Abstract Use is made in a jet propelled vehicle of the catalytic reforming of a hydrocarbon with steam and carbon dioxide, as supplied by the exhaust from the afterburner of the jet engine, to generate heat sink capacities of the order of 6,000 BTU per pound of the fuel, e.g., methane, which is combined with the exhaust gases for passage to the reforming zone, or zones, which serve the desired heat sink function. In operation, a portion of the extremely hot exhaust gases from the engine afterburner, which contain steam and carbon dioxide but are as lean as practicable in oxygen, is first quenched by external or internal cooling and then admixed with the hydrocarbon fuel, which provides still further cooling. The resulting gaseous mixture is then passed over a catalyst in a reforming zone which operates endothermally. The gases from this zone are then passed to the aft fan of the engine which propels them into the afterburner for combustion and resulting thrust augmentation. The heat sink provided by the reforming zone can be utilized to take up heat from any desired points in the vehicle including the engine, wing surfaces, or the like, using direct or indirect methods of heat exchange.
The method as recited in claim 1 wherein the exhaust gases are quenched by heat exchange with an air stream.
Claim 2
Dependent Claim
20 words
The method as recited in claim 1 wherein the exhaust gases are quenched by injection of a liquid water stream.
Claim 3
Dependent Claim
18 words
The method as recited in claim 1 wherein the hydrocarbon admixed with the quenched exhaust gases is methane.
Claim 4
Dependent Claim
36 words
The method of operation recited in claim 1 wherein the jet engine is equipped with an aft fan and wherein the reformed gases are passed to said fan for discharge into the afterburner of the engine.
Claim 5
Dependent Claim
29 words
The method as recited in claim 1 wherein the operation of the jet engine is such that the oxygen content of the exhaust gases from the afterburner is low.
Claim 6
Dependent Claim
25 words
The method as recited in claim 6 wherein combustion of the reformed gases in the afterburner consumes substantially all of the available oxygen admitted thereto.
Claim 7
Dependent Claim
137 words
A jet propelled vehicle having a jet engine of the type incorporating an aft fan and an afterburner, in combination with a conduit communicating with the afterburner for collecting a portion of the exhaust gases generated in the afterburner, means for quenching the collected exhaust gases, means for injecting a hydrocarbon fuel into the quenched gases, a catalyst-containing reforming unit adapted to receive the resulting fuel-containing gases and to subject the same to an endothermic reforming reaction, heat transfer means for conducting to the reforming unit, from some portion of the vehicle to be cooled, the heat necessary to maintain the reforming unit at the desired reforming temperatures, and means communicating with the reforming unit for receiving the reformed gases and for passing the same to the aft fan for discharge into the afterburner of the engine.