When selecting an engine for a commercial aircraft, the two most crucial factors are fuel economy and meeting regulatory standards. Of course, there are other factors such as maximum power or thrust and operating velocity that comes into the design process.
In the case of a commercial aircraft, cruising flight is about M=0.8, hence ramjets are impossible to be used. Also, flights need to be stable and quiet. This implies that turboprops are not practical for use in large airliners.
The turbofan is ideal because it not only has very high fuel efficiency, the reduced speed of the air at the nozzles also reduce noise pollution. This is why the turbofan remains the choice of today.
As mentioned earlier, engineers of today are still not satisfied with the turbofan’s superior performance. Research and development is still striving for an even better engine that will meet the goals of the UEET. While these researches are on-going, the turbofan continues serving on almost all of today’s commercial aircrafts.
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