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GE’s CF34 Engines Always Ready for Takeoff

Written by thomas · Filed Under Commercial 

May 19, 2009

thomas

SALT LAKE CITY, UTAH – May 19, 2009 – Every 10 seconds, a GE
CF34-powered aircraft flies into the air somewhere around the world.

With this departure schedule, the 4,500 CF34 engines in service travel
the equivalent of 170 times around the Earth each day and carry 40,000
passengers to their destinations. With a dispatch reliability rate of
99.98 percent and more than 50 million flight-hours, the CF34 engine
epitomizes the reliability and durability necessary for high-cycle
operation.

“The CF34 engine has been a stalwart in the regional jet industry with
an average of 400 engines delivered each year since 2003,” said Chuck
Nugent, general manager of the CF34 program at GE Aviation. “The average
CF34 engine has close to 12,000 flight-hours and almost 60 percent of
the fleet has not had its first shop visit.”

The CF34 engine has benefited from GE’s extensive research and
development investments. Since the first CF34-3B1 engine entered service
in 1995, GE has enhanced the engine’s design and improved fuel
consumption. The latest engine model, the CF34-10E, has 9 percent lower
fuel consumption than the original -3B1 model.

For the next-generation CF34 engine, GE plans to further reduce fuel
consumption by 23 percent compared with the CF34-3B1 engine. The
technology program will maintain CF34’s tradition of world-class
reliability for high cycle use while offering up to 15 percent lower
operating costs. The engine will incorporate GE’s eCore technologies,
including 3-D aero design airfoils, advanced materials, and the
next-generation TAPS combustor for reduced emissions. Core testing
begins next month. The engine could enter service as early as 2015.

Highlights of GE’s CF34 engine family:

CF34-10E: With four years of service and more than 520 engines in
operation with 26 customers, the CF34-10E engine has been performing
well in the field, accumulating more than 1.9 million flight-hours and
1.3 million cycles. The engine has the highest thrust rating for the
CF34 family with 20,000 pounds of thrust and includes many advanced
technologies, including a single-stage high-pressure turbine, advanced
wide chord fan blades, advanced 3-D aero compressor and turbine
airfoils, and a chevron exhaust nozzle. The CF34-10E engine powers the
EMBRAER 190/195 as well as the new Embraer Lineage 1000 business jet
that entered service earlier this month.

CF34-10A: The CF34-10A engine will power the new 70- to 90-passenger
ARJ21 regional jet from Commercial Aircraft Corporation of China
(COMAC). Engine certification is on track, and flight tests on the ARJ21
continue. Entry into service is scheduled for late 2010. COMAC has taken
orders for more than 200 ARJ21 regional jet aircraft and sees a
potential for up to 850 aircraft over the next 20 years. This represents
a potential of more than $4 billion in CF34 revenue for GE Aviation. GE
and COMAC have collaborated closely on the aircraft’s detailed design
and the aircraft/engine integration. For the past two years, GE has been
recognized as COMAC’s supplier of the year.

CF34-8: Since entering service in 2001, the CF34-8 engine has undergone
many enhancements to lower part count, further improve durability and
lower maintenance costs. More than 1,600 CF34-8 engines are in service
on Bombardier’s CRJ700 (CF34-8C1) and CRJ900 (CF34-8C5) and EMBRAER’s
170/175  (CF34-8E5) aircraft.  The engines have accumulated more than 12
million flight-hours and nine million cycles. The CF34-8C1 has
incorporated technology from the CF34-8C5 version to create a common
engine for the CRJ700 and CRJ900. To date, about 70 percent of the fleet
has received the upgrade with the entire fleet to be completed by 2011.
The upgrade provides either up to 5 percent thrust increase or up to 15
percent lower maintenance costs.

The newest CF34-8 variant, the CF34-8C5A2 is scheduled to enter service
on the CRJ1000 NextGen aircraft in early 2010. The engine has new
aerodynamic first-stage high-pressure turbine nozzles, 30 percent fewer
vanes, improved geometry, cooling and coating on the high-pressure
turbine airfoils and up to 10 percent lower maintenance costs.

CF34-3: In service since 1992, the CF34-3A1 and -3B1 engines power more
than 1,000 Bombardier CRJ100/200 aircraft. An upgrade package will
convert the CF34-3A1 to a CF34-3B1 to improve fuel burn and climb thrust
capability.

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