Components of jet engines

compressor at about half the speed of sound

so at flight speeds lower than this the flow will
accelerate along the inlet and at higher flight
speeds it will slow down. Thus the internal
profile of the inlet has to accommodate both
accelerating and diffusing flow without undue
losses. For supersonic aircraft, the inlet has
features such as cones and ramps to produce
Diagram of a typical gas turbine jet engine. Air is compressed by the most efficient series of shockwaves which
the fan blades as it enters the engine, and it is mixed and burned form when supersonic flow slows down. The
with fuel in the combustion section. The hot exhaust gases provide air slows down from the flight speed to sub-
forward thrust and turn the turbines which drive the compressor sonic velocity through the shockwaves, then
fan blades. 1. Intake 2. Low pressure compression 3. High to about half the speed of sound at the com-
pressure compression 4. Combustion 5. Exhaust 6. Hot section pressor through the subsonic part of the inlet.
7. Turbines Low and High pressure 8. Combustion chambers 9. The particular system of shockwaves is cho-
Cold section 10. Air inlet sen, with regard to many constraints such as
cost and operational needs, to minimise losses
This article briefly describes the components and systems which in turn maximises the pressure recovery
found in Jet engines. at the compressor.[2]
• Compressor or fan — The compressor is
made up of stages. Each stage consists of ro-
1 Major components tating blades and stationary stators or vanes.
As the air moves through the compressor, its
pressure and temperature increase. The power
to drive the compressor comes from the tur-
bine (see below), as shaft torque and speed.
• Bypass ducts deliver the flow from the fan
with minimum losses to the bypass propelling
nozzle. Alternatively the fan flow may be
mixed with the turbine exhaust before entering
a single propelling nozzle. In another arrange-
ment an afterburner may be installed between
the mixer and nozzle.
• Shaft — The shaft connects the turbine to
the compressor, and runs most of the length
Basic components of a jet engine (Axial flow design) of the engine. There may be as many as
three concentric shafts, rotating at indepen-
Major components of a turbojet including references to dent speeds, with as many sets of turbines and
turbofans, turboprops and turboshafts: compressors. Cooling air for the turbines may
flow through the shaft from the compressor.
• Cold section: • Diffuser section: - The diffuser slows down
• Air intake (inlet) — For subsonic aircraft, the compressor delivery air to reduce flow
the inlet is a duct which is required to ensure losses in the combustor. Slower air is also re-
smooth airflow into the engine despite air ap- quired to help stabilize the combustion flame
proaching the inlet from directions other than and the higher static pressure improves the
straight ahead. This occurs on the ground from combustion efficiency.[3]
cross winds and in flight with aircraft pitch and • Hot section:
yaw motions. The duct length is minimised
to reduce drag and weight.[1] Air enters the • Combustor or combustion chamber — Fuel

1
2 1 MAJOR COMPONENTS

is burned continuously after initially being ig- carrying it is increasing as a square law and has much
nited during the engine start. extra drag in the transonic region. The highest fuel ef-
• Turbine — The turbine is a series of bladed ficiency for the overall vehicle is thus typically at Mach
discs that act like a windmill, extracting en- ~0.85.
ergy from the hot gases leaving the combus- For the engine optimisation for its intended use, impor-
tor. Some of this energy is used to drive the tant here is air intake design, overall size, number of com-
compressor. Turboprop, turboshaft and tur- pressor stages (sets of blades), fuel type, number of ex-
bofan engines have additional turbine stages haust stages, metallurgy of components, amount of by-
to drive a propeller, bypass fan or helicopter pass air used, where the bypass air is introduced, and
rotor. In a free turbine the turbine driving many other factors. For instance, let us consider design
the compressor rotates independently of that of the air intake.
which powers the propellor or helicopter rotor.
Cooling air, bled from the compressor, may be
used to cool the turbine blades, vanes and discs 1.1 Air intakes
to allow higher turbine entry gas temperatures
for the same turbine material temperatures.** The air intake can be designed to be part of the fuse-
lage of the aircraft (Corsair A-7, A-8, Dassault Mirage
III, General Dynamics F-16 Fighting Falcon, Mikoyan-
Gurevich MiG-21) or part of the nacelle (Grumman F-
14 Tomcat, McDonnell Douglas F-15 Eagle, Sukhoi Su-
27, Sukhoi PakFa, Lockheed SR-71 Blackbird, Boeing
737,747, Airbus A380). Intakes are more commonly re-
ferred to as inlets in the U.S.A.

1.1.1 Subsonic inlets

A blade with internal cooling as applied in the high-pressure tur-

bine

• Afterburner or reheat (British) — (mainly

military) Produces extra thrust by burning fuel
in the jetpipe. This reheating of the turbine
exhaust gas raises the propelling nozzle entry
temperature and exhaust velocity. The nozzle
area is increased to accommodate the higher
specific volume of the exhaust gas. This main-
tains the same airflow through the engine to en-
sure no change in its operating characteristics.
• Exhaust or nozzle — Turbine exhaust gases
pass through the propelling nozzle to produce
a high velocity jet. The nozzle is usually con-
vergent with a fixed flow area.
• Supersonic nozzle — For high nozzle pres- Pitot intake operating modes
sure ratios (Nozzle Entry Pressure/Ambient
Pressure) a convergent-divergent (de Laval) Pitot intakes are the dominant type for subsonic applica-
nozzle is used. The expansion to atmospheric tions. A subsonic pitot inlet is little more than a tube with
pressure and supersonic gas velocity continues an aerodynamic fairing around it.
downstream of the throat and produces more
At zero airspeed (i.e., rest), air approaches the intake
thrust.
from a multitude of directions: from directly ahead, ra-
The various components named above have constraints dially, or even from behind the plane of the intake lip.
on how they are put together to generate the most effi- At low airspeeds, the streamtube approaching the lip is
ciency or performance. The performance and efficiency larger in cross-section than the lip flow area, whereas at
of an engine can never be taken in isolation; for example the intake design flight Mach number the two flow areas
fuel/distance efficiency of a supersonic jet engine max- are equal. At high flight speeds the streamtube is smaller,
imises at about Mach 2, whereas the drag for the vehicle with excess air spilling over the lip.
1.1 Air intakes 3

Beginning around Mach 0.85, shock waves can occur as moderate supersonic flight speeds. A detached normal
the air accelerates through the intake throat. shock wave forms just ahead of the intake lip and 'shocks’
Careful radiusing of the lip region is required to optimize the flow down to a subsonic velocity. However, as flight
intake pressure recovery (and distortion) throughout the speed increases, the shock wave becomes stronger, caus-
flight envelope. ing a larger percentage decrease in stagnation pressure
(i.e. poorer pressure recovery). An early US supersonic
fighter, the F-100 Super Sabre, used such an intake.

Thin round intake lip with internal compression due to space con-
straints of the nacelle An unswept lip generate a shock wave, which is reflected multi-
ple times in the inlet. The more reflections before the flow gets
subsonic, the better pressure recovery

1.1.2 Supersonic inlets

More advanced supersonic intakes, excluding pitots:
Supersonic intakes exploit shock waves to decelerate the a) exploit a combination of conical shock wave/s and a
airflow to a subsonic condition at compressor entry. normal shock wave to improve pressure recovery at high
supersonic flight speeds. Conical shock wave/s are used
There are basically two forms of shock waves:
to reduce the supersonic Mach number at entry to the
normal shock wave, thereby reducing the resultant overall
1. Normal shock waves lie perpendicular to the di- shock losses.
rection of the flow. These form sharp fronts and
shock the flow to subsonic speeds. Microscopically b) have a design shock-on-lip flight Mach number, where
the air molecules smash into the subsonic crowd of the conical/oblique shock wave/s intercept the cowl lip,
molecules like alpha rays. Normal shock waves tend thus enabling the streamtube capture area to equal the
to cause a large drop in stagnation pressure. Basi- intake lip area. However, below the shock-on-lip flight
cally, the higher the supersonic entry Mach num- Mach number, the shock wave angle/s are less oblique,
ber to a normal shock wave, the lower the subsonic causing the streamline approaching the lip to be deflected
exit Mach number and the stronger the shock (i.e. by the presence of the cone/ramp. Consequently, the in-
the greater the loss in stagnation pressure across the take capture area is less than the intake lip area, which re-
shock wave). duces the intake airflow. Depending on the airflow char-
acteristics of the engine, it may be desirable to lower the
2. Conical (3-dimensional) and oblique shock waves ramp angle or move the cone rearwards to refocus the
(2D) are angled rearwards, like the bow wave on shockwaves onto the cowl lip to maximise intake airflow.
a ship or boat, and radiate from a flow disturbance c) are designed to have a normal shock in the ducting
such as a cone or a ramp. For a given inlet Mach downstream of intake lip, so that the flow at compres-
number, they are weaker than the equivalent normal sor/fan entry is always subsonic. This intake is known
shock wave and, although the flow slows down, it re- as a mixed-compression inlet. However, two difficulties
mains supersonic throughout. Conical and oblique arise for these intakes: one occurs during engine throt-
shock waves turn the flow, which continues in the tling while the other occurs when the aircraft speed (or
new direction, until another flow disturbance is en- Mach) changes. If the engine is throttled back, there is
countered downstream. Note: Comments made re- a reduction in the corrected (or non-dimensional) airflow
garding 3 dimensional conical shock waves, gener- of the LP compressor/fan, but (at supersonic conditions)
ally also apply to 2D oblique shock waves. the corrected airflow at the intake lip remains constant,
because it is determined by the flight Mach number and
A sharp-lipped version of the pitot intake, described intake incidence/yaw. This discontinuity is overcome by
above for subsonic applications, performs quite well at the normal shock moving to a lower cross-sectional area
4 1 MAJOR COMPONENTS

in the ducting, to decrease the Mach number at entry to An alternative to the conical intake involves angling the
the shockwave. This weakens the shockwave, improving intake so that one of its edges forms a ramp. An oblique
the overall intake pressure recovery. So, the absolute air- shockwave will form at the start of the ramp. The Century
flow stays constant, whilst the corrected airflow at com- Series of US jets featured several variants of this ap-
pressor entry falls (because of a higher entry pressure). proach, usually with the ramp at the outer vertical edge
Excess intake airflow may also be dumped overboard or of the intake, which was then angled back inward to-
into the exhaust system, to prevent the conical/oblique wards the fuselage. Typical examples include the Repub-
shock waves being disturbed by the normal shock being lic F-105 Thunderchief and F-4 Phantom. This design is
forced too far forward by engine throttling. slightly inferior in pressure recovery to the conical intake,
The second difficulty occurs when the aircraft Mach but at lower supersonic speeds, the difference in pressure
recovery is not significant, and the smaller size and sim-
number changes. The airflow has to be the same at the
intake lip, at the throat and at the engine. This statement plicity of the ramp design tend to make it the preferred
choice for many supersonic aircraft.
is a consequence the conservation of mass. However, the
airflow is not generally the same when the aircraft’s super-
sonic speed changes. This difficulty is known as the air-
flow matching problem which is solved by more compli-
cated inlet designs than are typical of subsonic inlets. For
example, to match airflow, a supersonic inlet throat can be
made variable and some air can be bypassed around the
engine and then pumped as secondary air by an ejector
nozzle.[4] If the inlet flow is not match, it may become un-
stable with the normal shock wave in the throat suddenly
moving forward beyond the lip, known as inlet unstart.[5]
Spillage drag is high and pressure recovery low with only
a plane shock wave in place of the normal set of oblique
shock waves. In the SR-71 installation the engine would
continue to run although afterburner blowout sometimes Concorde intake operating modes
occurred.[6]
Later this evolved so that the ramp was at the top hor-
izontal edge rather than the outer vertical edge, with a
pronounced angle downwards and rearwards. This design
Inlet cone Main article: Inlet cone
simplified the construction of intakes and allowed use of
variable ramps to control airflow into the engine. Most
Many second generation supersonic fighter aircraft fea- designs since the early 1960s now feature this style of in-
tured an inlet cone, which was used to form the conical take, for example the Grumman F-14 Tomcat, Panavia
shock wave. This type of inlet cone is clearly seen at the Tornado and Concorde.
very front of the English Electric Lightning and MiG-21
aircraft, for example.
Diverterless supersonic inlet Main article:
The same approach can be used for air intakes mounted
Diverterless supersonic inlet
at the side of the fuselage, where a half cone serves the
same purpose with a semicircular air intake, as seen on
the F-104 Starfighter and BAC TSR-2. A diverterless supersonic inlet (DSI) consists of a “bump”
and a forward-swept inlet cowl, which work together to
Some intakes are biconic; that is they feature two conical
divert boundary layer airflow away from the aircraft’s en-
surfaces: the first cone is supplemented by a second, less
gine while compressing the air to slow it down from su-
oblique, conical surface, which generates an extra conical
personic speed. The DSI can be used to replace con-
shockwave, radiating from the junction between the two
ventional methods of controlling supersonic and bound-
cones. A biconic intake is usually more efficient than the
ary layer airflow. DSI’s can be used to replace the intake
equivalent conical intake, because the entry Mach number
ramp and inlet cone, which are more complex, heavy and
to the normal shock is reduced by the presence of the
expensive.[8]
second conical shock wave.
The intake on the SR-71 had a translating conical spike
which controlled the shock wave positions to give maxi- 1.2 Compressors
mum pressure recovery.[7]
Axial compressors rely on spinning blades that have aero-
foil sections, similar to aeroplane wings. As with aero-
Inlet ramp Main article: Intake ramp plane wings in some conditions the blades can stall. If
this happens, the airflow around the stalled compressor
1.3 Combustors 5

cles.
Increasing overall pressure ratio implies raising the high
pressure compressor exit temperature. This implies a
higher high pressure shaft speed, to maintain the datum
blade tip Mach number on the rear compressor stage.
Stress considerations, however, may limit the shaft speed
increase, causing the original compressor to throttle-back
aerodynamically to a lower pressure ratio than datum.

1.3 Combustors
Main article: Combustor
Flame fronts generally travel at just Mach 0.05, whereas

Axial compressors

The 17-stage axial compressor of the General Electric J79

Combustion chamber GE J79

can reverse direction violently. Each design of a com-
pressor has an associated operating map of airflow versus airflows through jet engines are considerably faster than
rotational speed for characteristics peculiar to that type this. Combustors typically employ structures to give a
(see compressor map). sheltered combustion zone called a flame holder. Com-
At a given throttle condition, the compressor operates bustor configurations include can, annular, and can-
somewhere along the steady state running line. Unfortu- annular.
nately, this operating line is displaced during transients. Great care must be taken to keep the flame burning in
Many compressors are fitted with anti-stall systems in the
a moderately fast moving airstream, at all throttle con-
form of bleed bands or variable geometry stators to de- ditions, as efficiently as possible. Since the turbine can-
crease the likelihood of surge. Another method is to split
not withstand stoichiometric temperatures (a mixture ra-
the compressor into two or more units, operating on sep- tio of around 15:1), some of the compressor air is used to
arate concentric shafts.
quench the exit temperature of the combustor to an ac-
Another most design consideration is the average stage ceptable level (an overall mixture ratio of between 45:1
loading. This can be kept at a sensible level either and 130:1 is used[9] ). Air used for combustion is con-
by increasing the number of compression stages (more sidered to be primary airflow, while excess air used for
weight/cost) or the mean blade speed (more blade/disc cooling is called secondary airflow. The secondary air-
stress). flow is ported through many small holes in the burner cans
Although large flow compressors are usually all-axial, the to create a blanket of cooler air to insulate the metal sur-
rear stages on smaller units are too small to be robust. faces of the combustion can from the flame. If the metal
Consequently, these stages are often replaced by a sin- were subjected to the direct flame for any length of time,
gle centrifugal unit. Very small flow compressors often it would eventually burn through.
employ two centrifugal compressors, connected in series. Rocket engines, being a non 'duct engine' have quite dif-
Although in isolation centrifugal compressors are capa- ferent combustor systems, and the mixture ratio is usually
ble of running at quite high pressure ratios (e.g. 10:1), much closer to being stoichiometric in the main chamber.
impeller stress considerations limit the pressure ratio that These engines generally lack flame holders and combus-
can be employed in high overall pressure ratio engine cy- tion occurs at much higher temperatures, there being no
6 1 MAJOR COMPONENTS

turbine downstream. However, liquid rocket engines fre-

quently employ separate burners to power turbopumps,
and these burners usually run far off stoichiometric so as
to lower turbine temperatures in the pump.

1.4 Turbines

Turbofan fitted with afterburner

engines do not consume all the oxygen in the air ('run

stoichiometric'). Afterburners burn the remaining oxy-
gen after exiting the turbines, but usually do so ineffi-
ciently due to the low pressures typically found at this
part of the jet engine make the subsequent nozzle ineffi-
cient at extracting the heat energy; however afterburners
still gain significant thrust, which can be useful. Engines
intended for extended use with afterburners often have
variable nozzles and other details.

1.6 Nozzle

The 3-stage Turbine of the GE J79

Because a turbine expands from high to low pressure,

there is no such thing as turbine surge or stall. The tur-
bine needs fewer stages than the compressor, mainly be-
cause the higher inlet temperature reduces the deltaT/T
(and thereby the pressure ratio) of the expansion process.
The blades have more curvature and the gas stream ve-
locities are higher.
Designers must, however, prevent the turbine blades and
vanes from melting in a very high temperature and stress
environment. Consequently bleed air extracted from the
compression system is often used to cool the turbine
blades/vanes internally. Other solutions are improved
materials and/or special insulating coatings. The discs Afterburner GE J79
must be specially shaped to withstand the huge stresses
imposed by the rotating blades. They take the form of im- Main article: Propelling nozzle
pulse, reaction, or combination impulse-reaction shapes.
Improved materials help to keep disc weight down.
The propelling nozzle converts a gas turbine or gas gen-
erator into a jet engine. Power available in the gas turbine
1.5 Afterburners (reheat) exhaust is converted into a high speed propelling jet by
the nozzle. The power is defined by typical gauge pres-
Main article: afterburner sure and temperature values for a turbojet of 20 psi (140
Due to temperature limitations with the gas turbines, jet kPa) and 1,000 °F (538 °C).[10]
1.9 Fuel system 7

1.7 Thrust reversers bleed air to wash the turbine disc to extract heat and, at
the same time, pressurize the turbine rim seal, to prevent
Main article: Thrust reversal hot gases entering the inner part of the engine. Other
types of seals are hydraulic, brush, carbon etc.
These either consist of cups that swing across the end of Small quantities of compressor bleed air are also used to
the exhaust nozzle and deflect the jet thrust forwards (as cool the shaft, turbine shrouds, etc. Some air is also used
in the DC-9), or they are two panels behind the cowling to keep the temperature of the combustion chamber walls
that slide backward and reverse only the fan thrust (the fan below critical. This is done using primary and secondary
produces the majority of the thrust). Fan air redirection is airholes which allow a thin layer of air to cover the inner
performed by devices called “blocker doors” and “cascade walls of the chamber preventing excessive heating.
vanes”. This is the case on many large aircraft such as the Exit temperature is dependent on the turbine upper tem-
747, C-17, KC-10, etc. If you are on an aircraft and you perature limit depending on the material. Reducing the
hear the engines increasing in power after landing, it is temperature will also prevent thermal fatigue and hence
usually because the thrust reversers are deployed. The failure. Accessories may also need their own cooling sys-
engines are not actually spinning in reverse, as the term tems using air from the compressor or outside air.
may lead you to believe. The reversers are used to slow
the aircraft more quickly and reduce wear on the wheel Air from compressor stages is also used for heating of the
brakes. fan, airframe anti-icing and for cabin heat. Which stage is
bled from depends on the atmospheric conditions at that
altitude.
1.8 Cooling systems

All jet engines require high temperature gas for good effi-
ciency, typically achieved by combusting hydrocarbon or
hydrogen fuel. Combustion temperatures can be as high
as 3500K (5841F) in rockets, far above the melting point
of most materials, but normal airbreathing jet engines use 1.9 Fuel system
rather lower temperatures.
Cooling systems are employed to keep the temperature of Apart from providing fuel to the engine, the fuel system
the solid parts below the failure temperature. is also used to control propeller speeds, compressor air-
flow and cool lubrication oil. Fuel is usually introduced
by an atomized spray, the amount of which is controlled
1.8.1 Air systems
automatically depending on the rate of airflow.
A complex air system is built into most turbine based jet So the sequence of events for increasing thrust is, the
engines, primarily to cool the turbine blades, vanes and throttle opens and fuel spray pressure is increased, in-
discs. creasing the amount of fuel being burned. This means
that exhaust gases are hotter and so are ejected at higher
Air, bled from the compressor exit, passes around the acceleration, which means they exert higher forces and
combustor and is injected into the rim of the rotating tur- therefore increase the engine thrust directly. It also in-
bine disc. The cooling air then passes through complex creases the energy extracted by the turbine which drives
passages within the turbine blades. After removing heat the compressor even faster and so there is an increase in
from the blade material, the air (now fairly hot) is vented, air flowing into the engine as well.
via cooling holes, into the main gas stream. Cooling air
for the turbine vanes undergoes a similar process. Obviously, it is the rate of the mass of the airflow that
matters since it is the change in momentum (mass x ve-
Cooling the leading edge of the blade can be difficult, be- locity) that produces the force. However, density varies
cause the pressure of the cooling air just inside the cooling with altitude and hence inflow of mass will also vary with
hole may not be much different from that of the oncom- altitude, temperature etc. which means that throttle val-
ing gas stream. One solution is to incorporate a cover ues will vary according to all these parameters without
plate on the disc. This acts as a centrifugal compressor to changing them manually.
pressurize the cooling air before it enters the blade. An-
other solution is to use an ultra-efficient turbine rim seal This is why fuel flow is controlled automatically. Usu-
to pressurize the area where the cooling air passes across ally there are 2 systems, one to control the pressure and
to the rotating disc. the other to control the flow. The inputs are usually from
pressure and temperature probes from the intake and at
Seals are used to prevent oil leakage, control air for cool- various points through the engine. Also throttle inputs,
ing and prevent stray air flows into turbine cavities. engine speed etc. are required. These affect the high
A series of (e.g. labyrinth) seals allow a small flow of pressure fuel pump.
8 1 MAJOR COMPONENTS

1.9.1 Fuel control unit (FCU) 1.10.1 Turbopumps

This element is something like a mechanical computer. Main article: Turbopump

It determines the output of the fuel pump by a system of
valves which can change the pressure used to cause the Turbopumps are centrifugal pumps which are spun by
pump stroke, thereby varying the amount of flow. gas turbines and are used to raise the propellant pres-
Take the possibility of increased altitude where there will sure above the pressure in the combustion chamber so
be reduced air intake pressure. In this case, the chamber that it can be injected and burnt. Turbopumps are very
within the FCU will expand which causes the spill valve to commonly used with rockets, but ramjets and turbojets
bleed more fuel. This causes the pump to deliver less fuel also have been known to use them. The drive gases for
until the opposing chamber pressure is equivalent to the the turbopump is usually generated in separate cham-
air pressure and the spill valve goes back to its position. bers with off-stoichiometric combustion and the relatively
When the throttle is opened, it releases i.e. lessens the small mass flow is dumped either through a special noz-
pressure which lets the throttle valve fall. The pressure zle, or at a point in the main nozzle; both cause a small
is transmitted (because of a back-pressure valve i.e. no reduction in performance. In some cases (notably the
Space Shuttle Main Engine) staged combustion is used,
air gaps in fuel flow) which closes the FCU spill valves
(as they are commonly called) which then increases the and the pump gas exhaust is returned into the main cham-
ber where the combustion is completed and essentially no
pressure and causes a higher flow rate.
loss of performance due to pumping losses then occurs.
The engine speed governor is used to prevent the engine
from over-speeding. It has the capability of disregard- Ramjet turbopumps use ram air expanding through a tur-
ing the FCU control. It does this by use of a diaphragm bine.
which senses the engine speed in terms of the centrifugal
pressure caused by the rotating rotor of the pump. At a
critical value, this diaphragm causes another spill valve to 1.11 Engine starting system
open and bleed away the fuel flow.
The fuel system as explained above is one of the two sys-
There are other ways of controlling fuel flow for example tems required for starting the engine. The other is the ac-
with the dash-pot throttle lever. The throttle has a gear tual ignition of the air/fuel mixture in the chamber. Usu-
which meshes with the control valve (like a rack and pin- ally, an auxiliary power unit is used to start the engines.
ion) causing it to slide along a cylinder which has ports at It has a starter motor which has a high torque transmit-
various positions. Moving the throttle and hence sliding ted to the compressor unit. When the optimum speed is
the valve along the cylinder, opens and closes these ports reached, i.e. the flow of gas through the turbine is suffi-
as designed. There are actually 2 valves viz. the throttle cient, the turbines take over.
and the control valve. The control valve is used to con-
trol pressure on one side of the throttle valve such that it There are a number of different starting methods such as
gives the right opposition to the throttle control pressure. electric, hydraulic, pneumatic, etc.
It does this by controlling the fuel outlet from within the The electric starter works with gears and clutch plate link-
cylinder. ing the motor and the engine. The clutch is used to dis-
So for example, if the throttle valve is moved up to let engage when optimum speed is achieved. This is usually
more fuel in, it will mean that the throttle valve has moved done automatically. The electric supply is used to start
into a position which allows more fuel to flow through and the motor as well as for ignition. The voltage is usually
on the other side, the required pressure ports are opened built up slowly as starter gains speed.
to keep the pressure balance so that the throttle lever stays Some military aircraft need to be started quicker than the
where it is. electric method permits and hence they use other meth-
At initial acceleration, more fuel is required and the unit is ods such as a cartridge turbine starter or “cart starter”.
adapted to allow more fuel to flow by opening other ports This is an impulse turbine impacted by burning gases
at a particular throttle position. Changes in pressure of from a cartridge, usually created by igniting a solid pro-
outside air i.e. altitude, speed of aircraft etc. are sensed pellant similar to gunpowder. It is geared to rotate the en-
by an air capsule. gine and also connected to an automatic disconnect sys-
tem, or overrunning clutch. The cartridge is set alight
electrically and used to turn the starter’s turbine.
1.10 Propellant pump Another turbine starter system is almost exactly like a lit-
tle engine. Again the turbine is connected to the engine
Propellant pumps are usually present to raise the propel- via gears. However, the turbine is turned by burning gases
lant pressure above the pressure in the combustion cham- - usually the fuel is isopropyl nitrate (or sometimes Hy-
ber so that the fuel can be injected. Fuel pumps are usu- drazine) stored in a tank and sprayed into a combustion
ally driven by the main shaft, via gearing. chamber. Again, it is ignited with a spark plug. Every-
1.12 Ignition 9

thing is electrically controlled, such as speed, etc. 1.12 Ignition

Most commercial aircraft and large military transport air-
planes usually use what is called an auxiliary power unit Usually there are two igniter plugs in different positions
(APU). It is normally a small gas turbine. Thus, one could in the combustion system. A high voltage spark is used
say that using such an APU is using a small gas turbine to ignite the gases. The voltage is stored up from a low
to start a larger one. Low pressure (40–70 psi or 280– voltage (usually 28 V DC) supply provided by the aircraft
480 kPa), high volume air from the compressor section batteries. It builds up to the right value in the ignition ex-
of the APU is bled off through a system of pipes to the citers (similar to automotive ignition coils) and is then
engines where it is directed into the starting system. This released as a high energy spark. Depending on various
bleed air is directed into a mechanism to start the engine conditions, such as flying through heavy rainfall, the ig-
turning and begin pulling in air. The starter is usually an niter continues to provide sparks to prevent combustion
air turbine type, similar to the cartridge starter, but uses from failing if the flame inside goes out. Of course, in
the APU’s bleed air instead of the burning gases of the the event that the flame does go out, there must be provi-
propellant cartridge. Most cart starters can also use APU sion to relight. There is a limit of altitude and air speed
air to turn them. When the rotating speed of the engine at which an engine can obtain a satisfactory relight.
is sufficient to pull in enough air to support combustion, For example, the General Electric F404-400 uses one ig-
fuel is introduced and ignited. Once the engine ignites niter for the combustor and one for the afterburner; the
and reaches idle speed, the bleed air and ignition systems ignition system for the A/B incorporates an ultraviolet
are shut off. flame sensor to activate the igniter.
The APUs on aircraft such as the Boeing 737 and Airbus Most modern ignition systems provide enough energy
A320 can be seen at the extreme rear of the aircraft. (20–40 kV) to be a lethal hazard should a person be in
This is the typical location for an APU on most commer- contact with the electrical lead when the system is acti-
cial airliners although some may be within the wing root vated, so team communication is vital when working on
(Boeing 727) or the aft fuselage (DC-9/MD80) as exam- these systems.
ples and some military transports carry their APUs in one
of the main landing gear pods (C-141).
Some APUs are mounted on wheeled carts, so they can be 1.13 Lubrication system
towed and used on different aircraft. They are connected
by a hose to the aircraft ducting, which includes a check A lubrication system serves to ensure lubrication of the
valve to allow the APU air to flow into the aircraft, while bearings and gears and to maintain sufficiently cool tem-
not allowing the main engine’s bleed air to exit through peratures, mostly by eliminating friction. The lubricant
the duct. can also be utilized to cool other parts such as walls and
The APUs also provide enough power to keep the cabin other structural members directly via targeted oil flows.
lights, pressure and other systems on while the engines The lubrication system also transports wear particles from
are off. The valves used to control the airflow are usually the insides of the engine and flushes them through a filter
electrically controlled. They automatically close at a pre- to keep the oil and oil wetted components clean.
determined speed. As part of the starting sequence on The lubricant is isolated from the external parts of the
some engines, fuel is combined with the supplied air and engine through various sealing mechanisms, which also
burned instead of using just air. This usually produces prevent dirt and other foreign objects from contaminating
more power per unit weight. the oil and from reaching the bearings, gears, and other
Usually an APU is started by its own electric starter mo- moving parts, and typically flows in a loop (is not inten-
tor which is switched off at the proper speed automati- tionally consumed through engine usage). The lubricant
cally. When the main engine starts up and reaches the must be able to flow easily at relatively low temperatures
right conditions, this auxiliary unit is then switched off and not disintegrate or break down at very high tempera-
and disengages slowly. tures.

Hydraulic pumps can also be used to start some engines Usually the lubrication system has subsystems that deal
through gears. The pumps are electrically controlled on individually with the lubrication supply system of an en-
the ground. gine, scavenging (oil return system), and a breather (vent-
ing excess air from internal compartments).
A variation of this is the APU installed in a Boeing F/A-
18 Hornet; it is started by a hydraulic motor, which itself The pressure system components are typically include
receives energy stored in an accumulator. This accumu- an oil tank and de-aerator, main oil pump, main oil fil-
lator is recharged after the right engine is started and de- ter/filter bypass valve, pressure regulating valve (PRV),
velops hydraulic pressure, or by a hand pump in the right oil cooler/by pass valve and tubing/jets.
hand main landing gear well. Usually the flow is from the tank to the pump inlet and
PRV, pumped to main oil filter or its bypass valve and
oil cooler, then through some more filters to jets in the
10 3 REFERENCES

bearings. [10] “The Aircraft gas Turbine Engine and its operation” P&W
Oper. Instr. 200, December 1982 United Technologies
Using the PRV method of control, means that the pres- Pratt and Whitney
sure of the feed oil must be below a critical value (usually
controlled by other valves which can leak out excess oil
back to tank if it exceeds the critical value). The valve
opens at a certain pressure and oil is kept moving at a
constant rate into the bearing chamber.
If the engine power setting increases, the pressure within
the bearing chamber also typically increases, which
means the pressure difference between the lubricant feed
and the chamber reduces which could reduce flow rate of
oil when it is needed even more. As a result, some PRVs
can adjust their spring force values using this pressure
change in the bearing chamber proportionally to keep the
lubricant flow constant.

1.14 Control system

Main article: FADEC

Most jet engines are controlled digitally using Full Au-

thority Digital Electronics Control systems, however
some systems use mechanical devices.

2 See also
• Jet engine

3 References
[1] “Trade-offs in jet inlet design” Andras Sobester Journal of
Aircraft, Vol44 No3 May–June 2007

[2] “Jet Propulsion for Aerospace Applications” 2nd edition,

Walter J.hesse Nicholas V.S. MumfordPitman Publishing
Corp 1964 p110

[3] “Jet Propulsion for Aerospace Applications” 2nd edition,

Walter J.hesse Nicholas V.S. MumfordPitman Publishing
Corp 1964 p216

[4] enginehistory.org “How supersonic inlets work” J.

Thomas Anderson Fig1

[5] enginehistory.org “How supersonic inlets work” J.

Thomas Anderson Section 5.2 “Inlet operating map”

[6] “SR-71 Revealed The Inside Story” Richard H. Gra-

ham,Col USAF (Ret) ISBN 978-0-7603-0122-7 p56

[7] enginehistory.org “How supersonic inlets work” J.

Thomas Anderson Section 4.3 “Spike translation”

[8] Hehs, Eric (15 July 2000). “JSF Diverterless Supersonic

Inlet”. Code One magazine. Lockheed Martin. Retrieved
11 February 2011.

[9] The Combustion Chamber

 11

4 Text and image sources, contributors, and licenses

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