GE Aerospace is replicating the dust found in the Middle East at its Ohio plant to test Boeing 777X engines in conditions similar to the harsh and hot operating environment of the region before their entry into service.

The second round of these dust-ingestion ground tests on the GE9X engine is currently under way and a third series is expected next year, the US engine maker said at a press briefing ahead of the Dubai Airshow, that starts tomorrow.

GE develops the dust in its evaluate site in Peebles, Ohio, and sprays the fine particles on parts of the engine as though it were taking off in Dubai, said Carlos Perez, vice president of commercial engines systems engineering at GE Aerospace. "We engineer the dust, so the chemistry and size simulates what you see in the Middle East ... It's expensive dust."

GE completed the first dust-ingestion test campaign for the GE9X in 2022 after amassing more than 1,600 engine run cycles.

“We'll run a third [dust ingestion] test next year,” Cristina Seda-Hoelle, GE9X general manager, said.

“It's all about perfecting and maturing the design as much as possible ahead of EIS [entry into service]. For perspective, in the past, we would have done this type of testing five to six years after EIS."

Emirates is the largest customer of the Boeing 777X wide-bodies, which are powered by the GE9X engines.