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introduction
The goal of this website is to serve as an informal guide upon how to build a gas turbine engine with parts found in junkyards and local DIY stores. The idea is really not new, in fact this was inspired by a similar project found at junkyardjet.com . The only difference i hope to have from that website is more videos and pictures describing my successes, and inevitable failures.
One of the constraints to this project is definitely how hard it hits my wallet. However, for at least the turbocharger i would very much like to be able to buy one that does not have any telling signs of failure to come, id rather not be subject to something spinning at over 30,000 rpm failing and spitting little metal shards of doom in every direction... its just not what id call a good day. Keeping that in mind, id love for the price of putting this together to be under 200ish dollars.Ive set up an account if anyone would like to donate (Look in the top right of the page :) ), and ill completely guarantee that every penny will be put into the engine and making sure i don't blow myself up.
Having the necessary tools is one thing that i'm happy to say i've got going for me. Due to my interest in crafting different contraptions up and working on cars, i have almost every tool on hand that i think i may need short of a welding unit which is only a drive away.
"If you have to ask, you'll never understand." The FAQ on the junkyardjet.com couldn't have said it any better... I have a lot of interest in engineering, and for the majority of my life have been tinkering with things, taking them apart to see how they work, and at least for less years, being able to put them back together :) . Anyways, what would be better on a college application than "built a jet engine senior year"?
Afterword- More to come!
So in general, and at least to my standards, the project wasn't a success really. Realistically though I learned so much in the area of electric engineering, thermodynamics, and general improvisational skills from it. Ill just belt out, from the final result, what could have been changed to make it better, they aren't really in any kind of order regarding importance, they just are arranged by which came to my head first:
1: Combustion chamber way too small:
This would have worked a lot better if I had just stuck with the first turbo I had, but even then the combustion chamber was simply too small to allow the gas and air to adequately mix. Just a rule of thumb I think is pretty valid here, if the inside diameter of the outermost layer of your combustion chamber is smaller than the diameter of your exhaust turbine, then you’re looking at some problems, mainly regarding a severe lack of efficiency, a dangerous amount of heat hitting the turbine fan, and a very low top speed.
2: Oil system rushed through:
The design of the oil system, if you couldn't tell by how I kind of rushed through the design part of it, is quite poorly designed. What I know about turbochargers, but decided not to incorporate into design, was to leave from the oil drain flange to the pump completely open. Later on I ended up just running a 1" fitting going right into the oil reservoir, which did fine. Keep in mind that oil pumps put a good amount of pressure out, so either find a motor that will run it fast enough to work, but slow enough to not create pressure within the turbo. If you can't do that, then with the use of valves and alternate oil lines around the turbo, create kind of a bypass system to divert some of the oil away from the turbo.
Something else you may have noticed is that I didn't run a filter on my oil system. I'll even admit, this wasn't a great idea, but the only remote filters I could find were off V8 engines and added another quart or so of oil to the system's capacity. What it really came down to was not having enough space for one.
The oil cooler, in my opinion and for my application, was unnecessary. I never would run the engine long enough for it to really matter, and it just took up space and made things that much more complicated.
3: Frame was made out of wood....
The first time it ran, yes, the frame caught on fire. In a way, I expected it to, but really at the time of design I just didn’t care that much. What you end up seeing is me using a thick black fabric between the turbo and the wood. This did a good job of stopping the hot-air leaks from my rushed through gaskets and flange. Near the engine's last runs however, the supposedly "flameproof" fabric erupted into a horrifying ball of flames. I would recommend that if you do decide to make a wood frame, to keep the turbine from sitting directly on it, and if you can, build your frame out of some kind of metal, although it's harder for most to make, it pays itself off later on.
