Turbines

Oxford BioSignals Signs Up Rolls-Royce

High-tech newcomer to the aerospace scene Oxford BioSignals (www.oxford-biosignals.com) has joined with Rolls-Royce in a program to further ease the work of maintenance technicians through the increasingly sophisticated business of engine health diagnostics.

Through the use of its vibration meters and data signalers, the company is producing real-time information on the inflight condition of the newer generation of turbofans to detect and cure any likely operational abnormalities.

The British engine-maker has long been engaged in health-monitoring programs, but the Oxford company offered a system that captured Rolls's interest to the degree that the engine-maker has invested its own assets by taking a 30 percent stake in the company.

Formed in 2000, Oxford BioSignals is based in the Oxford Science Park and was spun off from Oxford University's work in the field of healthcare applications through medical diagnostics.

The founding team believed there was an aero-engine application and gained a positive response from Rolls-Royce. The agreement places Oxford BioSignals as an exclusive supplier to Rolls-Royce for its QUICK and QUOTE technologies as well as establishing the company as a preferred supplier.

QUOTE was developed by Professor Tarassenko at Oxford University as an onboard, real-time jet engine health monitoring system, and QUICK is its complementary ground-based system.

The engine-maker will now use the Oxford BioSignals equipment and system on the Airbus A380's Trent 900 engines, which will be the first version to fly. The equipment is also scheduled to be installed on Trent 1000 engines, which is being offered to power Boeing's forthcoming 787 Dreamliner (See related story on page 12.)

Oxford BioSignals industrial business director Paul Nicholls said it is a real-time acquisition system, aimed at the task of detecting abnormalities. "The technology enables us to analyze output from multiple sensors on an aircraft engine in an integrated way, rather than relying on several different instruments. This enables us to detect trends in engine performance more effectively.

"In the aero-engine application," Nicholls added, "the technology can ensure maintenance optimization through a knowledge of progressive engineering degradation, and it can provide the benefit of reduced down-time and thereby maintenance costs through the earlier detection of faults."

For Oxford BioSignals this will be the first time the equipment has been used on an aircraft. Paul Nicholls believes it is just a start, however, for he sees opportunities in the retrofit market, whereby the system can be applied for health monitoring purposes to further improve maintenance. -- By Roy Allen