Jet Engines
Jet engines are the power behind the various air planes that you will find. These engines have the ability of propelling the craft they are attached in any direction which is needed. You will find that these engines are designed to accommodate the aircraft to which they will be attached to.
Depending on the type of airplane you will be able to find varying amounts of jet engines. These engines are usually found placed on the wings at equal distances. For many of the large sized aircraft you can find two engines on each wing. These engines use turbine power.
As the turbines rotate they draw the external air in through the front of the engines. The air which is compressed from the high pressure of the turbines is directed towards the engine. The energy from this churning air provides the power for the gears in the turbine turn the power on in the main engine.
Once there is a heavy enough of an air flow the fuel mixture is introduced into the chamber. The combination of fuel and air causes a reaction from the spark plugs and the resulting spark provides the power which is needed by jet engines. As this power grow, the external air – which is called bleed air – is shut off as it is no longer needed.
Besides the main jet engines there is also a chance of seeing an auxiliary power unit attached to the plane. This unit is sometimes known as an APU. You will find that planes like Boeing 727, Airbus A320, DC-9, Boeing 737, Boeing F-18 and the MD80 are among the aircraft which have these extra jet engines placed.
Besides helping to start the plane and keep it going the APU will also have another function. This function is to help with the other parts of the aircrafts running. For instance you will find that sometimes the cabin air pressure, lights, and the airflow valves are usually controlled by these APU jet engines.
Currently the airline industry and the military have developed about 14 different versions of jet engines. Some of these jet engines are Scramjets, Pulse detonation engine, Ramjet, Turbojet, Thermojet, Water jet, and Precooled jets or LACE. While each of these is a type of jet engine they all function in slightly different ways.
By looking at this information you can see that jet engines are used in a number of ways. The many new developments which are going on are always improving the performance of jet engines. In time the future of jet engines can only be dreamed of as we explore new avenues to apply this technology to.
