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GE Aviation’s in-development Catalyst turboprop engine has been selected by XTI Aircraft as the core of its TriFan 600 VTOL hybrid-electric propulsion system, GE announced today at EAA AirVenture. TriFan’s performance requirements are expected to be met as GE and XTI work together to define a series hybrid architecture.
“GE believes that parallel and series hybrid propulsion systems, those that include a turbine gas generator to take advantage of the energy density of jet fuel, will lead to much more capable aircraft for both traditional and emerging markets for many years to come,” said GE Aviation turboprops general manager Paul Corkery. For nearly a decade, GE has been researching and developing hybrid-electric technology for a range of aircraft.
“We are excited to announce selection of the GE Catalyst engine for the core of our propulsion system because it provides the level of power required even at the significant altitudes the Trifan will fly,” said XTI CEO Bob LaBelle. “Our recent work with GE Aviation has convinced us they are the best partner to develop the core of our hybrid-electric propulsion system.”
The six-seat TriFan 600 will have a top speed of 300 knots, maximum range of 1,200 nm, and cruise altitude of 30,000 feet. To date, customers have placed orders for 80 TriFan 600s.
GE Aviation’s new clean-sheet turboprop engine, Catalyst, has been selected by XTI Aircraft as the core of its TriFan 600 VTOL hybrid-electric propulsion system, GE announced at EAA AirVenture in late July. TriFan’s performance requirements are expected to be met as GE and XTI work toward a solution in which the Catalyst will drive a generator to power the TriFan’s electric motors.“We need to do a lot more engineering work, a lot more analysis so that it is optimized,” XTI CEO Bob Labelle told AIN of the work ahead for GE and XTI.
It's the first hybrid application for the Catalyst, which will make its debut as the powerplant for the new Cessna Denali single-engine turboprop. “I think the thing we see is that this XTI application is targeted at a real market with what we consider to be a valid aircraft concept that needs a megawatt-class power system, which is what the Catalyst brings to bear, and to be able to do that at altitude,” Craig Hoover, advanced technology and hybrid electric pursuits leader for GE Aviation’s Business & General Aviation unit, told AIN. “I think the first step in this is to center on the Catalyst and then to discuss the rest of the architecture with XTI.” GE will likely use an existing Catalyst test engine modified to host one or more generators to determine the architecture of the TriFan’s propulsion system, he added. “I think as much as we can we’ll try to work with existing assets to do probably an iron bird of some type before trying to move into a real production unit.”
For nearly a decade GE has been researching and developing hybrid-electric technology for regional and narrowbody jets as well as general aviation and VTOL aircraft. It was after a visit to GE’s $51 million Electrical Power Integrated System Center (EPISCENTER) in Dayton, Ohio, that XTI made its decision to go with the Catalyst.
“We did look at other smaller engines that are already certified and out there in service, mainly with helicopters because they have a turboshaft engine,” LaBelle explained. “We finally came to the realization that there’s not quite enough power there. This one gives us all the power we need.”
The six-seat TriFan 600, a 65 percent scale prototype of which completed its first flight in May, will have a top speed of 300 knots, a range of 1,200 nm for conventional takeoff and 670 nm for vertical takeoff, and a cruise altitude of 29,000 feet.
To date, customers have placed orders for 80 of the TriFan 600. LaBelle expects the hybrid-electric propulsion system to be ready in time for the TriFan’s type certification in 2023.
GE has completed more than 1,100 hours of testing on the Catalyst, including initial altitude testing. A flying testbed for the new engine, a Beechcraft King Air, will be ready by the end of the year, a GE spokesman told AIN. “This is definitely a next chapter of what we think the Catalyst can do,” he noted.