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In the on-board magazine of my today's flight, there was a report on how fuel efficient the airline flies. They accomplish this by new scitimar winglets, daily optimized route planning, and regular cleaning of the jet engines.

I never heard about this cleaning. How and how often is it done?

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  • $\begingroup$ Related video $\endgroup$ – fooot May 28 at 20:39
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    $\begingroup$ One of the top causes of cabin smoke/stink incidents is failing to do a sufficient post cleaning engine run to purge the detergent from the compressor before dispatching. $\endgroup$ – John K May 28 at 21:22
  • $\begingroup$ What's the detergent used? $\endgroup$ – CrossRoads May 28 at 21:27
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It used to be done launching crushed walnut shells into the running engine and the blades are polished by the process. Known as Coke Blasting. The process is uncommon these days.

Similarly they use a walnut shelll coated emery cloth to polish crankshafts after machining

http://www.dennisdawson.com/jetblast.htm

It is still commonly done on industrial turbines apparently

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