Sectioned combustion chamber from Derwent 8 Aero Engine

Section of combustion chamber cut longitudinally for display purposes.

This chamber has been removed from the main element of a Rolls Royce Derwent engine. The Derwent was a centrifugal flow jet turbine. It mounted a series of these chambers placed radially, just aft of the compressor fan. Compressed air entered the combustion chamber and was mixed with atomised fuel. When the mixture was ignited in the compression chambers it produced a gas jet, which was directed outwards through the blades of a turbine and out past an exhaust nozzle. The revolving turbine blades acted on a central shaft which in turn powered the air comprssor fan. The cutaway shows how the engine's designers used re-directed air to cool the wals of the combustion chamber, and also shows how fuel was injected in.