One Second in the Life of a Merlin

An interesting read I thought

http://www.valves.co.uk/blog/?p=143

If you could take a 12 cylinder World War II Rolls Royce Merlin engine going full blast, slow time down and examine just one second, what would you find?

In that one second, the V-12 Rolls-Royce Merlin engine would have gone through 60 revolutions, with each of the 48 valves slamming open and closed 30 times. The 24 spark plugs have fired 720 times. Each piston has travelled a total of 60 feet in linear distance at an average speed of 41 miles per hour, with the direction of movement reversing 180 degrees after every 6 inches.

Three hundred and sixty power pulses have been transmitted to the crankshaft, making 360 sonic booms as the exhaust gas is expelled from the cylinder with a velocity exceeding the speed of sound. The water pump impeller has spun 90 revolutions, sending 4 gallons of coolant surging through the engine and radiators.

The oil pumps have forced 47 fluid ounces, roughly one-third gallon, of oil through the engine, oil cooler and oil tank, scavenging heat and lubricating the flailing machinery. The supercharger rotor has completed 348 revolutions, its rim spinning at Mach 1, forcing 4.2 pounds or 55 cubic feet of ambient air into the combustion chambers under 3 atmospheres of boost pressure. Around 9 fluid ounces of high-octane aviation fuel, 7,843 BTUs of energy has been injected into the carburettor, along with 5.3 fluid ounces of methanol/water anti-detonant injection (ADI) fluid.

Perhaps 1/8th fluid ounce of engine oil has been either combusted or blown overboard via the crankcase breather tube. Over 1.65 million foot-pounds of work have been done, the equivalent of lifting a large car.

This great engine was fitted in the British Spitfires, Hurricanes, Mosquitos, Halifaxes, Lancasters and the American P51 long range bomber escort.