Rolls-Royce Trent 900
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The Rolls-Royce Trent 900 is a
high-bypass turbofan The turbofan or fanjet is a type of airbreathing jet engine that is widely used in aircraft engine, aircraft propulsion. The word "turbofan" is a portmanteau of "turbine" and "fan": the ''turbo'' portion refers to a gas turbine engine which ac ...
produced by
Rolls-Royce plc Rolls-Royce Holdings plc is a British multinational aerospace and defence company incorporated in February 2011. The company owns Rolls-Royce, a business established in 1904 which today designs, manufactures and distributes power systems for ...
to power the
Airbus A380 The Airbus A380 is a large wide-body airliner that was developed and produced by Airbus. It is the world's largest passenger airliner and only full-length double-deck jet airliner. Airbus studies started in 1988, and the project was annou ...
, competing with the
Engine Alliance GP7000 The Engine Alliance GP7000 is a turbofan jet engine manufactured by Engine Alliance, a joint venture between General Electric and Pratt & Whitney. It is one of the powerplant options available for the Airbus A380, along with the Rolls-Royce Tren ...
. Initially proposed for the Boeing 747-500/600X in July 1996, this first application was later abandoned but it was offered for the
A3XX The Airbus A380 is a large wide-body airliner that was developed and produced by Airbus. It is the world's largest passenger airliner and only full-length double-deck jet airliner. Airbus studies started in 1988, and the project was annou ...
, launched as the A380 in December 2000. It first ran on 18 March 2003, made its maiden flight on 17 May 2004 on an A340 testbed, and was certified by the
EASA The European Union Aviation Safety Agency (EASA) is an agency of the European Union (EU) with responsibility for civil aviation safety. It carries out certification, regulation and standardisation and also performs investigation and monitori ...
on 29 October 2004. Producing up to 374 kN (84,000 lbf), the Trent 900 has the three shaft architecture of the
Rolls-Royce Trent The Rolls-Royce Trent is a family of high-bypass turbofans produced by Rolls-Royce. It continues the three spool architecture of the RB211 with a maximum thrust ranging from . Launched as the RB-211-524L in June 1988, the prototype first r ...
family with a fan. It has a 8.5-8.7:1
bypass ratio The bypass ratio (BPR) of a turbofan engine is the ratio between the mass flow rate of the bypass stream to the mass flow rate entering the core. A 10:1 bypass ratio, for example, means that 10 kg of air passes through the bypass duct for ev ...
and a 37–39:1
overall pressure ratio In aeronautical engineering, overall pressure ratio, or overall compression ratio, is the ratio of the stagnation pressure as measured at the front and rear of the compressor of a gas turbine engine. The terms ''compression ratio'' and ''pressure ...
.


Development

In July 1996, Rolls-Royce offered the Trent 900 for the proposed Boeing 747-500/600X, targeting a 2000 service entry and competing with the General Electric/Pratt & Whitney
Engine Alliance The Engine Alliance (EA) is an American aircraft engine manufacturer based in East Hartford, Connecticut. The company is a 50/50 joint venture between GE Aviation, a subsidiary of General Electric, and Pratt & Whitney, a subsidiary of Raytheon ...
. With a scaled-down
Trent 800 The Rolls-Royce Trent 800 is a high-bypass turbofan produced by Rolls-Royce plc, one of the engine options for the early Boeing 777 variants. Launched in September 1991, it first ran in September 1993, was granted EASA certification on 27 Jan ...
core and a similar fan, increasing bypass ratio from 6.5 to 8.5, the engine could also power the
Airbus A3XX The Airbus A380 is a large wide-body airliner that was developed and produced by Airbus. It is the world's largest passenger airliner and only full-length double-deck jet airliner. Airbus studies started in 1988, and the project was annou ...
. The $450 million development aimed for a December 1999 certification but the 747X was later abandoned, leaving the
A3XX The Airbus A380 is a large wide-body airliner that was developed and produced by Airbus. It is the world's largest passenger airliner and only full-length double-deck jet airliner. Airbus studies started in 1988, and the project was annou ...
, its Airbus competitor, as a possible application from 2003. By July 2000, the Trent 900 was the first engine to be ordered for the A3XX, by then with a swept fan. By September, its design was not frozen and the fan diameter could increase by up to for a thrust. The A3XX was launched as the
A380 The Airbus A380 is a large wide-body airliner that was developed and produced by Airbus. It is the world's largest passenger airliner and only full-length double-deck jet airliner. Airbus studies started in 1988, and the project was annou ...
on 19 December 2000. It was then selected by
Singapore Airlines Singapore Airlines (abbreviation: SIA) is the flag carrier airline of the Republic of Singapore with its Airline hub, hub located at Singapore Changi Airport. The airline is notable for highlighting the Singapore Girl as its central figure in ...
and
Virgin Atlantic Virgin Atlantic, a trading name of Virgin Atlantic Airways Limited and Virgin Atlantic International Limited, is a British airline with its head office in Crawley, England. The airline was established in 1984 as British Atlantic Airways, and w ...
over the competing
GP7200 The Engine Alliance GP7000 is a turbofan jet engine manufactured by Engine Alliance, a joint venture between General Electric and Pratt & Whitney. It is one of the powerplant options available for the Airbus A380, along with the Rolls-Royce Tre ...
. The Trent 900 ran for the first time on 18 March 2003, achieving its certification thrust of on 2 April and attaining a week later, with growth room to . Its fan comes from the
Trent 8104 The Rolls-Royce Trent is a family of high-bypass turbofans produced by Rolls-Royce. It continues the three spool architecture of the RB211 with a maximum thrust ranging from . Launched as the RB-211-524L in June 1988, the prototype first ...
demonstrator, and a
contra-rotating Contra-rotating, also referred to as coaxial contra-rotating, is a technique whereby parts of a mechanism rotate in opposite directions about a common axis, usually to minimise the effect of torque. Examples include some aircraft propellers, res ...
HP spool is used for the first time, for up to 2% better efficiency. The Trent 900 made its maiden flight on 17 May 2004 on Airbus' A340-300 testbed, replacing the port inner
CFM56 The CFM International CFM56 (U.S. military designation F108) series is a Franco-American family of high-bypass turbofan aircraft engines made by CFM International (CFMI), with a thrust range of . CFMI is a 50–50 joint-owned company of Safran ...
engine. Its final certification was granted by the
EASA The European Union Aviation Safety Agency (EASA) is an agency of the European Union (EU) with responsibility for civil aviation safety. It carries out certification, regulation and standardisation and also performs investigation and monitori ...
on 29 October 2004, and the
FAA The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) is the largest transportation agency of the U.S. government and regulates all aspects of civil aviation in the country as well as over surrounding international waters. Its powers include air traffic m ...
on 4 December 2006. After a twelve-month suspension caused by delays to the A380, Rolls-Royce announced in October 2007 that production of the Trent 900 had been restarted. On 27 September 2007,
British Airways British Airways (BA) is the flag carrier airline of the United Kingdom. It is headquartered in London London is the capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a populati ...
announced the selection of the Trent 900 to power 12 A380 aircraft, helping to take the engine's share of the A380 engine market to 52% at the end of February 2009.


Design

The Trent 900 is an
axial flow An axial compressor is a gas compressor that can continuously pressurize gases. It is a rotating, airfoil-based compressor in which the gas or working fluid principally flows parallel to the axis of rotation, or axially. This differs from other ...
,
high bypass turbofan The turbofan or fanjet is a type of airbreathing jet engine that is widely used in aircraft engine, aircraft propulsion. The word "turbofan" is a portmanteau of "turbine" and "fan": the ''turbo'' portion refers to a gas turbine engine which ac ...
with the three coaxial shafts of the
Rolls-Royce Trent The Rolls-Royce Trent is a family of high-bypass turbofans produced by Rolls-Royce. It continues the three spool architecture of the RB211 with a maximum thrust ranging from . Launched as the RB-211-524L in June 1988, the prototype first r ...
family. The fan with swept blades is driven by a 5-stage LP
turbine A turbine ( or ) (from the Greek , ''tyrbē'', or Latin ''turbo'', meaning vortex) is a rotary mechanical device that extracts energy from a fluid flow and converts it into useful work. The work produced by a turbine can be used for generating e ...
, the 8-stage IP compressor and the 6-stage HP compressor are both powered by a single stage turbine, with the HP spool rotating in the opposite direction of the others. It has a single
annular combustor A combustor is a component or area of a gas turbine, ramjet, or scramjet engine where combustion takes place. It is also known as a burner, combustion chamber or flame holder. In a gas turbine engine, the ''combustor'' or combustion chamber is fed ...
and is controlled by an
EEC The European Economic Community (EEC) was a regional organization created by the Treaty of Rome of 1957,Today the largely rewritten treaty continues in force as the ''Treaty on the functioning of the European Union'', as renamed by the Lisb ...
. It is certified for thrusts between 334.29 and 374.09 kN (75,152 to 84,098 lbf). Its swept-back fan is inherited from the
Trent 8104 The Rolls-Royce Trent is a family of high-bypass turbofans produced by Rolls-Royce. It continues the three spool architecture of the RB211 with a maximum thrust ranging from . Launched as the RB-211-524L in June 1988, the prototype first ...
demonstrator and a
contra-rotating Contra-rotating, also referred to as coaxial contra-rotating, is a technique whereby parts of a mechanism rotate in opposite directions about a common axis, usually to minimise the effect of torque. Examples include some aircraft propellers, res ...
HP spool is used for the first time. It features a scaled-down
Trent 800 The Rolls-Royce Trent 800 is a high-bypass turbofan produced by Rolls-Royce plc, one of the engine options for the early Boeing 777 variants. Launched in September 1991, it first ran in September 1993, was granted EASA certification on 27 Jan ...
core. It can be transported on a
Boeing 747 The Boeing 747 is a large, long-range wide-body airliner designed and manufactured by Boeing Commercial Airplanes in the United States between 1968 and 2022. After introducing the 707 in October 1958, Pan Am wanted a jet times its size, t ...
freighter whole, the only A380 engine capable of. The swept-back fan is 15% lighter than previous wide-chord blades. Rolls-Royce has seven risk and revenue sharing partners on the Trent 900:
Industria de Turbo Propulsores ITP Aero (Industria de Turbo Propulsores) is a Spanish aero engine and gas turbine manufacturer. It was established in 1989 as a joint venture between Spanish engineering conglomerate SENER and Rolls-Royce Plc. By 2015, it had grown to become a ...
(low-pressure turbine),
Hamilton Sundstrand Hamilton Sundstrand was an American globally active corporation that manufactured and supported aerospace and industrial products for worldwide markets. A subsidiary of United Technologies Corporation, it was headquartered in Windsor Locks, Conn ...
(electronic engine controls), Avio S.p.A. (gearbox module),
Marubeni Corporation (, OSE: 8002, NSE: 8002) is a ''sōgō shōsha'' (general trading company) headquartered in Nihonbashi, Chuo, Tokyo, Japan. It is one of the largest ''sogo shosha'' and has leading market shares in cereal and paper pulp trading as well as a st ...
(engine components),
Volvo Aero Volvo Aero was a Swedish aircraft, guided missiles and rocket engine manufacturer. It became ''GKN Aerospace Engine Systems'' following the company's acquisition by British engineering conglomerate GKN during 2012. It was originally establi ...
(intermediate compressor case),
Goodrich Corporation The Goodrich Corporation, formerly the B.F. Goodrich Company, was an American manufacturing company based in Charlotte, North Carolina. Founded in Akron, Ohio in 1870 as Goodrich, Tew & Co. by Benjamin Goodrich, the company name was ch ...
(fan casings and sensors) and
Honeywell Honeywell International Inc. is an American publicly traded, multinational conglomerate corporation headquartered in Charlotte, North Carolina. It primarily operates in four areas of business: aerospace, building technologies, performance ma ...
(pneumatic systems). In addition,
Samsung Techwin Hanwha Techwin (), founded as Samsung Techwin, is a video surveillance company. It is a subsidiary of Hanwha Group. The company employs 1,822 people and is headquartered in South Korea. Its total sales in 2020 were 529.8 billion South Korean won ...
,
Kawasaki Heavy Industries (or simply Kawasaki) is a Japanese Public company, public multinational corporation manufacturer of motorcycles, engines, Heavy equipment (construction), heavy equipment, aerospace and Military, defense equipment, rolling stock and ships, headq ...
and Ishikawajima-Harima Heavy Industries (IHI) are programme associates.


Variants


Upgrades

The Trent 900 family of engines had their first set of upgrades marketed as the Trent 900EP; these were available for delivery from 2012. This package delivered a 1% saving on fuel burn compared to non EP engines. Rolls-Royce told
Aviation Week and Space Technology ''Aviation Week & Space Technology'', often abbreviated ''Aviation Week'' or ''AW&ST'', is the flagship magazine of the Aviation Week Network. The weekly magazine is available in print and online, reporting on the aerospace, defense and aviati ...
that the upgrades were intended in most cases for both new engines and as retrofits. This upgrade is based on advancements made during the development of the
Trent XWB The Rolls-Royce Trent XWB is a high bypass turbofan produced by Rolls-Royce plc. In July 2006, the Trent XWB was selected to power exclusively the Airbus A350. The first engine was run on 14 June 2010, it first flew on an A380 testbed on 18 ...
for the
Airbus A350 XWB The Airbus A350 is a long-range, wide-body twin-engine jet airliner developed and produced by Airbus. The first A350 design proposed by Airbus in 2004, in response to the Boeing 787 Dreamliner, would have been a development of the A330 ...
and matches improvements made for the
Trent 700 The Rolls-Royce Trent 700 is a high-bypass turbofan produced by Rolls-Royce plc to power the Airbus A330. Rolls-Royce was studying a RB211 development for the A330 at its launch in June 1987. It was first selected by Cathay Pacific in April ...
called the Trent 700EP. Block 1 includes
elliptical Elliptical may mean: * having the shape of an ellipse, or more broadly, any oval shape ** in botany, having an elliptic leaf shape ** of aircraft wings, having an elliptical planform * characterised by ellipsis (the omission of words), or by conc ...
leading edges in the compressor, smaller low-pressure turbine tip clearances, and new coating for the high-pressure compressor drum, as well as an upgrade to the engine control (
FADEC A full authority digital engine (or electronics) control (FADEC) is a system consisting of a digital computer, called an "electronic engine controller" (EEC) or "engine control unit" (ECU), and its related accessories that control all aspects of ai ...
) software. The EP2 package entered testing in May 2013 and was scheduled to be available for delivery in mid 2014. This package aims to provide a further 0.8% reduction in fuel burn on top of the improvements offered by the EP package. Changes include better sealing of the low-pressure turbine, improvements to fan blade tip clearances, and other changes derived from the engines developed for the Boeing 787 and Airbus A350. EP2 passed a
type certificate A type certificate signifies the airworthiness of a particular category of aircraft, according to its manufacturing design (''type design''). It confirms that the aircraft of a new type intended for serial production, is in compliance with applica ...
test by
European Aviation Safety Agency The European Union Aviation Safety Agency (EASA) is an agency of the European Union (EU) with responsibility for civil aviation safety. It carries out certification, regulation and standardisation and also performs investigation and monitorin ...
on 27 November 2013 and an update type certificate was issued on 11 December 2013.


Applications

*
Airbus A380 The Airbus A380 is a large wide-body airliner that was developed and produced by Airbus. It is the world's largest passenger airliner and only full-length double-deck jet airliner. Airbus studies started in 1988, and the project was annou ...


Operational history


Qantas QF32 uncontained engine failure


Cost

In 2000 Qantas were quoted a price of US$12.85 million per Trent 900. In 2015 Emirates Airlines signed a contract for 200 Trent 900s including long-term service support at a cost of US$9.2 billion or US$ million per engine. In 2016 ANA bought engines for three new Airbus A380 aircraft for $300m: $m per Trent 900. A new set of LLPs is worth $7 million and an overhaul costs slightly more.


Engines on display

A Trent 900 is on display at the Rolls-Royce Heritage Trust Collection (Derby-UK).Rolls-Royce Heritage Trust
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Specifications (Trent 900)


See also


References


External links

* * {{Rolls-Royce plc aeroengines
Trent 900 The Rolls-Royce Trent 900 is a high-bypass turbofan produced by Rolls-Royce plc to power the Airbus A380, competing with the Engine Alliance GP7000. Initially proposed for the Boeing 747-500/600X in July 1996, this first application was late ...
High-bypass turbofan engines 2000s turbofan engines 2004 introductions de:Rolls-Royce Trent#Trent 900