New Premier Centre for Cold Weather Testing
New Premier Centre for Cold Weather Testing
Thompson , Manitoba
The Environmental Test Research and Educational Centre (EnviroTREC) was unveiled in Thompson , Manitoba on April 16, 2009.
EnviroTREC will be a globally unique engine test and certification centre. The prime purpose of this facility will be for icing certification and research of aviation gas turbine engines for Rolls-Royce and Pratt & Whitney, two of the three largest gas turbine manufactures in the world. The testing technology used will also be applicable in other sectors, such as the bus and automotive manufacturing industries.
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Official Speakers during the Press Release
The Facility will provide the aerospace industry with the required operational conditions and capability to meet the growing requirements for icing certification and other adverse cold weather conditions. It will also be used for a variety of performance, endurance and specialty testing on a year-round basis outside of the icing season. EnviroTREC will also include broad based technology, infrastructure and test systems capable of handling current and future gas turbine engines.
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EnviroTREC will be co-located with industry in a new facility being built by the Global Aerospace Centre for Icing and Environmental Research Inc. (Glacier). This state-of-the-art facility is a new joint venture between Rolls-Royce and Pratt & Whitney. The design, construction and operation of EnviroTREC will be managed by MDS Aero Support Corporation.
Key aspects for the Commercial Certification Facility:
- 150,000 pound thrust class engine capability;
- Advanced data acquisition and instrumentation suites;
- Full engine technology developmental and certification programs:
- Icing conditions,
- Cold Weather Tests,
- Performance, and
- Endurance.
Through strategic partnerships with industry, universities, colleges and post-secondary schools the EnviroTREC facility will attract top international students and researchers while creating a skilled Northern workforce in Thompson in a non-traditional resource based industry. This leading edge technology and research will give the Canadian aerospace industry the capability to work on the next generation of aircraft and position them at the forefront of future technology developments.
In recognition of its world-class reputation in gas turbine engine research, the National Research Council Canada (NRC) will play a key role within the centre. From the research side, NRC’s involvement in this facility will enable it to expand its knowledge of the effects of ice crystal ingestion on the operation of large aircraft engines.
Construction is to begin this spring, just south of Thompson, with anticipation completion date of November 2010. As a Manitoba aerospace industry official stated, “No question, what is being done is big-league stuff.”
