eriknorth said:
I'm having a hard time understanding the difference in engine types. I hear people talking about them, but sometimes I just get confused. Could someone simplify for me how turbine, turbofan, turbojet, and turboprop are related?
A Turbine is anything that uses a Gas Turbine for power (all of the above listed engines)
A Turbo-Fan is a Jet engine with a fan on the front, it is the most common "Jet" engine of today... 747, 757, 767, 777, Falcons, G-IV/V, Lear 30, 50 and 60 series, Citations, etc... all have turbo-fans (Hi-Bypass at that)... There is hi-bypass and low-bypass turbofans... low bypass are older and hi-bypass are newer and more efficient. A hi-bypass turbofan produces a large percentage of its thrust from the fan, and a small percentage of thrust for the jet core of the engine... A low bypass engine develops a smaller percentage from the fan and a larger percentage from the core (relatively speaking).
A turbo-jet is a straight jet engine (no fan) and it produces all of its thrust from the jet core... These were the original jet engines, old airliners and old corporate jets had these (707, Lear 20 series, Hawker 125's with Viper engines) They are loud and not very fuel efficient.
A Turbo-Prop is a small turbine engine that has a gearbox that converts the power of the turbine to a shaft which turns a propeller. These turbine engines are small and fuel efficient, the power produced is more efficient urning the prop than creating thrust from the small jet core.
Hope this answers your questions...