Patent ID: 7628606

Claim:
A method producing a supersonic flame jet stream for use in heating and propulsion applications, said method comprising the steps of creating an intense vortex of essentially pure liquid or gaseous oxygen within and through a constricting bore of a length at least six times that of its diameter, the vortex possessing a sub-atmospheric pressure eye positioned centrally through the bore; passing a gaseous fuel axially into the eye of the continuously constricted vortex flow to form a stratified composite stream; igniting the stratified composite stream to produce nearly complete combustion of the oxygen and fuel prior to their exiting said extended bore, said stratified flow is forced by a high pressure drop during its acceleration to the atmosphere to produce the axially-aligned supersonic jet stream beyond the exit of the bore; and, limiting the length of said constricting bore to that maximum length which maintains an annular thin sheath of cold oxygen completely surrounding the exiting jet to prevent over-heating the material containing said bore.