Rolls-Royce technology
'Vision'
Each year, in collaboration with our partners, Rolls-Royce invests around £700 million in Research and Development. About two-thirds of this programme is aimed at improving the environmental performance of our products and operations.
Over £120 million of this programme is dedicated to innovative technology aimed at improving environmental performance. This technology is created by many of the same engineers who are later involved in our product development programmes. As a result, they have the skills and knowledge to apply the latest cutting edge technologies to product development.
Experience
For example, experience gained on the EFE programme will be used in many of our next generation gas turbines. New technology can often also be retrofitted into existing, in-service products to improve environmental performance further.
The Rolls-Royce Research and Technology programme operates in three stages - Strategic (or 'basic') Research, Applied Research and Technology Validation. Technology Validation delivers a 'generic' technology base of knowledge, models, and materials for application across a wide range of products.
Strategic Research is where the company evaluates and develops radical new technologies and matches these with potential business opportunities. Progressing technology through this stage can take many years.
Our new low emissions fuel cell system for power generation is now in the final stages of technology validation but the innovative electrochemical and materials technologies that make this power system possible were initially created in our Strategic Research programme in the 1990s.
Collaboration
Much of our innovative technology and process improvement activity is carried out in collaboration with our suppliers and with universities. Our global network of University Technology Centres (UTCs) - each dedicated to a specific technical discipline - has been cited by independent review bodies, collaborators and competitors as an example of best practice in applied technology development.
We are continually expanding this network to address new requirements and to access technological excellence all over the world. We believe that this ground breaking form of collaboration between industry and academia has a vital role to play in responding to the challenge of climate change.
More case studies
Case study
More efficient marine propulsion
Working with our hydrodynamics UTC at Chalmers
in Sweden, we have established new capabilities in
the computational fluid dynamic modelling of
water flow and behaviour around propellers,
waterjets and ship hulls. These tools are allowing us
to design propellers with reduced cavitation and
higher efficiency.
The duration of energy intensive physical testing in large water tanks has also been reduced. In addition, our ship stability UTC at Trondheim in Norway is developing new ways of improving the safety and fuel efficiency of vessels in rough seas.
