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Aviation glossary

Compressor

Also: axial compressor, high-pressure compressor, centrifugal compressor

Engines

Section of a turbine engine that raises the pressure of incoming air through successive rows of rotating blades and fixed vanes before it reaches the combustor.

What it is

Compressors in modern aero engines are axial: air flows along the shaft through a series of stages, each made up of a rotating row of blades (the rotor) and a fixed row of vanes (the stator). Each stage raises the pressure a little, and in the latest engines the whole compressor can multiply it more than forty times.

A modern turbofan usually splits compression into two or three sections on concentric shafts that turn at different speeds, each driven by its own turbine. Rolls-Royce Trent engines use three shafts; most General Electric and CFM engines use two.

Small turboprops and many auxiliary power units also use centrifugal compressors, in which an impeller flings the air outwards. The compressor absorbs a large share of the energy the turbine produces, and on many aircraft it also supplies the bleed air used to pressurise the cabin.

On Vuelopedia

Rolls-Royce

Related terms

TurbineSet of bladed wheels that extracts energy from the hot combustion gases to drive the engine's compressor, fan or propeller. CombustorSection of a turbine engine where compressed air is mixed with fuel and burnt continuously, producing the hot gases that drive the turbine. Engine coreCentral part of a turbofan, essentially the high-pressure compressor, combustor and high-pressure turbine, through which the air that is burnt passes. FanLarge bladed rotor at the front of a turbofan that accelerates the incoming air and generates most of the engine's thrust. APUSmall gas turbine, usually in the tail cone, that supplies electrical power and compressed air when an aircraft's main engines are shut down.
Whole glossary

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This page was last updated on October 9, 2026

APA

Vuelopedia. (2026, October 9). Compressor. Retrieved October 17, 2026, from https://vuelopedia.org/en/glossary/compressor

MLA

“Compressor.” Vuelopedia, Fundación Poderia, 9 Oct. 2026, vuelopedia.org/en/glossary/compressor. Accessed 17 Oct. 2026.

Chicago

Vuelopedia. “Compressor.” Fundación Poderia. Last modified October 9, 2026. https://vuelopedia.org/en/glossary/compressor.

Harvard

Vuelopedia (2026) Compressor. Available at: https://vuelopedia.org/en/glossary/compressor (Accessed: 17 October 2026).

BibTeX

@misc{vuelopedia_en_glossary_compressor,
  author       = {{Vuelopedia}},
  title        = {{Compressor}},
  publisher    = {Fundación Poderia},
  year         = {2026},
  date         = {2026-10-09},
  url          = {https://vuelopedia.org/en/glossary/compressor},
  howpublished = {\url{https://vuelopedia.org/en/glossary/compressor}},
  urldate      = {2026-10-17},
  note         = {Accessed 2026-10-17}
}

Wikipedia

{{cite web |url=https://vuelopedia.org/en/glossary/compressor |title=Compressor |website=Vuelopedia |publisher=Fundación Poderia |date=2026-10-09 |access-date=2026-10-17 |language=en}}

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