Rolls-Royce’s power gearbox (PGB) for the UltraFan engine has reached 70,000 hp during tests in Dahlewitz, Germany, marking a key step towards development of the company’s next generation turbofan family.
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The power tests will ultimately evaluate the transmission system at levels up to 100,000 hp. and beyond and are being conducted in a 35m-long rig capable of applying 100 MW of dynamic torque. The gear system is the largest ever developed for an aerospace application and, measuring some 80 cm in diameter, is sized to power the biggest versions of the approximately 25,000 lb. to 110,000 lb. thrust class UltraFan family.
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“I can’t tell you exactly the levels of efficiency we achieved in this gearbox but if you can imagine 53 MW at 99% efficiency we’d have 500 kW of (waste) energy –which is a pretty sizeable gas turbine in its own right,” says Stein. As the result, he adds a significant focus for the tests is an evaluation of heat management technology. “That’s a lot of energy to get rid of so the heat-to-oil and oil system is very significant,” says Stein.
As others have mentioned, this technology is not as novel as PW suggests. They do have a lead in reaching high maturity levels, but that lead won't last forever, and they can't seem to get the rest of the engine to the required maturity level, so customers would welcome some competition here.