Feel the power

Power plays from engine manufactures of all sizes feature at the International Paris Airshow?2023 - Day 3

It was a case of little and large at Paris Airshow with major engine manufactures scrambling to make announcements and, in some cases, downplay issues on supply to an industry that has taken off again post-pandemic.?Meanwhile smaller propulsion systems and innovators, including UAV propulsion systems manufacturers, were also vying for attention, with nearly every OEM claiming green credentials, albeit of differing shades.?

To provide a sense of scale, the global?aircraft engine market size was estimated at US$87.38 billion in 2022?and is expected to?hit around USD 187.26 billion by 2032, growing at a?CAGR of 7.92%?during the forecast period 2023 to 2032. North America?aircraft engine market was valued at USD 38.1 billion in 2022.

The global aircraft engine market is consolidated across five companies: GE, Pratt & Whitney (owned by Raytheon), Rolls-Royce, Safran, and MTU Aero Engines. GE and Safran have a 50/50 JV called CFM International, which dominates the narrow body engine market and enjoys very high margins. GE is also the dominant player in the wide body market.

LEAP of faith

Just ahead of?the airshow, CFM International , the 50/50 joint venture between GE Aerospace and Safran Aircraft Engines , updated the progress of its new-technology RISE engine program and also spoke about the performance of its LEAP narrowbody engine. The LEAP is the exclusive powerplant for the Boeing 737 MAX and competes with Pratt & Whitney on the Airbus A320neo family. For both OEMs, the issue is more pronounced in harsher environments, like India and the Middle East, although it has also risen with operators in kinder environments, such as airBaltic, Spirit Airlines, and Air New Zealand. The extreme operating temperature of the engine's hot section is at the heart of Pratt & Whitney's problems, while the LEAP is dealing with issues on high-pressure turbine blades and turbine nozzles. In a briefing ahead of the airshow, CFM said measures to improve durability in hot and dusty climates would also extend the time on wing in normal ones, which is good for operators outside of India and the Middle East. The report added that CFM engine utilization had returned to 92% of pre-pandemic levels, while production of new LEAP engines would increase by 50% this year to 1,700 engines.

Meanwhile, at the Paris Airshow, CFM International announced a partnering with Avolon , the international aircraft leasing company, to provide 80 CFM International LEAP-1B engines for Avolon’s recent order of 40 Boeing 737 MAX family aircraft. The new aircraft are scheduled for delivery between 2027 and 2030. The advanced LEAP engine family has the fastest accumulations of flight hours in commercial aviation history, amassing more than 33 million engine flight hours and 15 million flight cycles. Since entering service, the LEAP-1B engine has accumulated more than10.5 million flight hours and 4 million cycles.

Solid progress in supply chain

Jet engine maker Pratt & Whitney flagged "solid progress" in the aerospace supply chain on Wednesday, addressing a key area of concern for planemakers as they continue to rack up orders at the Paris Airshow.

According to a Reuters report, Pratt & Whitney, a unit of RTX (RTX.N) - formerly known as Raytheon Technologies, has had a particularly tough time due in part to problems with its GTF engine that have led to the grounding of several planes. The company said on Wednesday the groundings peaked at 10% of the GTF-powered fleet in the first half of this year, and that percentage would trend lower through the rest of the year. The GTF is one of two engine options to power Airbus's top-selling A320neo narrowbody aircraft. Pratt & Whitney President Shane Eddy, who has faced a backlash from airlines over durability problems and a shortage of spare engines, told the air show he was seeing "solid progress" in the supply chain. The company has the capacity in place to support maintenance demand but faces shortages of materials, he added.

Twinturbo charged

Also here at the Paris Air Show Austrian Diamond Aircraft’s sister company Austro Engine GmbH ’s CTO Felix Zahradnik presented the new jet-fuel powered AE330 Twinturbo Charged piston engine focusing on the demands of UAV applications.

The company claims that the AE30TCC will bring a new level of reliability and performance to its class, delivering 90kW at up to 32,000ft.?

Powering up

Timed to coincide with the Le Bourget event, German UAV engine OEM, Skypower International , has unveiled an upgrade to one of their bestselling two-stroke engines, the SP-210 to get 14 kw power inverse of 27%. “From now on we offer the SP-210 FI TS ROS in run-in condition, with 14kW. But customers, who are using this engine already, can have the possibility to upgrade their engines too”, explains Karsten Schudt, CEO of Sky Power GmbH. Skypower is now offering its?standard two-stroke engine SP-210 FI TS ROS in run-in condition, with 14kW. Until now, all SP-210 FI TS ROS, were equipped with 11kW. ?Retrofits are also being offered, and after a run in and with some additional system upgrades, even older SP-210 FI TS ROS engines will perform up to14kW. System upgrades to the previous engine include technical adjustments and a different engine mapping. The engine weight remains the same.

Light touch reaches out

Rolls-Royce this week announces its new small gas turbine that has been specifically developed to power hybrid-electric flight is set to begin testing. The engine is part of a turbogenerator system that is being developed for the Advanced Air Mobility market. This includes electrical vertical take-off and landing (eVTOL) Aircraft for Urban Air Mobility and Commuter Aircraft applications up to 19 seats.

The turbogenerator system will complement the Rolls-Royce Electrical propulsion portfolio by delivering an on-board power source with scalable power offerings between 500kW and 1200kW enabling extended range on sustainable aviation fuels (SAF) and later, as it becomes available, through hydrogen combustion. According to Rolls-Royce, this will open up new, longer routes than electric battery powered aircraft can support as of today.

Added ingredients

Chief amongst a salvo of announcements from MTU Aero Engines , including partnerships with Safran on helicopter engine technologies and marking a GE Aerospace 20 years CF34 partnership, was a a five-year partnership with Oerlikon to develop materials and coatings for aero-engines. The agreement which was signed at Le Bourget this week will see the German engine-maker and the Switzerland-based components manufacturer work?to further optimise the efficiency and sustainability of engine parts. The partnership will focus on the development of coatings and materials for engine parts for aspects of manufacturing such as automation, digitisation, and for the maintenance sector. Key areas will be the use of additive manufacturing (AM) to produce engine parts and the use of AM materials that can withstand higher temperatures and pressures.

This show overview continues daily throughout this week.

To be continued