How Does a Jet Engine Produce Its Power?
How Does a Jet Engine Produce Its Power? A jet engine gets its power from hot gases that are created when the jet fuel is mixed with air and burned. First, large quantities of air are sucked into the front of the engine and squeezed by a compressor. The compressed air rushes into a part of the engine called a “burner.”
Here the air is mixed with fuel and burned. The hot gases expand and whoosh out the back of the burner in a fiery jet blast. At the same time, the expanding gases push against the front of the burner. It is this forward thrust that drives the plane through the air.
Starting of a gas turbine engine requires rotation of the compressor to a speed that provides sufficient pressurized air to the combustion chambers. The starting system has to overcome inertia of the compressor and friction loads, the system remains in operation after combustion starts and is disengaged once the engine has reached self-idling speed.
Gas turbine engines can be shut down in flight, intentionally by the crew to save fuel or during a flight test or unintentionally due to fuel starvation or flame-out after a compressor stall.