GE Aerospace plans to invest up to US$20 million (£16 million) to add a new test cell and equipment at the Electrical Power Integrated Systems Center (EPISCenter) in Dayton, Ohio, to meet increased demand for hybrid-electric aircraft engine component testing in coming years.
NASA recently selected GE Aerospace to develop an integrated, megawatt (MW)-class hybrid electric propulsion system as part of the Electrified Powertrain Flight Demonstration (EPFD) programme. Plans for EPFD call for ground and flight tests of the hybrid electric system this decade, in collaboration with Boeing, using a modified Saab 340B aircraft and GE's CT7 engines. NASA also previously awarded GE Aerospace a contract for the Turbofan Engine Power Extraction Demonstration under the Hybrid Thermally Efficient Core (HyTEC) project.
The EPISCenter facility improvements will support testing for GE Aerospace's expansive development of next-generation propulsion technologies in which electrification is key.
“The future of flight is more electric. GE Aerospace has been developing the building blocks for hybrid electric engine technologies for years, combining our world-class propulsion engineering, electrical power generation and electrical power system management experience. Our new investment in EPISCenter to support hybrid-electric engine testing affirms our commitment to the development of game-changing technologies for the aviation industry,” said Mohamed Ali, Vice President of Engineering for GE Aerospace.
GE Aerospace has collaborated with NASA for decades on development of new aviation technologies.
