Turbine

A **turbine** is a rotary mechanical device that extracts energy from a fluid flow and converts it into useful work. The work produced by a turbine can be used for generating electrical power when combined with a generator. A turbine is a turbo-machine with at least one moving part called a rotor assembly, which is a shaft or drum with blades attached. Moving fluid acts on the blades so that they move and impart rotational energy to the rotor. Early turbine examples are windmills and waterwheels.

## Description

Simply put, a turbine is basically a rotor, in which angled blades are attached. As air moves through the blades, the fluid or air pressure against the blades, causes the rotor to spin. In aircraft, high-pressure gases resulting from combustion, takes the place of water or wind in driving the motion of the rotor. As a result, the resulting thrust is what drives jet engines forward. At the same time, the rotational energy can be harnessed via reduction gears can to drive other machines at lesser speeds.

There are several advantages which offset the increased cost and fuel consumption of the turbine. With less moving parts compared to a piston-driven engine, there is less vibration and maintenance. More power is transferred to the task at hand, whether it is towards movement or work. Machines can operate at higher speeds and altitude than reciprocating engines.

## Types of turbine engines

### Turbojet engine

The **turbojet** is an airbreathing jet engine, typically used in aircraft. It consists of a gas turbine with a propelling nozzle. The gas turbine has an air inlet, a compressor, a combustion chamber, and a turbine (that drives the compressor). The compressed air from the compressor is heated by the fuel in the combustion chamber and then allowed to expand through the turbine. The turbine exhaust is then expanded in the propelling nozzle where it is accelerated to high speed to provide thrust.

### Turbofan engine

The **turbofan** or **fanjet** is a type of airbreathing jet engine that is widely used in aircraft propulsion. The word "turbofan" is a portmanteau of "turbine" and "fan": the *turbo* portion refers to a gas turbine engine which achieves mechanical energy from combustion, and the *fan*, a ducted fan that uses the mechanical energy from the gas turbine to accelerate air rearwards. Thus, whereas all the air taken in by a turbojet passes through the turbine (through the combustion chamber), in a turbofan some of that air bypasses the turbine. A turbofan thus can be thought of as a turbojet being used to drive a ducted fan, with both of these contributing to the thrust.

### Turboshaft engine

A **turboshaft** engine is a form of gas turbine that is optimized to produce shaftpower rather than jet thrust.

In concept, turboshaft engines are very similar to turbojets, with additional turbine expansion to extract heat energy from the exhaust and convert it into output shaft power. They are even more similar to turboprops, with only minor differences, and a single engine is often sold in both forms.

### Turboprop engine

A **turboprop** engine is a turbine engine that drives an aircraft propeller.

In its simplest form a turboprop consists of an intake, compressor, combustor, turbine, and a propelling nozzle. Air is drawn into the intake and compressed by the compressor. Fuel is then added to the compressed air in the combustor, where the fuel-air mixture then combusts. The hot combustion gases expand through the turbine. Some of the power generated by the turbine is used to drive the compressor. Thrust is obtained by the combusting gases, pushing toward a (vectored) surface in front of the expanding gas.

## Turbines in the New World

When Japan was first transferred to the New World, the applications of the turbine were few and far between. In the nations Outside of the Civilized Areas and Third Civilization Area, people only used things like windmills and waterwheels for simple tasks, such as grinding corn into meal or manual labor. For the Second Civilization Area and First Civilization Area nations and the Gra Valkas Empire, the idea of using the principle of the turbine for smaller vehicles was unheard of. The nation of Mu and Gra Valkas were still using the piston-driven/reciprocating engine, while the Holy Milishial Empire's best aircraft, relied on the Light Discharge, Air-Compression Engine, which had no turbines and therefore had very poor performance. For ships, Mu and the Gra Valkas Empire still relied on steam-driven engines.

Japan however, changed the entire game completely with their widespread use of the turbine in many aspects. Jet fighters rule the skies in terms of speed, altitude and power. Even the turboprop engine makes the propeller far more efficient at higher altitudes and speeds without the need of a supercharger. Turboshaft engines make the helicopter a viable transport and weapon of war. On the sea, gas-driven turbine engines allow for large ships to move through the water at unheard speeds. On land, the turbine is very much used as a way to transmit electrical power to any city grid and are used in trains via turbine-electric transmission. Unlike steam-driven machines, gas-driven turbines have greater efficiency due to higher operating temperatures.

Like all of their other technology, Japan's turbine technology is greatly desired by the other nations and like Mu, either requests for the technology to be exported to them or have begun studying the principles behind it.