Word: compressors
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...goal of the project was to find out what went on inside the compressor of a jet engine. At the time the project was begun, this seemed like an impossible task. Jet engine compressors may have a dozen or so rotating "fans" and a dozen or so stationery ones. The air flow through the compressor is amazingly complex...
...engineers suspected that the compressor was the most critical part of the engine, and suspected that small changes in compressor performance would mean large improvements in the overall engine performance...
Pratt and Whitney provided three pieces of equipment, the tunnel, an axial flow compressor rig, and a centrifugal compressor rig. The tunnel is divided into three parts. The first, or front, is for subsonic speeds and is used to calibrate the instruments used in the testing program. This subsonic section, with a diameter of six inches, narrows down to a throat--shaped section where supersonic speeds are produced. Behind this is a subsonic cascade tunnel, used in the rotor tests...
...most significant results pro- duced by the apparatus is that a much clearer understanding of the flow phenomenan called "surge" has been gained. When air is sucked into the compressor of a jet engine, there are certain air speeds at which the whole air mass pulsates. "Surge is a disaster when it occurs," according to Richard Kronanuer, instructor in Applied Science and a researcher on the project. "When the air in the jet engine begins to pulsate, the pilot has only one choice: he must land or have his engine put out of commission...
...Spooler. The "two-spool" engine, now in fashion both in the U.S. and Britain, solves this problem by means of two compressors, each driven by its own turbine through concentric shafts. The first compressor, which spins comparatively slowly, compresses the air part way. Then the second compressor, spinning faster, takes over and crams the air into the combustion chambers at much higher pressure (up to twelve to one) than could be reached by a single compressor alone. The result is to increase the power of the engine and to reduce its fuel consumption per Ib. of thrust by as much...