2006-10-07 04:52:18 · 9 answers · asked by Jason L 3 in Cars & Transportation ➔ Aircraft
Water injection was widely used on WWII fighter aircraft, especially the super-charged engines. Very simply, it lowers the combustion temperature and reduces knock under high power settings, allowing higher supercharger pressure and / or additional ignition advance for increased power.
The J-57 engine used on older B52s and KC-135 tankers both used water injection for takeoff. The concept was the same as in the piston engines; it lowers peak combustion temperatures. In a turbine engine, this allows you to kick up the fuel delivery rates for more power during takeoff without the risk of going over-temp in the turbine section.
I also had a Corvair Spyder with the 180 HP turbo engine. We installed water injection on it and kicked up the turbo boost to over 15 PSI with no adverse affects. Measured over 220HP at the rear wheels!
2006-10-07 06:15:30 · answer #1 · answered by Bostonian In MO 7 · 3⤊ 0⤋
Water injection was used in several earlier jet engines, such as the ones on the the original B-52 bomber. Water was used to increase thrust of the engines during take-off, and is the prime reason for the huge streams of black smoke coming from the engines during take-off. The latest versions of the B-52 have been fitted with more modern jet engines which are much more efficient, and don't require water injection.
2006-10-07 12:27:38 · answer #2 · answered by JetDoc 7 · 4⤊ 0⤋
Gas turbines have used water injection to increase the thrust. The thrust was increased by almost half. Small amounts of water introduced into a piston engine can carbon build-up to be released from piston tops and valves. Pieces of witch csn get stuck under the valves causing a problem.
2006-10-07 12:35:59 · answer #3 · answered by unpop5 3 · 2⤊ 0⤋
Some early civilian jet engines and many military jets were injected with a water/methanol mix during take off. This was done to increase the thrust during the take off run.
2006-10-07 16:25:39 · answer #4 · answered by John T 1 · 0⤊ 0⤋
This system was used mostly in Jet aircraft to create additional thrust. It was last use by GE on the KC-135 but has been discontinued due to more powerful and advanced engine design.
2006-10-07 19:13:56 · answer #5 · answered by Ranger473 4 · 0⤊ 0⤋
The AV-8B Harrier is another jet that uses water injection to increase thrust. Under certain conditions, the Harrier does not have the performance to hover unless it has water.
We had a Harrier once forget to turn his water off after taking off from the boat. He used up all his water and could not land back at the boat. He instead needed to divert to an airport.
2006-10-07 16:37:24 · answer #6 · answered by WildBill846 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋
You first have to realize that you are talking about two different theories of engines. Jet engines, or turbine engines, are self sustaining, which means once the spark has created a fire in the engine it shuts off and is not used again until the engine is restarted. The constant flow of fuel and air is what keeps it going. Piston engines have a constant spark going off in each cylinder to cause the combustion of the fuel. That is why they consider turbine engines more efficent than piston engines becaue the piston engine does not burn 100% of the fuel that enters the combustion chamber. In turbine engines this is so. Now I am not exactly sure if you are asking if water injected into these engines for cooling purposes, or just to see if they will still operate with water in them, but no, there is no water that goes through a turbine engine for cooling means. It is strictly done by the massive amount of air that is taken in. In a turbine engine only 20% of the air that is taken in is actually used for combustion. The rest is for cooling. Now as for a piston engine, yes, there is water that goes through the outer portion of the engine block for cooling purposes. Now to answer if water could be injected into a turbine engine. Yes, it can. Not for cooling but rather for cleaning. That is how they clean those engines after so many hours of operation. If water was depended on for cooling in a jet engine, we would be in a world of hurt because the engine gets so hot that it will just boil off the water once it touches the combustion area. Now as for piston engines, no water is never injected into the combustion area. That would cause extensive corrosion and in time lock the motor up.
2006-10-07 12:16:17 · answer #7 · answered by Dilbert 1 · 0⤊ 6⤋
The last 3 answers are good. Dilbert you know nothing about A/C engines so don't come near any heli that I am due to fly in.
2006-10-07 13:28:01 · answer #8 · answered by Anonymous · 1⤊ 0⤋
in the rain
2006-10-07 11:59:36 · answer #9 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 3⤋