INTERNAL-COMBUSTION ENGINE. When a fuel is burned in air, the resulting hot gas tries to expand, generating a force that can be used to move a piston in a cylinder, as in the automobile engine, or to drive the blades of a turbine. In either case, because the combustion takes place within it, the engine is called an internal-combustion engine. Modern transportation relies heavily upon internal-combustion engines. All airplanes and most automobiles, ships, and railroad …
showed first 75 words of 929 total

showed last 75 words of 929 total
…alternately drawn in and exhausted, a gas turbine engine draws air in continuously. It compresses the air in a combustion chamber where it is mixed with fuel and burned. This creates hot, expanding gases. A portion of the gases is used to drive the engine's compressor, compressing more air to mix with fuel. The remaining portion of the gases is piped off, then is used to run gas turbine-driven electric generators, turboprops, or jet engines.