When I see pictures like the link above I've got to wonder what effect
all that blown sand is having on the turbofans.
Blade erosion would be the big problem, no?
If any grains of sand get into the bearings it would be a mess, very
high pressure & temperatures on those bearings.
Are turbines any more or less sensitive to sand than piston engines?
I suspect turbines arent as sensitive as piston engines. More rubbing
parts in the piston engine. The only metal to metal contact points in a
turbine are the bearings theres lots more in a piston engine (valve
heads, pistons, crankshaft, camshaft/belt/rods).
In WWII Hurricanes, Spits & BF109s were given tropical filters (or were
they oil coolers?).
I dont see any obvious 'tropicalisation' for jets.
I saw a diagram of a 'particle seperator' intake for helicopter
turboshaft engines. It used air swirling around to centrifugally
seperate the dust and clean air. I dont know if such devices are yet
(or ever) being used. I think it would be obvious if they were, there
would be an extra pipe after the intake before the exhaust to dump the
dirty air.

Jeremy Thomson