Jet Propulsion Part 2

Turboprop

The turboprop is similar to the turbojet, except that most of the nozzle gas pressure drives the turbine shaft -- by the time the gas gets past the turbine, there's very little pressure left to create thrust.
Instead, the shaft is geared to a propeller which creates the majority of the thrust. 'Jet' helicopters work the same way, except that their engines are connected to the main rotor shaft instead of a propeller.

Turboprops are more fuel efficient than turbojets at low altitudes, where the thicker air gives a propeller a lot more 'traction.' This makes them popular on planes used for short flights, where the time spent at low altitudes represents a greater percentage of the overall flight time.

Turbofan

The turbofan is something like a compromise between a pure turbojet and a turboprop. It works like the turbojet, except that the turbine shaft also drives an external fan, usually located at the front of the engine.
The fan has more blades than a propeller and spins much faster. It also features a shroud around its perimeter, which helps to capture and focus the air flowing through it. These features enable the fan to generate some thrust at high altitudes, where a propeller would be ineffective.

Much of the thrust still comes from the exhaust jet, but the addition of the fan makes the engine more fuel efficient than a pure turbojet. Most modern jetliners now feature turbofan engines.

Jet Propulsion Part 1

Rocket
The rocket engine is the simplest of this family. In order to work in outer space, rocket engines must carry their own supply of oxygen as well as fuel. The mixture is injected into the combustion chamber where it burns continuously. The high-pressure gas escapes through the nozzle, causing thrust in the opposite direction.

Turbojet

The turbojet employs the same principle as the rocket. It burns oxygen from the atmosphere instead of carrying a supply along.
Notice the similarities: Fuel continuously burns inside a combustion chamber just like the rocket. The expanding gasses escape out the nozzle generating thrust in the opposite direction.
Now the differences: On its way out the nozzle, some of the gas pressure is used to drive a turbine. A turbine is a series of rotors or fans connected to a single shaft. Between each pair of rotors is a stator -- something like a stationary fan. The stators realign the gas flow to most effectively direct it toward the blades of the next rotor.
At the front of the engine, the turbine shaft drives a compressor. The compressor works a lot like the turbine only in reverse. Its purpose is to draw air into the engine and pressurize it.
Turbojet engines are most efficient at high altitudes, where the thin air renders propellers almost useless.

Gnome

The Gnome was one of several rotary engines popular on fighter planes during World War I. In this type of engine, the crankshaft is mounted on the airplane, while the crankcase and cylinders rotate with the propeller.
The Gnome was unique in that the intake valves were located within the pistons. Otherwise, this engine used the familiar Otto four stroke cycle. At any given point, each of the cylinders is in a different phase of the cycle. In the following discussion, follow the master cylinder with the green connecting rod.

During this portion of the stroke, a vacuum forms in the cylinder, forcing the intake valve open and drawing the fuel-air mixture in from the crankcase.
The mixture is compressed during this phase. The spark plug fires toward the end of the compression stroke, slightly before top dead center.
The power stroke happens here. Note that the exhaust valve opens early -- well before bottom dead center.
This engine has a fairly long exhaust stroke. In order to improve power or efficiency, engine valve timing often varies from what one might expect.
When I first learned how these engines worked, I thought the only person crazier than the engine designer was the one who paid money for it. At first glance it seems ridiculously backwards.

Nonetheless, a number of engines were designed this way, including the Gnome, Gnome Monosoupape, LeRhone, Clerget, and Bentley to name a few. It turns out there were some good reasons for the configuration:

	Balance. Note that the crankcase and cylinders revolve in one circle, while the pistons revolve in another, offset circle. Relative to the engine mounting point, there are no reciprocating parts. This means there's no need for a heavy counterbalance. Air Cooling. Keeping an engine cool was an ongoing challenge for early engine designers. Many resorted to heavy water cooling systems. Air cooling was quite adequate on rotary engines, since the cylinders are always in motion. No flywheel. The crankcase and cylinders provided more than adequate momentum to smooth out the power pulses, eliminating the need for a heavy flywheel.
All these factors gave rotary engines the best power-to-weight ratio of any configuration at the time, making them ideal for use in fighter planes. Of course, there were disadvantages as well:
	Gyroscopic effect. A heavy spinning object resists efforts to disturb its orientation (A toy gyroscope demonstrates the effect nicely). This made the aircraft difficult to maneuver. Total Loss Oil system. Centrifugal force throws lubricating oil out after its first trip through the engine. It was usually castor oil that could be readily combined with the fuel. (The romantic-looking scarf the pilot wore was actually a towel used to wipe the slimy stuff off his goggles!) The aircraft's range was thus limited by the amount of oil it could carry as well as fuel. Most conventional engines continuously re-circulate a relatively small supply of oil.

Atkinson Engine

The Atkinson engine is essentially an Otto-cycle engine with a different means of linking the piston to the crankshaft. It was originally designed to compete with the Otto engine, but without infringing on any of Otto's patents.
The clever arrangement of levers allows the Atkinson to cycle the piston through all four strokes in only one revolution of the main crankshaft, and allows the strokes to be different lengths -- the intake and exhaust strokes are longer than the compression and power strokes (In this illustration... see below).

This also obviates the need for a separate cam shaft. The intake (if used), exhaust, and ignition cams are located on the main crank shaft. My illustration shows only an exhaust cam.

Everything I know about the Atkinson engine came out of Building the Atkinson cycle Engine. This illustration draws heavily from that excellent book.

Wankel Engine

The Wankel radial engine is a fascinating beast that features a very clever rearrangment of the four elements of the Otto cycle. It was developed by Felix Wankel in the 1950s.¹

In the Wankel a triangular rotor incorporating a central ring gear is driven around a fixed pinion within an oblong chamber.

The fuel/air mixture is drawn in the intake port during this phase of the rotation.
The mixture is compressed here.
The mixture burns here, driving the rotor around.
And the exhaust is expelled here.
The rotory motion is transferred to the drive shaft via an eccentric wheel (illustrated in blue) that rides in a matching bearing in the rotor. The drive shaft rotates once during every power stroke instead of twice as in the Otto cycle.

The Wankel promised higher power output with fewer moving parts than the Otto cycle engine, however technical difficulties have apparently interfered with widespread adoption. In spite of valiant efforts by Mazda, the four stroke engine remains much more popular.

Two Stroke Engine

The two stroke engine employs the crankcase as well as the cylinder to achieve all the elements of the Otto cycle in only two strokes of the piston.

Intake. The fuel/air mixture is first drawn into the crankcase by the vacuum created during the upward stroke of the piston. The illustrated engine features a poppet intake valve, however many engines use a rotary value incorporated into the crankshaft.
During the downward stroke the poppet valve is forced closed by the increased crankcase pressure. The fuel mixture is then compressed in the crankcase during the remainder of the stroke.
Transfer/Exhaust. Toward the end of the stroke, the piston exposes the intake port, allowing the compressed fuel/air mixture in the crankcase to escape around the piston into the main cylinder. This expels the exhaust gasses out the exhaust port, usually located on the opposite side of the cylinder. Unfortunately, some of the fresh fuel mixture is usually expelled as well.
Compression. The piston then rises, driven by flywheel momentum, and compresses the fuel mixture. (At the same time, another intake stroke is happening beneath the piston).

Power. At the top of the stroke the spark plug ignites the fuel mixture. The burning fuel expands, driving the piston downward, to complete the cycle.
Since the two stroke engine fires on every revolution of the crankshaft, a two stroke engine is usually more powerful than a four stroke engine of equivalent size. This, coupled with their lighter, simpler construction, makes two stroke engines popular in chainsaws, line trimmers, outboard motors, snowmobiles, jet-skis, light motorcycles, and model airplanes. Unfortunately most two stroke engines are inefficient and are terrible polluters due to the amount of unspent fuel that escapes through the exhaust port.

Four Stroke Engine

The four stroke engine was first demonstrated by Nikolaus Otto in 1876¹, hence it is also known as the Otto cycle. The technically correct term is actually four stroke cycle. The four stroke engine is probably the most common engine type nowadays. It powers almost all cars and trucks.



The four strokes of the cycle are intake, compression, power, and exhaust. Each corresponds to one full stroke of the piston, therefore the complete cycle requires two revolutions of the crankshaft to complete.

Intake. During the intake stroke, the piston moves downward, drawing a fresh charge of vaporized fuel/air mixture. The illustrated engine features a 'poppet' intake valve which is drawn open by the vacuum produced by the intake stroke. Some early engines worked this way, however most modern engines incorporate an extra cam/lifter arrangement as seen on the exhaust valve. The exhaust valve is held shut by a spring (not illustrated here).
Compression. As the piston rises the poppet valve is forced shut by the increased cylinder pressure. Flywheel momentum drives the piston upward, compressing the fuel/air mixture.
Power. At the top of the compression stroke the spark plug fires, igniting the compressed fuel. As the fuel burns it expands, driving the piston downward.
Exhaust. At the bottom of the power stroke, the exhaust valve is opened by the cam/lifter mechanism. The upward stroke of the piston drives the exhausted fuel out of the cylinder.
This animation also illustrates a simple ignition system using breaker points, coil, condenser, and battery.

Larger four stroke engines usually include more than one cylinder, have various arrangements for the camshaft (dual, overhead, etc.), sometimes feature fuel injection, turbochargers, multiple valves, etc. None of these enhancements changes the basic operation of the engine.