ITP to develop IP turbine for Rolls Royce UltraFan geared turbofan engine

Rolls-Royce will partner with Spanish ITP to carry out a €43 million research program to develop Intermediate Pressure (IP) turbine te...

Rolls-Royce will partner with Spanish ITP to carry out a €43 million research program to develop Intermediate Pressure (IP) turbine technologies, for its future engine design, UltraFan™.

UltraFan™, a geared turbofan with a pitch fan system, will be available for service from 2025, offering at least 25 per cent improvement in fuel burn and emissions compared with first generation Rolls-Royce Trent engines.

ITP will develop and validate intermediate pressure turbine and rear structure capabilities for the UltraFan engine demonstrator including design, development, testing and manufacture.

The IP turbine programme, which is receiving €23.5 million of its total funding from the EU, is part of the wider EU Clean Sky 2 initiative. The remainder of the funding will come from ITP.

Clean Sky 2 runs until end 2023. It is a public/private Joint Technology Initiative that brings together Europe’s industrial aeronautics leaders, public research organisations and SMEs to develop and demonstrate breakthrough technologies for the civil aerospace market, reducing emissions and noise and securing the continued competitiveness of the European aviation industry.

The program represents the single largest investment in technology ever committed by ITP, which is a joint venture between Rolls-Royce (46.9%) and a subsidiary of Sener (53.1%).

Rolls Royce is also developing an turbofan engine named Advance, scheduled to enter service from 2020. Rolls Royce has already begun, flight testing of the composite Carbon/Titanium (CTi) fan blade for these two  next generation engines.