RadBadTad t1_j6iv831 wrote
Reply to comment by sepientr34 in Eli5 Why gas turbine can rev at >10000 rpm but diesel engine red lone at 3000-4000 rpm? by sepientr34
Yes, it's like a pilot light on your water heater or oven. Once it's lit, it remains lit, as there is one long continuous combustion rather than repeated small explosions like in an internal combustion engine with pistons.
/* With turbines, it's actually that once they get up to self sustaining speeds of rotation, the compression they achieve is enough to ignite any fuel that is sprayed into the combustion chamber, which then expands and turns the blades on the way out of the engine, which continues to turn the compression blades up front, which maintains (or ads to) the speed of rotation. It's actually a very neat process to me.
The way they start up multi-turbine aircraft is basically by hooking up a small portable turbine that pushes air through the first engine on the aircraft, which begins turning the compressor on that engine until it achieves ignition and becomes self sustaining. Then, they disconnect the portable engine, and close some vents in the running engine and shunt the spare airflow to the next stopped engine, which gets that one turning until IT achieves sustaining speeds, and so on.
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