Jet engines

and
The main space shuttle engine

Chapter 1 Jet engines : -Main parts and The workings of the jet
engine
Chapter 2 The main space shuttle engine : -Main parts and the
workings of the main space shuttle engine
Conclusion

First of all let me start by saying that jet engines cant function whit out air
contrary to the main space shuttle engine that is a non breather.

JET ENGINES :
- Main parts :

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 heatresistant 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 ballbearing 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.
The workings of the jet engine :

A jet engine operates on the application of Sir Isaac Newton's third law of physics:
for every action there is an equal and opposite reaction. This is called thrust. Jet
engines move the airplane forward with a great force that is produced by a
tremendous thrust and causes the plane to fly very fast.
All jet engines, which are also called gas turbines, work on the same principle. The
engine sucks air in at the front with a fan. A compressor raises the pressure of the
air. The compressor is made up of fans with many blades and attached to a shaft.

The blades compress the air. The compressed air is then sprayed with fuel and an
electric spark ignites the mixture. The burning gases expand and blast out through
the nozzle, at the back of the engine. Gases which form expand rapidly and are
exhausted through the rear of the combustion chambers. These gases exert equal
force in all directions, providing forward thrust as they escape to the rear. As the
gases leave the engine, they pass through a fan-like set of blades (turbine) which
rotates the turbine shaft. This shaft, in turn, rotates the compressor, thereby
bringing in a fresh supply of air through the intake. Engine thrust may be
increased by the addition of an afterburner section in which extra fuel is sprayed
into the exhausting gases which burn to give the added thrust. At approximately
400 mph, one pound of thrust equals one horsepower, but at higher speeds this
ratio increases and a pound of thrust is greater than one horsepower. At speeds
of less than 400 mph, this ratio decreases.

The image shows how the air flows through the engine. The air goes through
the core of the engine as well as around the core. This causes some of the air to

be very hot and some to be cooler. The cooler air then mixes with the hot air at
the engine exit area.
In a turboprop engine, the exhaust gases are also used to rotate a propeller
attached to the turbine shaft for increased fuel economy at lower altitudes. A
turbofan engine incorporates a fan to produce additional thrust, supplementing
that created by the basic turbojet engine, for greater efficiency at high altitudes.
The advantages of jet engines over piston engines include lighter weight with
greater power, simpler construction and maintenance with fewer moving parts,
and efficient operation with cheaper fuel.

The main space shuttle engine :

The space shuttle engines are two types of rocket engines a liquid one and a solid
one. Unlike the jet engines this types of engine doesnt need air to work. I will talk
about the main space shuttle engine.
The tree liquid rocket engines make up the main space shuttle engine.

The main space shuttle engine main components and there uses are :

Oxidizer system is made up out of the controller , the low pressure oxidizer
turbopump , the high pressure oxidizer turbopump , oxidizer preburner, low
pressure fuel turbopump , the high pressure fuel turbopump , fuel preburner , hot
gas manifold , main injector , main combustion chamber and propellant valves .
The oxidizer system helps to boost the pressure of the liquid oxygen and
hydrogen, to transform the fuel into gas , to boost their temperature up , to push
them into the main combustion chamber and to send the propellant into the
nozzle thus pushing the shuttle forward .

Hydrogen fuel system

Orbiter main propulsion system

This system helps the fuel to enter into the three main engines from the external
tank. Fuel enters the orbiter at the liquid hydrogen feed line disconnect valve,
then flows into the orbiter liquid hydrogen feed line manifold and branches out
into three parallel paths to each engine. In each liquid hydrogen branch, a
prevalve permits liquid hydrogen to flow to the low-pressure fuel turbopump
when the prevalve is open.

Cooling control system A coolant control valve is mounted on the combustion

chamber coolant bypass duct of each engine. The engine controller regulates the
amount of gaseous hydrogen allowed to bypass the nozzle coolant loop, thus
controlling its temperature. The inner surface of each combustion chamber, as
well as the inner surface of each nozzle, is cooled by liquid hydrogen flowing
through brazed stainless steel tube-wall coolant passages, this type of cooling
control is needed because the propellant, passes the boiling point of iron, it has a
temperature of over 3300 degrees Celsius and the liquid hydrogen is the second
coldest liquid in the universe it has under -250degrees Celsius.

Pre-burners (are installed for an efficient combustion to occur) and thrust

control system(main fuel and oxidizer valves control the flow of oxygen and
fuel)

Combustion chamber and nozzle

In the combustion chamber the liquid oxygen and hydrogen gas are combined , a
spark igniter chamber is located in the center of the injector this ignites the
propellant but this spark is sustained only for 3 seconds because the combustion
process is self-sustaining . The nozzle assembly is a bell-shaped extension bolted
to the main combustion chamber. The nozzle is 2.9 m long, and the outside
diameter of the exit is 2.4 m. The insulation consists of four layers of metallic
batting covered with a metallic foil and screening.

The workings of the main space shuttle engine

Turbopumps suck liquid oxygen and liquid hydrogen from the external tank. The
oxidizer system puts the two substances through extreme changes by boosting
their pressure and transforming the liquid hydrogen into gas. Then the main
combustion chamber combines the two substances and the injector ignites the
propellant. After that the propellant expands in such a violent way that it pushes
itself through the nozzle which is cooled by the liquid hydrogen. This way the
shuttle is pushed forward.

Conclusion
So after the description of the two engine types we can now see that both the
liquid rocket engine and jet engines function the same way by expelling hot gases
opposite to the direction of desired acceleration, both burn fuel and both eject
this fuel mass to gain momentum. Though the principles are the same they are
two different animals. The biggest difference between a jet engine and a rocket
engine lies in their propulsion systems. A jet engine combines oxygen from the air
with fuel at high temperature. There is usually a spark to ignite the fuel vapor, but
once the engine begins turning, it will continue running until it runs out of fuel or
air. The jet is pushed forward by the hot gas coming out the back. The rocket
engine, by comparison, is not what's called an 'air-breather'. Rockets can work
anywhere, in vacuums, or in the atmosphere. It will work at any altitude, or in
space. The problem is, though, that now, the craft must not only carry fuel... but it
must carry oxygen as well .To lift all that weight requires a LOT of energy, which
requires more fuel, which requires more space, and weight; and at a certain point,
using liquid-fueled rockets, you start to work against yourself. Though they are
different they both operate on the application of Sir Isaac Newton's third law of
physics: for every action there is an equal and opposite reaction.