GE Aerospace unveils breakthrough in hybrid-electric flight

By Tim Hepher and Shivansh Tiwary

FARNBOROUGH, England, July 20 (Reuters) - GE Aerospace has carried out the world’s first high-altitude flight assisted by hybrid-electric propulsion, it said on Monday, part of an arsenal of technologies for future jet engines being showcased at this year’s Farnborough Airshow.

The flight above 30,000 feet was made by a Saab 340 aircraft that has been discreetly carrying out similar trials since May, including a ground-breaking trip across the Atlantic with stopovers culminating in a debut at the aerospace event.

The research is being carried out in cooperation with NASA and electric aerospace company BETA Technologies, and comes as engine makers are designing the building blocks for engines to power potential successors to the Boeing 737 and Airbus A320neo.

NEXT STEPS IN AVIATION

Proponents say the combination of traditional and electric propulsion can be used when needed to help aircraft get higher faster, and contribute to ambitious targets for lower fuel consumption and emissions.

"It leads to the next step in aviation propulsion," BETA CEO Kyle Clark told a news conference.

Hybridisation is one of four key research areas for the RISE engine concept being tested by engine maker CFM, co-owned by GE and France’s Safran.

That also includes a radical open-fan design, though the company is also working on a traditional enclosed alternative called AD-L or ADNB, Reuters has reported.

After years of artist's impressions and computerised images at such events, engine makers are vying to demonstrate progress towards the fuel savings and durability required of the next generation of engines towards the end of next decade.

"Simulation has given way to real world innovation,” GE Aerospace Commercial Engines CEO Mohamed Ali said.

'ENABLING TECHNOLOGY'

GE's rivals Pratt & Whitney and Rolls-Royce are due to give updates on their own engine research later this week.

Ali declined to say in detail how the type of high-voltage hybrid system replacing one of the ordinary engines on the Saab 340 test plane would fit into a future product. "This certainly would become a significant enabling technology," he said.

Industry sources say Boeing, which has signalled less willingness than Airbus to embrace open-fan, has some concerns about the weight of such a hybrid system, which includes three extra inlets for cooling on the engine shown at the show.

Ali said trade-offs between weight and performance were part of the normal process of designing an engine for real use.

(Reporting by Tim Hepher; Editing by Jan Harvey)