Abstract A hollow pipe whose walls are formed of concentric cylinders of different substances may serve as a container for or as a furnace generating high temperatures on the order of 3,000* K. The substances of each cylinder which may be solid at start up are chosen to have liquid densities so that when the substances melt and the pipe is rotated to rim the substances, the layers maintain their desired relationships. One of the cylindrical layers may include uranium disposed so as to support a neutron chain reaction. Other cylindrical layers are provided to protect the uranium against loss due to vaporization and reaction with elements passing through the pipe and to support the uranium layer even when a liquid. Practical applications of the high temperature apparatus include rocketry, MHD generation, and generally any process requiring high temperatures.
The method of claim 1 in which said two liquid substances are capable of reacting together at a temperature in excess of 1, 500* K. and are maintained when in liquid form by rotation of the substances about a common axis to form concentric cylindrical layers due to the centrifugal force of rotation.
Claim 2
Dependent Claim
20 words
The method of claim 1 wherein the layer having the lower density is capable of supporting a neutron chain reaction.
Claim 3
Dependent Claim
39 words
The method of claim 1 wherein the interpositioned layer substance is substantially nonreactive with the substances of each of the other two layers and is selected from the group consisting of copper, silver, gold, platinum, iridium and mixtures thereof.
Claim 4
Dependent Claim
37 words
The method of claim 1 wherein the heavier of the two substances is a mixture of sodium iodide and potassium iodide, the lighter of the two substances is liquid aluminum and the interpositioned layer is liquid tin.
Claim 5
Independent Claim
133 words
A method for preventing the reaction between two liquid layers of substances which have slow but appreciable reactivity with one another at high temperatures, said method comprising the steps of rotating said layers to form two concentric layers, one of which serves as a heat source for the system, heating the layers to form two liquid concentric layers and then introducing a third substance at a location near but not below the interface between the first two said layers, said third substance being liquid under the conditions of operation, having a density greater than the density of each of the other two substances and being substantially unreactive with the substances in either of the first two layers, and passing a fluid to be heated through the tubular space formed by the concentric layers.