Editing Combustor (section)

==Afterburners==
{{Main|Afterburner}}
An afterburner (or reheat) is an additional component added to some [[jet engine]]s, primarily those on military [[supersonic]] aircraft. Its purpose is to provide a temporary increase in [[thrust]], both for supersonic flight and for takeoff (as the high [[wing loading]] typical of supersonic aircraft designs means that take-off speed is very high).  On [[military aircraft]] the extra thrust is also useful for [[aerial combat|combat]] situations.  This is achieved by injecting additional [[jet fuel|fuel]] into the jet pipe downstream of (i.e. ''after'') the [[turbine]] and combusting it.  The advantage of afterburning is significantly increased thrust; the disadvantage is its very high fuel consumption and inefficiency, though this is often regarded as acceptable for the short periods during which it is usually used.

Jet engines are referred to as operating ''wet'' when afterburning is being used and ''dry'' when the engine is used without afterburning. An engine producing maximum thrust wet is at ''maximum power'' or ''max reheat'' (this is the maximum power the engine can produce); an engine producing maximum thrust dry is at ''military power'' or ''max dry''.

As with the main combustor in a gas turbine, the afterburner has both a case and a liner, serving the same purpose as their main combustor counterparts. One major difference between a main combustor and an afterburner is that the temperature rise is not constrained by a turbine section, therefore afterburners tend to have a much higher temperature rise than main combustors.<ref>Mattingly, pp. 770–1.</ref> Another difference is that afterburners are not designed to mix fuel as well as primary combustors, so not all the fuel is burned within the afterburner section.<ref>Flack, pp. 445–6.</ref> Afterburners also often require the use of [[flame holder|flameholders]] to keep the velocity of the air in the afterburner from blowing the flame out. These are often bluff bodies or "vee-gutters" directly behind the fuel injectors that create localized low-speed flow in the same manner the dome does in the main combustor.<ref>Mattingly, p. 747.</ref>