Patent ID: 7306644

Claim:
A gas generating system for an aircraft comprising: a duct assembly having: a first conduit for ram air; a first heat exchanger for receiving an air stream of pressurized air and cooling the air stream, the first heat exchanger located within the first conduit and optimized for cooling the pressurized air with ram air; a second conduit for cooling air; a second heat exchanger located within the second conduit for receiving the air stream of pressurized air and cooling the air stream with a selectively induced cooling air flow when ram air is not available; a temperature sensor for determining temperature of the air stream and generating a temperature value corresponding to the temperature, the temperature sensor mechanically associated with the duct assembly; a controller monitor for receiving a temperature value, and generating a corresponding command signal; a control device for receiving and responding to the command signal, the control device selected from the group consisting of a pressure regulating and shutoff valve, check valve, a flow shutoff valve, an ejector shutoff valve, a thermal shutoff valve, an ASM shutoff valve, a fan, and an isolation valve; an air separation module (ASM) assembly for receiving the air stream from the duct assembly; separating nitrogen enriched air (NEA) from the air stream; and providing the NEA to the duct assembly, the ASM assembly located downstream from the temperature sensor; a flow control orifice for controlling receiving and regulating NEA flow from the ASM assembly via the duct assembly, the flow control orifice associated with a portion of the duct assembly located downstream from the ASM assembly; and an NEA check valve for preventing entry of contaminants into the ASM assembly, the NEA check valve located downstream from the flow control orifice.