The Rolls-Royce University Technology Centre (UTC) was established in 2006, and has since achieved valuable results in the field of the environmental performance of aero-engines. The UTC thus serves one of the core objectives of the aviation industry, which is striving to achieve stringent environmental targets by 2050 (Flightpath 2050) as part of the industry-wide research alliance ACARE (Advisory Council for Aeronautics Research in Europe).

The ambitious ACARE targets of reducing nitrogen oxides by 90 % per passenger kilometer, CO₂ emissions by 75 %, and noise by 65 % are only possible through fundamental revisions in the combustion process. It is essential to take technical changes in the combustion chamber into account when designing turbines, because the temperature at the turbine inlet already exceeds the melting temperatures of the materials used. Sophisticated cooling mechanisms ensure safe turbine operation at these temperatures and enable high efficiencies and low CO₂ emissions in modern aircraft engines.

This is the development environment in which the research center at the TU Darmstadt operates, where researchers are investigating new combustion technologies and their modeling on the one hand, and their effects on the turbine on the other.