Fuel consumption of jet engine? Gallons per hour?
What is the fuel consumption of a Pratt & Whitney JT8D jet engine, in gallons per hour or pounds per hour? It’s the engine from the old Boeing 727′s and pre-1981 737′s, among others. The SAAB Gripen fighter used an engine derivative.
I was thinking about a small, supersonic airplane capable of flight with 2-4 passengers. Some newer fighters are capable of supercruise (non-afterburning superburning flight, to save fuel and extend range). They also have gun and bomb loads, redundant systems, radars, great visibility, carrier ops equipment, very high strength, extreme maneuverability, etc… Everything else these airplanes need to do adds weight, cost, and aerodynamic drag. Removing those requirements and concentrating on efficiently going fast sounds easy. I like the JT8D since it’s powerful enough to push airliners and would be the able to do this while only being a single engine airplane, yet has great parts availability and cheap initial cost. Dreaming up an airplane design is fun. (I know, I’m a dork! GRINS) I just need to know how much fuel they burn, in order to design around it. Knowing both the sea-level, max power takeoff thrust fuel consumption and high altitude (at least 40,000 feet) cruise thrust fuel consumption would help. Thanks!
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Filed under Gas Conservation FAQ by on Feb 27th, 2011. Comment. 
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Comments on Fuel consumption of jet engine? Gallons per hour?
sorry depends how fast your going
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not sure on how much they use, i just know that it’s not really gallons per hour, its more like gallons per minute. they burn several gallons a minute, not sure on an exact number tho.
About 3000 pounds an hour (divide by 6 or so). Jet consumption is generally in PPH because the specific gravity can change with temperature over the operating altitudes.
JT8D was a hell of an engine.
Average block fuel burn for the JT8D-217C or -219 engines on the MD80 is 6500 lb/hour, which with fuel weighing 6.7 lb/gallon is about 1000 gallons per hour, or 500 GPH per engine.
3000 pounds per hour in cruise.
Jet engines use pounds per hour (PPH) instead of gallons per hour because using consumption as gallons per hour would result in high numbers. 3000 lbs per hour is the same as about 18,000 gallons per hour. Also, pounds of fuel on board a jet is easier to use for weight and balance calculations before takeoff and while in flight. Another reason is a pound of fuel is a pound of fuel regardless of unit of volume measure (imperial or metric).