WR-21 gas turbines for first Type 45 destroyer pass test

Friday, 5 March 2004

A key testing milestone for two Rolls-Royce gas turbines for the Royal Navy's first Type 45 destroyer has been completed. The groundbreaking WR-21 powerplants completed factory acceptance testing at French programme partner DCN's facility at Indret.

Rolls-Royce is supplying a total of 12 WR-21s to prime contractor BAE SYSTEMS for six Type 45 destroyers.

Saul Lanyado, Rolls-Royce President - Marine, said: "This is another milestone for an engine which, through its unique combustion technology, offers navies the option of greater ship range, more time on station without refuelling, or reduced fuel usage."

In 2003, Rolls-Royce and Kawasaki Heavy Industries successfully ran the WR-21 in Japan, enabling Japanese naval decision makers to see its power performance and low part-load fuel consumption at first hand, and allowing KHI to demonstrate its capability to install and run the gas turbine efficiently in record time.

The WR-21 is based on the highly successful Rolls-Royce RB211 and Trent families of commercial aircraft engines, which have amassed more than 100 million flight hours.

It is the first aero-derivative gas turbine to incorporate compressor intercooling and exhaust heat recuperation, technologies that deliver low specific fuel consumption across the engine's entire operating range.

The WR-21's advanced cycle recovers energy from the engine's exhaust gas to increase fuel efficiency throughout its operating profile. Low specific fuel consumption across the power range (a fuel burn reduction in excess of 25% on a typical destroyer operating profile when compared to conventional cycle gas turbines) translates into a number of key operational benefits for the user. For example, extended ship range for a given fuel capacity, more time on station without refuelling for a given fuel capacity, or reduced fuel storage requirements for a given range.

Adoption of the advanced cycle gas turbine is an integral part of the Royal Navy's long-term Marine Engineering Development Strategy, which has as its ultimate goal the implementation of an 'Electric Ship' architecture in all future surface ships.