Turbo Charger Jet Engine

Turbo charger jet engines use commonly available parts to build a fully functional jet engine. A turbo charger has two of the three components required to build a jet engine, a compressor and a turbine. To complete the engine, a combustion chamber must be fitted between the outlet of the compressor and the inlet of the turbine. Turbo charger jet engines are relatively cheap to build as all of the parts can be found at auto wreckers or around the home. Several sub systems are required to operate a turbo charger jet engine. They typical are lubrication, cooling, fuel, starting, ignition and monitoring systems. To improve performance, an after burner or water injection system can be installed. Such engines have been used as static displays and to power small vehicles.

Operating Principle

Jet engines operate using the Brayton Cycle where atmospheric air is pressurised by the compressor and fed into the combustion chamber. In the combustion chamber fuel is mixed with the compressed air and ignited. This mixture is then fed through the turbine where the energy of the gases is converted into rotational mechanical energy. This energy is used to power the compressor and the remaining energy is ejected as useful thrust^[1].

Fuel Types

Propane can be used as it is cheap and readily available. You can manually adjust the fuel flow by opening and closing the valve on the propane tank. Liquid fuel delivery methods GeneRally require more equipment for an effective throttle. Propane is generally not used for the AfterBurner as it does not burn hot or fast enough.

Typical consumption using propane is AbOUT 1 gallon per minute at full throttle without an afterburner.