Rolls-Royce is aiming to put the latest variant of its Trent 1000, designated the 1000-TEN, into service in 2016. The upgraded engine is under development primarily to power the Boeing 787-10X from 2018, but will also be offered for the smaller -8 and -9 models from 2016.

The Trent 1000-TEN is designed to offer up to a 3% improvement in specific fuel consumption compared with the Trent 1000 "package B" baseline engine.

The -TEN will be certificated at 76,000lb (338kN) thrust but will be able, if required, to provide 78,000lb, says Trent 1000 programme executive Pam Robertshaw. The engine will typically deliver 70,000lb for the 787-8 and 74,000lb for the -9.

"It will meet the requirements of the -10X, but actually it's really about Rolls-Royce responding to the market and making sure that we have a very competitive engine out there," says Robertshaw.

"We were going to launch the -TEN regardless of whether Boeing went ahead with the -10X aircraft."

The -TEN will draw on some of the technology developed for the Airbus A350's Trent XWB, as well as R-R's Advance 3 technology demonstration programme. These include a rising-line intermediate-pressure compressor and high-pressure compressor blisks as deployed in the Trent XWB, and a modulated high-pressure air system developed as part of Advance 3.

Trent 1000 787 

 Trent 1000

The first development -TEN engine will enter production later this year and is due to be run early in 2014 as part of a 500-cycle demonstration.

Meanwhile, the Trent 1000 package C, launched to power the 787-9, will replace the package B standard as the baseline powerplant from early next year, offering an approximately 1% reduction in fuel burn. The 150h endurance type test has been completed.

"The hardware looked especially good when we laid that out last year," says Robertshaw. "We're 200 cycles through our cyclic engine test. We've completed all of our air systems and operability testing, and our first flight test engines that we'll deliver to Seattle for Boeing to go on the -8 and -9 aircraft are in the last stages of build and due to get delivered to Boeing very shortly."

R-R flew two package C development engines using its Boeing 747 flying testbed, completing a total of 17 flights. The trials were aimed at "de-risking" the upgraded intermediate-pressure compressor, air and turbine cooling systems, as well as proving operability characteristics.

A third "full-up" package C engine has been shipped to Arizona to generate further test data and is due to be flown 18 times.

Robertshaw says R-R is yet to determine which customer will operate the first package C engines, and indeed whether the upgraded engine will debut on the 787-8 or -9.

Over 100 Trent 1000 package B engines have been delivered to Boeing to date and the in-service fleet leader has accumulated more than 1,100 cycles. British Airways, Norwegian and Royal Brunei are set to become Trent 1000 operators this year.

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Source: Flight Daily News

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