Wednesday, October 10, 2007

4.1 Overview

When airlines choose which engine to use, there are several factors that they look at. As a business, money is always an issue. Hence fuel efficiency, maintainability, lifespan and cost of engine are important factors to consider. It would be ideal to have an engine that has very high fuel efficiency and high thrust with specifications that can power any aircraft with ease. However, there are always limitations in this industry where safety is never compromised. For an engine to be airworthy it would have to withstand extreme conditions and these will come with a price tag.

Also, there are limitations imposed by governments. Aircraft engines are known to be noisy and emitting greenhouse gases and other pollutants. Since such costs are not borne by airline companies, the government has set regulations to ensure that emissions and noise levels are kept low enough. As engineers, the strive for higher efficiency, less waste/ emission is always on. Despite the long development to have obtained the turbofan today, research and design carries on to meet demands and limitations from all aspects.

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