Parts
of a Jet Engine
Fan
- The fan is the first component in a turbofan.
The large spinning fan sucks in large quantities of air. Most blades of
the fan are made of titanium. It then speeds this air up and splits it
into two parts. One part continues through the "core" or center of the
jet engine, where it is acted upon by the other jet engine components.
The second part "bypasses" the core
of the jet engine. It goes through a duct that surrounds the core to the
back of the jet engine where it produces much of the force that propels
the airplane forward. This cooler air helps to quiet the jet engine as
well as adding thrust to the jet engine.
Compressor
-
The compressor is the first component in the jet engine core. The compressor
is made up of fans with many blades and attached to a shaft. The compressor
squeezes the air that enters it into progressively smaller areas, resulting
in an increase in the air pressure. This results in an increase in the
energy potential of the air. The squashed air is forced into the combustion
chamber.
Combustor
-
In the combustor the air is mixed with fuel and then ignited. There are
as many as 20 nozzles to spray fuel into the airstream. The mixture of
air and fuel catches fire. This provides a high temperature, high-energy
airflow. The fuel burns with the oxygen in the compressed air, producing
hot expanding gases. The inside of the combustor is often made of ceramic
materials to provide a heat-resistant chamber. The heat can reach 2700°.
Turbine
-
The high-energy airflow coming out of the combustor goes into the turbine,
causing the turbine blades to rotate. The turbines are linked by a shaft
to turn the blades in the compressor and to spin the intake fan at the
front. This rotation takes some energy from the high-energy flow that is
used to drive the fan and the compressor. The gases produced in the combustion
chamber move through the turbine and spin its blades. The turbines of the
jet spin around thousands of times. They are fixed on shafts which have
several sets of ball-bearing in between them.
Nozzle
-
The nozzle is the exhaust duct of the jet engine. This is the jet engine
part which actually produces the thrust for the plane. The energy depleted
airflow that passed the turbine, in addition to the colder air that bypassed
the engine core, produces a force when exiting the nozzle that acts to
propel the engine, and therefore the airplane, forward. The combination
of the hot air and cold air are expelled and produce an exhaust, which
causes a forward thrust. The nozzle may be preceded by a mixer,
which combines the high temperature air coming from the jet engine core
with the lower temperature air that was bypassed in the fan. The mixer
helps to make the jet engine quieter.
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