CFM International (CFMI) has decided to abandon its environmentally-friendly double annular combustor (DAC) technology in future powerplant designs because it is too expensive to make.
The company is looking at ways of reducing emissions using a conventional combustor instead, as part of a wide-ranging study aimed at cutting the cost of ownership of its engines by up to 20%.
CFMI executive vice-president and project general manager Bill Clapper says: "I am happy with where the DAC is today. However it is a very complicated engine.
The DAC version of the joint-venture's successful CFM56 turbofan was expensive to develop and has been selected by only a handful of operators.
Source: Flight Daily News
