la composicion se ha desconfigurado algo…
After all the turmoil caused by the Iceland volcano and the series of misfortune statement heard on the news (my personal favorite comes from a SEPLA Safety representative stating on TVE that ashes prevents Oxygen from coming into the engine, hence it stops) here is a little reading from Airbus Flight Ooperations Breifin Notes saying that the main risks from flying into a volcanic ash clouds are:
– Radar can´t see them
– Component abrasion (ashes are in fact small rocks)
– Regarding engine (where the big discussion is):
Ingestion of volcanic ash by engines may cause serious deterioration of engine performance due to erosion of moving parts (compressor blades edges, reducing compressor performance) and/or partial or complete blocking of fuel nozzles.
Volcanic ash contains particles, whose melting point is below engine internal temperature. In-flight, these particles will immediately melt if they go through an engine (Glass particles will melt in the combustion chamber, if high thrust rating is used). Going through the turbine , the melted materials are rapidly cooled down, stick on the turbine vanes, and disturb the flow of high-pressure combustion gases (Melted material will cool down in the turbine and deposit on the turbine vanes). This disorder of the flow may stall the engine, in worst cases.
Conclusion: read more, talk less
