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Jet Engines


Have you been on an airplane lately? If it was a big airliner, you probably noticed a couple of huge tubes hanging out under the wings or attached to the tail. Those tubes are the jet engines that provide the thrust to help the plane become airborne and move through the air. “Today, this engine provides the U.S. with the arguably greatest fighter jets in all of the world. The jet lets new aircraft to rocket up to an incredible Mach 3.5 or 2,500 mph” (Shaffer). So, what are the components of the jet engine, how does it operate, and what are the basic and hybrid types of jet engines?
Though there are different types of jet engines, that we will discuss later, but the components are standard. The parts include: Air intake consisting of an opening designed to minimize drag, compressor fan which is a series of fans placed very close together, shaft which caries power from the exhaust fan to the compressor, flame cans or flame holders or combustion chambers where the fuel is burned, turbine fans or exhaust fans that gather energy from the hot expanding air rushing out of the engine, after burner that produces extra thrust, it is optional and is mainly used in military aircraft, exhaust that vents cool and expanded air out the back of the engine, and finally we have the supersonic nozzle which converts the heat and pressure to velocity (“Jet Engine Information”).
All jet engines essentially work on the same principle, the prime mover and the propulsor. First: the prime mover. The air drawn from the front of the engine is compressed by the compressor fan or turbo compressor to a pressure ratio of typically 10 to 40 times the pressure of the inlet air stream. Then it flows into a combustion chamber where it is sprayed with hydrocarbon fuel. An electric spark ignites the mixture in the flame holder which raises its temperature and pressure to produce high-pressure combustion products with an average...