Testing environments

Watch our ALECSys team at work in one of the coldest parts of the planet.

Meet Yizhi Wu, one of the development engineers for the Rolls-Royce civil aerospace technology programmes, currently working in one of the most inhospitable parts of the planet, testing our ALECSys. This Advanced Low Emissions Combustion System is our demonstrator for future jet engine programmes such as Advance3 and the UltraFan®, designed to launch the next generation of flight, to improve fuel efficiency and lower emissions. And with over 200 days per year of sub-zero conditions and temperatures that regularly drop to minus 45 degrees in winter, Manitoba in North Canada is perfect for cold weather testing.

Watch as the team structure their days around the weather forecast, starting work at anything from midnight to 3am to ensure that outdoor conditions are optimal for the tests. Step into the control room where the brains behind our innovative lean burn system run and test the ALECSys demonstrator. Travel outdoors with the team in temperatures of minus 20 degrees, right into the heart of the engine itself, to see the technology up close 25 feet off the ground. And learn about the in-depth insights the team is gathering from the 1.4 terrabytes of dynamic data, 5 terrabytes of camera data and 800 transient logs already collected, just one week away from the end of the tests.