My First Homemade Jet Engine

[twenglish1]

I recently got my engine up and running, it runs great but there is alot i need to improve on. The main improvement i want to make is make the oil system closed off, right now it is just a really simple set up cause i was eager to get this up and running. Right now the only form of instrumentation i have on it is a boost gauge on the compressor.

The engine currently runs on propane, i have a small needle valve for the throttle.

The turbocharger is small, has 1.5 inch inducer on the compressor.

Picture of turbo disassembled:


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The combustion chamber was designed using JetSpecs, and then i drew it up in Autodesk Inventor, and then used to 3d models to create patterns to cut out the various flanges, and to plan where to put the holes in the flame tube. After everything was planned out i got to work building it. I used a plasma cutter to cut out the end plates and flanges for the combustor and then welded everything together.

Here is a picture of the combustor with the back plate removed to show the flame tube(You all get to see me junked up work space):


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Here is a picture of my engine fully assembled:


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Sorry the pictures are kinda big, but i have alot more if anybody is interested, i also have all the inventor files(the 2011 version) for the combustor if anybody is interested.

here are a few videos i have of the engine running:

youtu.be/gI2sAIb7F_Y

youtu.be/YSpHmME7tuI

youtu.be/OLr76gf3pfY

All of this was designed, built and tested by me, let me know what you think

[Johansson]

Welcome to the forum and hats off for a nice build!

Are you planning to use the engine for something or is it just for show?

One hint is to scale the pics so that they fit the webpage, I think that the webmaster has to fix this somehow since it is somewhat of an issue that keeps occuring.

[twenglish1]

I think this engine is gonna be just for show, it isn't very big and the calculated thrust(with a jet nozzle) is only about 15lbs. I don't think i can do too much with that, possibly free power, seems a little complicated to set up though and i don't have alot of money. Maybe one day i will get a hold of a bigger turbo, i would love to build a jet kart or something like that

[Johansson]

A home built free power turbine doesen´t have to cost much, and if you do it right you could get as much as 15HP out of your 15lbs of thrust. Should get a cart moving really good.