A jet engine is a reaction engine that discharges a fast moving jet which generates thrust by jet propulsion in accordance with Newton's laws of motion. This broad definition of jet engines includes turbojets, turbofans, rockets, ramjets, and pulse jets. In general, most jet engines are internal combustion engines but non-combusting forms also exist.
In common parlance, the term jet engine loosely refers to an internal combustion airbreathing jet engine (a duct engine). These typically consist of an engine with a rotary (rotating) air compressor powered by a turbine ("Brayton cycle"), with the leftover power providing thrust via a propelling nozzle. These types of jet engines are primarily used by jet aircraft for long-distance travel. Early jet aircraft used turbojet engines which were relatively inefficient for subsonic flight. Modern subsonic jet aircraft usually use high-bypass turbofan engines which offer high speed with fuel efficiency comparable (over long distances) to piston and propeller aeroengines.
Jet engines create
forward thrust by taking in a large amount of air and discharging it as a
high-speed jet of gas. The way they’re designed allows aircraft
to fly faster and further compared to propeller-driven aircraft.
Their
development and refinement over the course of the last 65 years has made
commercial air travel more practical and profitable, opening the world
to business and recreational travelers.
Major components
A jet engine having the following components.
1.Fan
2.Compressor
3.Combustor
4.Turbine
5.Nozzle
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.
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°.
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.