In concept it is. In practice, it is not, as evidenced by the very much higher cost. It's practical operation is quite demanding, due to the high-temperatures and high speeds that the turbine works at.
The whole thing threatening to stop working if one part fails.You should see what happens when one part of a turbine fails!
Perhaps you can explain why a turbine engine is so expensive if it is so simple......
A turbine is a beautifully simple machine. Simple does not mean inferior or cheap.
“You should see what happens when one part of a turbine fails!”
A turbine is much more reliable because they are simple and have far fewer failure modes. Yes when they fail, they fail dramatically, but they are much less likely to fail.
“Perhaps you can explain why a turbine engine is so expensive if it is so simple......”
A turbine is more expensive for two reasons. They require more expensive material and they do not have the same economy of scale.
A functional turbine engine can be made by a fabricator for less money and less effort than a functional ICE engine because it is a more simple machine. I can send you to several sites that instruct metal fabricators on how to build their own functioning turbine using conventional materials, granted it will not perform like a GE engine but show me someone that can build a 4 cycle engine in their shop out of stock material.
Don't take offense when I call a turbine a simple machine. Simplicity is a complement from an engineering standpoint. Also, is a turbine more expensive per HP or kilowatt generated? I'm not sure that they are really that much more expensive based on output.