engine and aircraft accessories.
The first part of the Trent 900 is the inlet and compressors. Inlet will recover as much
air as possible and deliver it to the compressors. The first part of the compressors is
the fan or Low Pressure (LP) compressor second part is Intermediate Pressure (IP)
compressor and finally High Pressure (HP) compressor. Each compressor have their
own set of blade called stage. When the airflow went through each stage of the
compressor the pressure will increase. The ratio of compression is 1.25:1.
After leaving the HP compressor the airflow will enter combustion chamber. Next the
airflow will went through 3 set of turbine section, that will drive the compressor and
just like compressor they have their own set of blade. The first set is HP turbine, next
is IP turbine and finally LP turbine. The airflow pressure and temperature both fall as
it passes through the turbine. It will also affect the velocity (velocity will decrease).
Therefore to remedy the situation the LP turbine is equipped with five stages, this is
because turbine blades will convert the energy stored within the gas into kinetic
energy. So the more blades there are, the higher the amount of kinetic energy will be
produced.

After passing through turbines the airflow will enter the exhaust section. The
convergence shaped of the exhaust section will cause the gas velocity to increase.
As mentioned earlier Trent 900 is a high bypass engine that means there will be two
gas streams vented to the atmosphere. High temperature gases are discharged by
turbine while a cool air mass is moved rearward by fan section (high bypass air from
N1 compressor). The two streams will be vented outboard through two coaxial
nozzles. The accessory section of Trent 900 is used to drive engine and aircraft
accessories. Beveled gears drive an accessory shaft to turn the gears in an
accessory gearbox. Because the engine operate at high speed, reduction gearing is
necessary to drive the accessories at the appropriate speed.

Figure 6.1 Comparison of the BWB with the Boeing777-200ER.

For future trends, the BWB aircraft is an environmentally friendly aircraft

burning cryogenic fuels (like LNG\LH2) and biofuels. It is preliminarily designed for
carrying around 300 passengers and flying 14000 km range. The comparison of the
layout of the BWB to the Boeing 777-200ER is provided in Figure 6.0. The shorter
and wider body of the aircraft makes it aerodynamically more efficient than a
conventional cylindrical body aircraft. Combined with the advanced hybrid engine,
the multi-fuel BWB is able to reduce CO2 emission by around 65% than a
conventional Boeing 777-200ER aircraft.

7.0 REFERENCES
Rolls-Royce. (3 February, 2015). Retrieved 10 March, 2015, from
http://www.rolls-royce.com/customers/civil-aerospace/products/civil-largeengines/trent-900/trent-900-infographic.aspx
EASA. (2013). TYPE-CERTIFICATE DATA SHEET RB 211 Trent 900 Series Engine.
EASA.
R.H, Liebeck. (January-February 2004). Design of The Blended Wing Body
Subsonic Transport. Journal of Aircraft, Vol. 41 No.1.
http://www.faqs.org/patents/app/20110138765
http://aviationblog.dallasnews.com/2010/11/some-background-on-the-trent9.htm/
http://www.rolls-royce.com/civil/products/largeaircraft/trent_900 /
http://www.ainonline.com/aviation-news/dubai-air-show/2013-11-15/rollsroycecontinues-improve whole-trent-engine-family
http://grabcad.com/library/rolls-royce-trent-900-turbofan