Rolls-Royce

Rolls-Royce secures £198 million contract to support UK Pegasus fleet
Wednesday, 28 January 2009
Rolls-Royce has been awarded a £198 million contract (durée : 10 ans) by the UK Ministry of Defence (MOD) to support the Pegasus engines which provide the Harrier fleet with its unique Short Take Off and Vertical Landing (STOVL) capability.

(ii) Propulsion : Rolls-Royce awarded IDIQ contract for advanced propulsion technologies
Monday, 26 January 2009
Rolls-Royce today announced that the company has been awarded an indefinite delivery, indefinite quantity (IDIQ), multi-year contract by the U.S. Air Force. The contract supports ongoing development activity with the U.S. Air Force Research Laboratory (AFRL) program, Versatile Affordable Advanced Turbine Engines (VAATE) Phase II/III. The contract provides a potential value of $185 million over its term, if exercised, and will be handled by Rolls-Royce North American Technologies, Inc. (LibertyWorks).

Monday, 19 January 2009
Rolls-Royce engines will power an extension to one of India’s major gas pipelines in a deal with Gas Authority India Limited (GAIL) valued at more than $130 million. Six RB211-GT61 gas turbine compression packages will be supplied to increase the flow of gas to 56 million cubic meters per day as part of an integrated national gas grid GAIL is creating to support economic growth across India.
Three gas compression sets will be installed at each of the Vijaipur and Jhabua, with each one maintaining pipeline hydraulics by compensating for the loss of gas pressure that occurs along a pipeline.

........Rolls-Royce now has more than 100 gas turbine and compressor installations in India and this new contract increases the number of RB211 compression units operating on the GAIL network to 14. The Group also provides power for the Oil and Natural Gas Commission of India in the Bombay High gas field with 36 gas turbine and compressor units.

Rolls-Royce will manufacture the industrial RB211s at its Montreal, Canada facility and the centrifugal gas compressors will be built at its Mount Vernon, Ohio factory in the US.
Assembly of the complete gas turbine packages will also take place at Mount Vernon. Delivery of all six units is scheduled for the first quarter of 2010.

February 9, 2009
Aircraft engine makers Rolls-Royce and Pratt & Whitney have put on hold plans to build factories in Singapore because of the uncertain global economic outlook, the Straits Times reported on Monday.

Source : Reuters (February 9, 2009)
Aircraft engine makers Rolls-Royce and Pratt & Whitney have put on hold plans to build factories in Singapore because of the uncertain global economic outlook, the Straits Times reported on Monday.
Their projects, originally scheduled for completion this year, have been deferred for at least a year, the newspaper quoted the Economic Development Board, Singapore's investment agency, as saying.
Pratt & Whitney is part of US conglomerate United Technologies.

(Reuters)

The first three Rolls-Royce Trent 60 gas turbines installed in the United States have successfully achieved “first fire” start-up.

The units are located at two electric power stations in the cities of Lowell and Braintree, Massachusetts, near Boston.
All three units are Trent 60-powered Wet Low Emissions (WLE) generating sets, capable of running on both gas and liquid fuel, with power outputs up to 58MW each.
Owned and operated by Montgomery Energy Partners LP, the Lowell site, designated L’Energia, achieved successful start-up in late 2008. The single Trent 60 gas turbine generating set is part of a combined cycle plant re-powering project, replacing an older less efficient gas turbine, to provide efficient, cost-effective, environmentally friendly power to meet the growing energy needs of the ISO-New England grid.

Two Trent 60 power generation packages, owned and operated by the Braintree Electric Light Department at its Thomas A. Watson Generating Station in the city of Braintree, each achieved successful first fire in March and April, 2009. The two new Trent 60 units will provide 116MW of electrical power to the ISO New England grid at times of peak demand.
“These three successful start-ups,” said Charlie Athanasia, Vice-President of Power Generation for the Rolls-Royce energy business, “mark a significant milestone highlighting the increased market interest in the aero-derived Trent product for industrial power generation applications. Trent 60 generating sets have already been operating to meet critical electrical power requirements in the UK, Canada, Belgium, Denmark, Germany, Chile and the Middle East, and we can now add the United States to this growing list.”

Bill Bottiggi, General Manager of the Braintree Electric Light Department, said “While we are still commissioning the units, the Trent 60 gas turbine has exceeded our expectations. Start-up is progressing well, and we look forward to commercial operation.”
The Trent 60 is the most powerful and efficient engine in the Rolls-Royce industrial gas turbines product range. Capable of delivering up to 64MW of electric power in simple cycle service at 42 per cent efficiency, the engine has established a new benchmark for fuel economy and cost savings.

Rolls-Royce has been awarded a €70 million contract by RWE, Germany’s largest electrical supplier, for four Trent 60 generating sets to replace 1970’s technology gas turbines at the Emsland combined cycle power station. These units were included in the number of Trent engines previously announced by Rolls-Royce as part of its order book.

As the most efficient and environmentally friendly gas turbine in its class, the new 58MW Trent 60 WLE sets will push efficiency and flexibility of the Emsland gas fired station. The re-powering will increase efficiency by 12% in optimum load. This will lead to less gas consumption and reduced emissions (e.g. carbon dioxide).

Charlie Athanasia, Vice-President of Power Generation for the Rolls-Royce Energy business, said “Re-powering existing stations with the higher efficiency Trent gas turbine can achieve a number of environmental and production benefits for the operator.
“By utilising existing buildings, transmission lines and major parts of the existing station components, such as the electrical generator and boilers, the concept of re-powering effectively increases capacity without the need for a new power station. This greatly reduces the time between order placement and the delivery of increased power.”
The new revised generating plant is scheduled to enter service in 2011.

The Trent 60 engines will be manufactured at the Rolls-Royce plant in Montreal, Quebec, Canada, while the packaging of the generating sets will take place at the Company’s Mount Vernon, Ohio facility.

Rolls-Royce celebrated the grand opening of its new North American Headquarters for On-Wing Care(TM) in Indianapolis, Indiana with a ribbon cutting ceremony on June 4th. [Pictured from Left to Right: Rick Pataky, Director of Maintenance, On-Wing Care, Rolls-Royce, Marc Drew, Head of On-Wing Care, Rolls-Royce, Richard G. Smith, III, Executive Vice President, NetJets, Steve Friedrich, Vice President - Sames & Marketing, Corporate & Regional Engines, Rolls-Royce and Bruce Montigney, Office Manager, Indianapolis Flight Standards District Office.] (Photo: Rolls-Royce)

Coatings, corrosion and magnetic bearings are to be studied by the Commonwealth Center for Aerospace Propulsion Systems. The CCAPS is a virtual institution set up by Rolls-Royce, the University of Virginia and Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University (Virginia Tech).

Under the centre's five-year research agreement, Virginia's government is providing $2.5 million, with matching funds from R-R. The centre's researchers will explore "breakthrough concepts" for creating more efficient and effective jet-engine propulsion systems.
As a virtual centre, the CCAPS will use existing laboratory space at both of the universities.

"CCAPS represents the future of collaboration between industry and academia," says Rolls-Royce North American Technologies' chief operating officer Phil Burkholder. "It will play a central role in our company's global technology development strategy and help make the commonwealth of Virginia a world leader in innovation."

The CCAPS will also work with the Commonwealth Center for Advanced Manufacturing, another R-R supported organisation.

Rolls-Royce is preparing to test an upgraded version of its venerable T56 turboprop to boost performance of the Lockheed Martin C-130, as well as cut fuel consumption by up to 12%.

Launched in response to U.S. government calls for reduced dependence on foreign oil, the upgrade is aimed at the C-130H’s T56-15 Series 3, and is also expected to result in improved availability and reliability. “It will save the U.S. Air Force around $80 million per year in fuel costs,” says Dennis Jarvi, president of Rolls-Royce Defense North America.

The first modified T56, dubbed the 3.5 engine enhancement program, will start tests at Rolls’s Indianapolis site in September.

“We are in discussions with the Air Force and Air National Guard to define flight-test parameters and requirements for testing,” says Jarvi, who adds that the “current plan is to perform flight tests in the first half of 2011 at Edwards AFB, Calif.”

The Air Force has loaned Rolls four T56 Series 3 engines for modification and testing. Flight trials and in-service modifications must be performed on a shipset basis, according to the company. “This is due to concerns about potential asymmetric-thrust issues as well as the risk that Series 3 and 3.5 configuration engines installed on the aircraft in combination might cause confusion in the cockpit as a result of turbine inlet temperature and fuel-flow gauge reading mismatch,” it says.

The improvement package updates the compressor inlet housing with the better flow of the Series 4 T56-427A version developed for the Northrop Grumman E-2D Advanced Hawkeye, as well as compressor-wheel knife seals derived from the same variant. The upgrade also includes remanufactured compressor blades, single-crystal first-stage high-pressure turbine blades, and aerodynamically redesigned blades and vanes throughout the low-pressure turbine.

The turbine upgrade is designed to increase component life by around 30%, and “is derived from proven technologies used on existing powerplants, including the [Rolls-Royce] AE engine,” says Jarvi. The large leap in fuel-burn improvement is expected because, as Jarvi concedes, the original Allison-developed T56 is “relatively old technology.”

Due to the requirement to install so many changes to the compressor, Rolls is planning for the 3.5 upgrade to be performed during depot-level maintenance rather than during intermediate servicing. The kits, which will also be available for international C-130 users beginning in September 2011, are expected to increase the range of the C-130H with a 20,000-lb. payload to more than 3,180 naut. mi., from 2,845 naut. mi., compared with a standard Series 3-powered aircraft under identical conditions.

The market potential is estimated to be around 2,000 engines for the C-130, though overall numbers could grow if a potential adaptation of the kit is developed for the T56-14 version that powers the P-3 maritime patrol aircraft.

The modification to the inlet module would be “notionally about six months after the T56-15s [C-130 variant] are made available, or in March 2012,” Jarvi says. Although the Boeing P-8A is in development as the long-term replacement for the P-3C, Rolls officials say the market remains viable for both potential U.S. Navy upgrades as well as international programs. The company reports 7,500 T56 engines are now in service around the world, powering about 1,325 C-130s, 415 P-3s, 37 C-2s and 108 E-2Cs.

In May, Rolls delivered the first production T56-427A for the E-2D program, which is targeted to be a 75-strong fleet, requiring 150 engines plus spares.