Theory of Jet Engine

A jet engine is a machine that converts energy-rich,

liquid fuel into a powerful pushing force called thrust.
The thrust from one or more engines pushes a plane
forward, forcing air past its scientifically shaped
wings to create an upward force called lift that
powers it into the sky. That, in short, is how planes
work—but how do jet engines work?

什麼是噴氣發動機？
噴氣發動機是⼀種將能量豐富的液體燃料轉換成稱
為推⼒的強⼤推⼒的機器。⼀個或多個引擎的推⼒
將⾶機向前推動，迫使空氣經過其科學形狀的機
翼，從⽽產⽣⼀種稱為升⼒的向上⼒，將其推向天
空。簡⽽⾔之，⾶機是如何⼯作的，但是噴氣發動
機如何⼯作？

One way to understand modern jet engines is to

compare them with the piston engines used in early
airplanes, which are very similar to the ones still used
in cars. A piston engine (also called a reciprocating
engine, because the pistons move back and forth or
"reciprocate") makes its power in strong steel
"cooking pots" called cylinders. Fuel is squirted into
the cylinders with air from the atmosphere. The
piston in each cylinder compresses the mixture,
raising its temperature so it either ignites
spontaneously (in a diesel engine) or with help from a
sparking plug (in a gas engine). The burning fuel and
air explodes and expands, pushing the piston back out
and driving the crankshaft that powers the car's
wheels (or the plane's propeller), before the whole
four-step cycle (intake, compression, combustion,
exhaust) repeats itself. The trouble with this is that
the piston is driven only during one of the four steps
—so it's making power only a fraction of the time.
The amount of power a piston engine makes is
directly related to how big the cylinder is and how far
the piston moves; unless you use hefty cylinders and
pistons (or many of them), you're limited to producing
relatively modest amounts of power. If your piston
engine is powering a plane, that limits how fast it can
fly, how much lift it can make, how big it can be, and
how much it can carry.

了解現代噴氣發動機的⼀種⽅法是將其與早期⾶機
中使⽤的活塞發動機進⾏⽐較，後者與仍在汽⾞中
使⽤的活塞發動機⾮常相似。活塞發動機（也稱為
往復式發動機，因為活塞來回移動或“往復運動”）
在稱為氣缸的堅固鋼製“烹飪鍋”中產⽣動⼒。燃油
與⼤氣中的空氣⼀起噴⼊氣缸。每個氣缸中的活塞
都會壓縮混合物，從⽽升⾼混合物的溫度，從⽽使
其⾃燃（在柴油發動機中）或借助⽕花塞（在燃氣
發動機中）點燃。在整個四步循環（進氣，壓縮，
燃燒，排氣）重複進⾏之前，燃燒的燃料和空氣爆
炸並膨脹，將活塞向後推出並驅動為汽⾞⾞輪（或
⾶機螺旋槳）提供動⼒的曲軸。這樣做的⿇煩在
於，活塞僅在四個步驟中的⼀個步驟中被驅動，因
此它僅在很⼩⼀部分時間內就產⽣了動⼒。活塞發
動機產⽣的功率⼤⼩直接與氣缸的⼤⼩以及活塞移
動的距離有關。除⾮您使⽤笨重的氣缸和活塞（或
其中許多），否則您只能產⽣相對適度的功率。如
果您的活塞發動機為⾶機提供動⼒，則將限制其⾶
⾏速度，⾶⾏能⼒，⾶⾏能⼒以及承載能⼒。

A jet engine uses the same scientific principle as a car

engine: it burns fuel with air (in a chemical reaction
called combustion) to release energy that powers a
plane, vehicle, or other machine. But instead of using
cylinders that go through four steps in turn, it uses a
long metal tube that carries out the same four steps in
a straight-line sequence—a kind of thrust-making
production line! In the simplest type of jet engine,
called a turbojet, air is drawn in at the front through
an inlet (or intake), compressed by a fan, mixed with
fuel and combusted, and then fired out as a hot, fast
moving exhaust at the back.
噴氣發動機使⽤與汽⾞發動機相同的科學原理：它
與空氣燃燒燃料（發⽣化學反應，稱為燃燒）以釋
放能量，為⾶機，⾞輛或其他機器提供動⼒。但
是，它不是使⽤依次經過四個步驟的氣缸，⽽是使
⽤了⼀條⾧⾦屬管，該⾦屬管按直線順序執⾏了相
同的四個步驟，這是⼀種推⼒⽣產線！在最簡單的
噴氣發動機（稱為渦輪噴氣發動機）中，空氣通過
進氣⼝（或進氣⼝）從前部吸⼊，被⾵扇壓縮，與
燃料混合併燃燒，然後作為熱的廢氣，將其快速的
在背部噴出。

Three things make a jet engine more powerful than a

car's piston engine:
1 A basic principle of physics called the law of
conservation of energy tells us that if a jet engine
needs to make more power each second, it has to
burn more fuel each second. A jet engine is
meticulously designed to hoover up huge amounts
of air and burn it with vast amounts of fuel
(roughly in the ratio 50 parts air to one part fuel),
so the main reason why it makes more power is
because it can burn more fuel.
 2 Because intake, compression, combustion, and
exhaust all happen simultaneously, a jet engine
produces maximum power all the time (unlike a
single cylinder in a piston engine).
3 Unlike a piston engine (which uses a single stroke
of the piston to extract energy), a typical jet
engine passes its exhaust through multiple
turbine "stages" to extract as much energy as
possible. That makes it much more efficient (it
gets more power from the same mass of fuel).
噴氣發動機⽐汽⾞的活塞發動機更強⼤的三件事：

1. 物理學的⼀個基本原理稱為能量守恆定律，它告
訴我們，如果噴氣發動機每秒需要產⽣更多的功
率，則它每秒必須燃燒更多的燃料。噴氣發動機經
過精⼼設計，可以散發⼤量的空氣，並以⼤量的燃
料（⼤約50份空氣與⼀份燃料的⽐率）燃燒它，因
此產⽣更⼤功率的主要原因是因為它可以燃燒更多
汽油。
2. 由於進氣，壓縮，燃燒和排氣同時發⽣，因此噴
氣發動機始終保持最⼤功率（與活塞發動機中的單
個氣缸不同）。
3. 與活塞發動機（使⽤活塞的單個衝程來提取能
量）不同，典型的噴氣發動機將其廢氣通過多個渦
輪機“級”以提取盡可能多的能量。這使其效率更⾼
（從相同質量的燃料中獲得更多動⼒）。