Rolls-Royce Deutschland will lead Elevated, a new Clean Aviation project aimed at developing and testing a hybrid-electric subsystem integrated into a gas turbine under realistic operating conditions. The programme targets a 20% cut in emissions and is intended to generate validation data feeding directly into Rolls-Royce's UltraFan 30 demonstrator as it works toward Technology Readiness Level 6.
Rolls-Royce's Alan Newby, Research & Technology director, noted that the data from Elevated will support modelling validation, technology selection, certification planning and industrialisation. He linked the project to the parallel Unified programme, which focuses on turbomachinery, saying the two efforts together should establish the core technologies needed to confirm UltraFan performance across thrust, fuel burn, noise, emissions and durability targets.
The Elevated consortium spans partners from France, Germany, the Netherlands, Norway, Spain and the UK, contributing expertise in hybridisation and electrification, engine and powerplant integration, electrical machines and drives, high-voltage harnesses, aircraft integration, and modelling and academic research.
Elevated is one of 19 projects selected under Clean Aviation Call 4, part of the EU's Clean Aviation Joint Undertaking. The Call 4 batch, which also includes hydrogen-powered and ultra-efficient regional aircraft architecture work, represents a combined €664m in funding. CAJU executive director Axel Krein said the projects mark the programme's shift into a demonstration phase, aimed at supporting entry-into-service of new, highly efficient aircraft by 2035.
Source: Aerospace Testing International — read the original article