The patent badge is an abbreviated version of the USPTO patent document. The patent badge does contain a link to the full patent document.
The patent badge is an abbreviated version of the USPTO patent document. The patent badge covers the following: Patent number, Date patent was issued, Date patent was filed, Title of the patent, Applicant, Inventor, Assignee, Attorney firm, Primary examiner, Assistant examiner, CPCs, and Abstract. The patent badge does contain a link to the full patent document (in Adobe Acrobat format, aka pdf). To download or print any patent click here.
Patent No.:
Date of Patent:
Aug. 15, 2000
Filed:
Jun. 11, 1999
Kenneth J Wilson, Ridgecrest, CA (US);
Eric D Erickson, Ridgecrest, CA (US);
Klaus C Schadow, Ridgecrest, CA (US);
The United States of America as represented by the Secretary of the Navy, Washington, DC (US);
Abstract
An apparatus for the disposal of solid rocket motors which produce exhaust ases containing flammable and/or explosive products. The solid rocket motor to be burned is first detachably connected to and inserted in one end of an elongated mixing chamber which has, at an opposite end, a multi-step expansion nozzle. The rocket motor is then ignited and the exhaust gas is passed into the mixing chamber, which is sufficiently large to reduce the velocity of exhaust gases from supersonic to subsonic. Air is injected into the mixing chamber to react with flammable and/or explosive products in the exhaust gases and the resultant mixture is then discharged from the mixing chamber through a multi-step expansion nozzle to expand the gaseous mixture and, at the same time, produce substantial turbulence within the gas mixture which is about six times higher than the turbulence levels produced by a constant area circular nozzle. The expansion nozzle has an inner wall with a stair-step shaped surface, having an aspect ratio of not less than 2 and not greater than 10, to create the increased turbulence levels within the multistep nozzle.