Afterburners
Afterburners are special devices fitted between the turbine and the nozzle of some turbojets and turbofans. A modern turbine engine is extremely efficient, and there is still a lot of oxygen available in the exhaust stream. The idea behind an afterburner is to inject fuel directly into the exhaust stream and burn it using this remaining oxygen. This heats and expands the exhaust gases further, and can increase the thrust of a jet engine by 50% or more.
The big advantage of an afterburner is that you can significantly increase the thrust of the engine without adding much weight or complexity to the engine.
The disadvantage of an afterburner is that it uses a lot of fuel for the power it generates. Therefore most planes use afterburners sparingly.
1 comment:
Possible to have an afterburner installed in me? I really need that 50% extra thrust, especially when I get up in the mornings. But then again, I have like 0% energy at that ungodly hour, so 50% of 0% is what? zero or infinity?
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