Electric Sky: GE’s New Catalyst Engine Can Help Hybrid Planes Take Flight By Generating Up To 1 Megawatt

Hybrid planes are moving closer to takeoff. At the EAA AirVenture Oshkosh airshow Tuesday, GE Aviation said it signed a deal with XTI Aircraft Company to use GE’s Catalyst engine as the core of a new hybrid-electric propulsion system for a planned XTI business aircraft, the TriFan 600. It’s the first step in what GE Aviation expects will be a journey that hopes to bring a new, differentiating product to the business and general aviation market.“Hybridization enables distributed propulsion, where you have one turbine turning multiple propellers on an aircraft,” says Craig Hoover, GE Aviation’s hybrid-electric pursuits leader for its business and general aviation unit. That’s unlike traditional turboprop engines that need a separate turbine for every propeller. It allows more hybrid planes to have more propulsion sources, freeing plane designers to rethink even the basics of aircraft design.

“That enables a lot of applications, such as taking off vertically. That will be very disruptive for the industry when you don’t have to go to the airport to get on an aircraft,” adds Hoover.

Current battery technology doesn’t allow enough energy density to make a long-distance electric aircraft feasible, Hoover explains. Like hybrid cars, hybrid planes will combine the benefits of a turbine engine, such as the high-energy density of jet fuel, with those of electric ones, such as less maintenance and less noise.

Some believe the pace of electric and hybrid aircraft getting into service is expected to be quick. According to The Wall Street Journal, ride-hailing company Uber Technologies Inc. plans to begin air service using electric vertical-lift aircraft as soon as 2023. Other companies say electric planes could be on the market even sooner, in 2021, through widespread retrofitting of existing turboprop planes with new electric engines, the newspaper said. What’s unique about the TriFan 600 is that the Catalyst will allow the plane to travel much higher — 30,000 feet — and go faster than all electric planes entering the market. The power of the Catalyst will also allow transport of a much larger payload while still being able to take off and land vertically.

 

Catalyst is the first turboprop engine to make it to the aviation market in more than 50 years that’s been designed completely from scratch. GE unveiled the engine in 2015 and has committed about $400 million to its development. The Catalyst’s “clean sheet” design means GE engineers have been able to take advantage of technological leaps the company has made in recent years with additive manufacturing, also known as 3D printing. With 3D printing, GE engineers have been able to distill down to just a dozen or so printed parts what typically would amount to some 800 components if they were made by conventional methods. The approach enabled them to reduce the Catalyst’s weight by 5% and improve fuel consumption by 1%. The engine for the TriFan will produce about 1,400 horsepower, or 1 megawatt of power.

The engine also sports a technology called full authority digital engine and propeller control (FADEPC), which is common in jets but has never been used in commercial turboprop planes. The technology will allow pilots to control a plane with just a single lever, instead of three in the traditional design — and four levers that would be needed with a hybrid engine. That simplifies the pilot’s job. Among the Catalyst’s other 98 patented technologies are advances that give it an industry-best 16:1 pressure ratio — an indicator of thrust — allowing the engine to extract better power at altitude, useful at the TriFan’s projected 30,000-foot cruising altitude.

In addition to improved performance and pilot operation, hybrid engines also free up airframers to radically rethink the design of planes. In the TriFan 600’s case, XTI has designed the craft to take off, hover and land vertically like a helicopter through the use of three ducted fans. The aircraft will then be able to rotate its two wing fans forward to operate like a plane, reaching cruising speed quickly. The TriFan 600 will carry five passengers plus its pilot, according to XTI. The plane already has 80 customer preorders.

In addition to the XTI TriFan 600, the Catalyst is also being used in Textron Aviation’s new luxury business aircraft, the Cessna Denali, a single-engine turboprop that is expected to be able to carry four passengers 1,600 nautical miles at a speed of 285 knots.

Says Hoover: “We see the Catalyst as being in the sweet spot from a power and altitude capability for where we see the turboprop market going with hybrid aircraft.”

 

Related Posts

Successful Conclusion of Acceptance Testing for Future USS Cooperstown (LCS 23)

Lіtt𝚘𝚛𝚊ɩ Ϲ𝚘m𝚋𝚊t Տ𝚑і𝚙 (LϹՏ) 23, t𝚑𝚎 𝚏𝚞t𝚞𝚛𝚎 UՏՏ Ϲ𝚘𝚘𝚙𝚎𝚛ѕt𝚘wп, с𝚘m𝚙ɩ𝚎t𝚎𝚍 𝚊сс𝚎𝚙t𝚊пс𝚎 t𝚛і𝚊ɩѕ іп L𝚊k𝚎 Mіс𝚑і𝚐𝚊п іп Ɗ𝚎с𝚎m𝚋𝚎𝚛 2020. Uпі𝚚𝚞𝚎 𝚊m𝚘п𝚐 с𝚘m𝚋𝚊t ѕ𝚑і𝚙ѕ, t𝚑𝚎 𝚏𝚘с𝚞ѕ𝚎𝚍-mіѕѕі𝚘п LϹՏ іѕ 𝚍𝚎ѕі𝚐п𝚎𝚍…

Unveiling History: Ancient Crocodiles’ Indelible Mark Found on Mummified Dinosaur Skin, an Incredible Discovery

The mᴜmmіfіed dinosaur skin preserved the Ьіte marks of сагпіⱱoгeѕ, likely ancient crocodiles. The skin of a 67-million-year-old dinosaur has гeⱱeаɩed Ьіteѕ and gashes from an ancient…

Acknowledging The BradƖey FT Vehicle’s Unмatched Power And Reмarkɑble CapabiƖiTies

The Bradley Fighting Vehicle (Bradley FT) is an iconic armored fighting vehicle renowned for its exceptional power and extraordinary capabilities on the battlefield. With a history spanning…

J𝚘𝚞ɾn𝚎𝚢 O𝚏 Th𝚎 M1127 St𝚛𝚢k𝚎𝚛 R𝚎c𝚘nn𝚊iss𝚊nc𝚎 V𝚎hιcƖ𝚎

J𝚘𝚞ɾn𝚎𝚢 O𝚏 Th𝚎 M1127 St𝚛𝚢k𝚎𝚛 R𝚎c𝚘nn𝚊iss𝚊nc𝚎 V𝚎hιcƖ𝚎   In th𝚎 𝚛𝚎𝚊lm 𝚘𝚏 m𝚘𝚍𝚎𝚛n milit𝚊𝚛𝚢 t𝚎chn𝚘l𝚘𝚐𝚢, 𝚏𝚎w v𝚎hicl𝚎s h𝚊v𝚎 𝚐𝚊𝚛n𝚎𝚛𝚎𝚍 𝚊s m𝚞ch 𝚊tt𝚎nti𝚘n 𝚊n𝚍 𝚛𝚎c𝚘𝚐niti𝚘n 𝚊s th𝚎 M1127…

Dιsc𝚘ʋ𝚎𝚛 Th𝚎 LɑT𝚎st TҺ𝚎 T-90M: TҺ𝚎 S𝚞𝚙𝚎ɾ T𝚊nк TҺ𝚊t Bɑcк𝚏iɾ𝚎𝚍 On Rᴜssιɑ (Vι𝚍𝚎𝚘)

Dιsc𝚘ʋ𝚎𝚛 Th𝚎 LɑT𝚎st TҺ𝚎 T-90M: TҺ𝚎 S𝚞𝚙𝚎ɾ T𝚊nк TҺ𝚊t Bɑcк𝚏iɾ𝚎𝚍 On Rᴜssιɑ (Vι𝚍𝚎𝚘)   In th𝚎 𝚛𝚎𝚊lm 𝚘𝚏 milit𝚊𝚛𝚢 t𝚎chn𝚘l𝚘𝚐𝚢, th𝚎 T-90M, 𝚘𝚏t𝚎n t𝚘𝚞t𝚎𝚍 𝚊s 𝚊 s𝚞𝚙𝚎𝚛…

N𝚎w U𝚙𝚍ɑt𝚎 TҺ𝚎 M1A2 S𝚎ρʋ3 AƄɾ𝚊ms: TҺ𝚎 Us Aɾм𝚢 Tɑnк Th𝚊t’s Shɑкιn𝚐 Uρ Th𝚎 BɑtTƖ𝚎𝚏i𝚎Ɩ𝚍 (Vi𝚍𝚎𝚘)

N𝚎w U𝚙𝚍ɑt𝚎 TҺ𝚎 M1A2 S𝚎ρʋ3 AƄɾ𝚊ms: TҺ𝚎 Us Aɾм𝚢 Tɑnк Th𝚊t’s Shɑкιn𝚐 Uρ Th𝚎 BɑtTƖ𝚎𝚏i𝚎Ɩ𝚍 (Vi𝚍𝚎𝚘)   In th𝚎 𝚍𝚢n𝚊mic l𝚊n𝚍sc𝚊𝚙𝚎 𝚘𝚏 m𝚘𝚍𝚎𝚛n w𝚊𝚛𝚏𝚊𝚛𝚎, th𝚎 M1A2 SEPv3…

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *