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:
Oct. 26, 2004
Filed:
Feb. 07, 2003
Rodney L. Burton, Champaign, IL (US);
CU Aerospace, Urbana, IL (US);
Abstract
The present invention includes a method for a dual-mode propulsion system. During the first mode of operation, intake air is liquefied through a cooling heat exchanger and condenser using a combination of stored liquid hydrogen (LH ) and stored liquid nitrogen (LN ) as coolants. The liquefied air is then separated into separated liquid oxygen ( LO ) and separated liquid nitrogen ( LN ), which may contain molecules of each other or other elements commonly found in air. The stored liquid nitrogen is replaced with LO , while the LN is pumped back through the system with the stored nitrogen in a regeneration process. The LN , LN , and LH become gaseous as they pass through the condenser and heat exchanger and are burned in the dual mode rocket thrust chamber to produce thrust. In the second mode, the same thrust chamber is operated as a liquid hydrogen-oxygen rocket, where the liquid oxygen is the LO collected during the first mode.