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Why are centrifugal compressors used on many small turbofan engines?
Advantages are: Centrifugal compressors achieve higher compression ratios than axial compressors – per stage. Compression ratios of 4 – 6, while an axial stage can only do 1.4 – 1.6.
What planes use turbofan engines?
It is an engine commonly used on wide-body airliners like the Boeing 747 and the Airbus A300. The Pratt & Whitney JT9D is a high bypass ratio (β = 5) turbofan with separate nozzles for the fan and the jet.
Is the fan in a turbo engine a centrifugal compressor?
The fan in a turbofan engine is nothing but an air compressor, and does exactly the same as a centrifugal compressor. The axial arrangement in a turbofan allows for neat separation of bypass flow and hot flow, and this is the only (relatively simple) engineering problem that would have to be solved in a centrifugal compressor engine.
Which is an example of a centrifugal turbojet?
The most obvious example today is the fact that nobody uses axial compressors for turbochargers and most in fact use similar impellers as the turbine as well. You won’t see axial compressors on any of the little micro turbojets used in RC. A lot of smaller turboprops also use centrifugal compressors, sometimes in combination with axial stages.
How are a turbojet engine and a turbofan engine alike?
Turbojets and turbofans are very similar indeed: both are turbine engines; both create thrust from jet exhaust; and both have a rotating implement in front that can be called a fan.
Why are centrifugal compressors used in jet engines?
A lot of smaller turboprops also use centrifugal compressors, sometimes in combination with axial stages. That should tell you something about how much easier and cheaper it is to make. Centrifugal compressors were common on WW2 piston engines, so jet engine designers could build on this experience.