Eli5: What happens to the rain that goes into jet engines while in flight?

370 viewsEngineeringOther

Eli5: What happens to the rain that goes into jet engines while in flight?

In: Engineering

3 Answers

Anonymous 0 Comments

In modern engines with a high bypass ratio most of the water gets centrifugally spun around the core and passes straight through the fan with no effect.. even super heavy rain has no appreciable effect.

The small amount that does make it into the core quickly becomes steam and passes through without any noticeable effect.

After the engine exploded on Qantas flight QF15 fire crews in Singapore tried for a very long time to extinguish the still running number 1 engine with a fire hose but it didn’t work until mechanics were able to manually close a fuel valve (IIRC).

https://images.app.goo.gl/gRCRTodnT8VxTz2bA

Edit: QF32 not 15 🤦‍♂️ and foam not water. Thx

You are viewing 1 out of 3 answers, click here to view all answers.