How a Jet Engine Creates Thrust

By Ross Gladey

Introduction
In 1939, an airplane named the Heinkel He178 flew over the skies of Germany. This airplane
was the first plane to use a jet engine in a successful flight. This event brought about the race to
the jet age. A jet engine is a machine that uses compressed air and jet fuel combusted together to
create thrust. This thrust allows the plane to move forward. The purpose of this document is to
inform the reader on how a jet engine creates thrust. It would help if the reader has an
engineering background or at least any STEM degree. The figure below is a jet engine cutaway
revealing all of its components and process flow. This document will cover all the components in
the figure such as: air intake, compressor, combustion chamber, turbine, and exhaust.
Afterwards, I will conclude with a complete process run-through.

Diagram of Jet Engine Components

Taken from https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/4/4c/Jet_engine.svg

Components of a Jet Engine

The components of a jet engine can be divided into two parts: cold or hot section. The cold
section includes components utilized before the combustion chamber. The hot section is anything
downstream of the compressor. I will start describing components in the cold section because
they are first in the process of making thrust.

Air Intake
The first part of a jet engine is the air intake, which controls how much air enters the engine. The
intake of air is controlled by a large fan connected at the very front of the jet engine. It is
important for the intake to suck in as much air as possible. In a turbojet engine it is important to
pass all air directly into the next section, the compressor. Additionally, in other jet engines such
as a turbofan engine a large majority of the air intake is passed around the compressor and left
out of the rest of the process. For max thrust at high speeds you would want a turbojet engine,
but for lower speeds and longer full efficiency you would want a turbofan engine. Airliners tend
to use turbofan engines whereas fighter jets tend to use turbojet engines.

Compressor
The compressors job is to utilize the air from the intake and pack it as small as possible. The
compressor is made of a series of rotating blades and stationary vanes. The figure below depicts
the compressors blades and vanes. The air is compacted as it moves through the compressor and
its temperature will rise due to pressurization. The purpose of compaction and compression is
mainly for our next section, the combustion chamber. If the air is compacted then more energy
can be extracted from the air as it is ignited.

Image of Compressor Blades

Image adapted from http://image.shutterstock.com/z/stock-photo-a-cutaway-model-showing-jet-engine-turbineblades-79308739.jpg

Combustion Chamber
The combustion chambers purpose is to take the compressed air and mix it with jet fuel, ignite
the mixture and pass along the superheated gases. The air comes in from the compressor and
flows into the chamber where fuel is injected by several nozzles. Jet fuel is made up of kerosene
and it behaves similar to diesel fuel. This mixture ignites and can reach up to temperatures close
to 2700 degrees Fahrenheit. Combustion chambers are made from materials that are super
resistant to temperature and pressure such as ceramics.
Another important note is that the flame is fed continuously when the jet engine first starts.
Afterwards, the combustion chamber does not need relighting. However, if the flame were to
blow out it is called a flameout. A flameout can cause catastrophic failure, and renders the engine
useless if the combustion chamber cant be reignited. Flameouts generally occur when the jet
engine is used during low power situations such as descent.

Turbine
The superheated gases then flow into the turbine system where the velocity of the gases turn a
long rotating shaft. This rotating shaft powers the compressor and fan intake systems located in
the cold section. The turbine system can make or break the jet engine. The turbine must endure
high temperatures and high energy flow. The consequences of turbine blade failure while in
midflight are fatal. Some companies like Rolls Royce implement systems within the turbine
blade to cool it down. The figure below shows a Rolls Royce turbine blade. As you can see from
the figure, it has many holes and vanes running through it. These holes pump cool air that
envelopes the blade in a protective layer of air. After the turbine the gases are fed to the exhaust.

Image of a Rolls Royce Turbine Blade

Taken from http://aerospaceengineeringblog.com/turbine-cooling/

Exhaust
The exhausts goal is to finally produce the
thrust that we sought to create. The thrust is
created by forcing the high velocity hot gases
to go through a nozzle. This nozzle is always
a converging duct nozzle, and it is depicted
in the figure to right. Additionally, a mixer
can be added right before the exhaust. The
mixer combines the hot air that passed
through the combustor with the extra air that
was bypassed around the compressor during
intake.
Image of an EF2000s Exhaust System

Process Conclusion
Now that we have an idea of each component of the jet engine we can put all the pieces together.
The air is introduced into the engine through the air intake system where a large fan sucks in as
much air as possible. The air is then moved into the compressor where it is compressed and
compacted as small as possible to fit as much air into the combustor. Next, in the combustion
chamber the compressed air is mixed with jet fuel and ignited by a continuous flame. This
superheated gas mixture is blasted through to the turbine. The turbine is turned by the velocity of
the superheated gas and turns a rotating shaft which in turn powers the compressor and the intake
fan in the cold section. After the turbine, the air is moved into the exhaust section where it is
blasted out of a nozzle. This nozzle produces the force called thrust that propels the airplane
forward.

Image taken from

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Afterburner#/media/File:A_Typhoon_F2_fighter_ignites_its_afterburners_wh
ilst_taking_off_from_RAF_Coningsby_MOD_45147957.jpg