Fuel-saving aircraft engines set for trial

Boston: General Electric Co said it teamed with Nasa to test and evaluate "open rotor" jet engine designs as manufacturers explore ways to boost fuel efficiency.

Wind-tunnel testing will begin early next year on a small-scale version of the engine at the National Aeronautics and Space Administration's Cleveland-based Glenn Research Centre, said Charles Blankenship, who runs GE's commercial engine division.

Rising fuel prices have pushed GE and its next-biggest rivals, Rolls Royce Group Plc and United Technologies Corp's Pratt & Whitney unit, to study the technology, first explored in the early 1980s and abandoned because of obstacles including noise, cost and appearance. Open rotor designs place fan blades outside the engine casing.

"Technology has advanced, we have much better tools," said Blankenship. The improved equipment includes GE's composite-based fan blades that are lighter and more efficient than any blades from the early 1980s. Open rotor design features rows of counter-rotating large blades and offers immediate "double-digit" fuel burn savings, GE said.