The improved performance CFM56-5B/P has entered service with Swissair on the Airbus Industrie A319 following aircraft certification in July by the European Joint Airworthiness Authorities.
The CFM56-5B/P is produced by CFM International (CFMI), a 50/50 joint venture between Snecma (Safran Group) of France and General Electric of the United States.
The CFM56-5B/P provides an overall SFC (specific fuel consumption) improvement of 3 percent compared to base CFM56-5B levels. This SFC improvement, coupled with longer on-wing life and lower maintenance costs, will also provide significant reductions in direct operating costs. These reductions could translate to annual savings of as much as $60,000 per aircraft.
Technology enhancements in the CFM56-5B/P include a redesigned high pressure compressor and high and low pressure turbines for improved efficiency. Three-dimensional aerodynamic analysis techniques used to design the high pressure turbine blades reduce losses at the blade tip and root, improving the efficiency in the high pressure turbine. This same 3-D technology, coupled with computational fluid dynamics, also results in more efficient blading in the low pressure turbine and high pressure compressor. The 3-D airfoils significantly lower CFM56-5B/P cycle temperatures and, thus, increase the engine's exhaust gas temperature (EGT) margin. The higher EGT margin provides appreciably more time on wing, both first run and after shop visit, and lowers maintenance costs relative to the base CFM56-5B. The CFM56-5B/P is now the standard production configuration for all CFM56-5B engines, and the engine's core serves as the basis for both the CFM56-7 and the CFM56-9.
The CFM56-5B/P engines powering Swissair's A319s are equipped with CFMI's advanced double annular combustor, which reduces NOx emissions by as much as 45 percent. The single annular combustor version of the -5B/P is scheduled to enter service on the A320 with Air Jamaica and on the A321 with Alitalia later this year.
Six different CFM56-5B/P engine models, ranging from 22,000 to 32,0001 pounds (98 to 142 kN) thrust, were jointly certified this spring by the U.S. Federal Aviation Administration and the French Direction Gnrale de l'Aviation Civile. The engine was flight tested earlier this year on the Airbus A320. The commonality of the A319/A320/A321 family enabled the -5B/P to be certified by analysis for all three applications.