Patent ID: 7306646

Claim:
In an aircraft, a method for utilizing surplus compressed elevated temperature air produced in an inert gas generating system, said method comprising: a. initially directing hot air, from a compressor source, thereof, through a heat exchanger within said system; b. cooling said hot air to warm air within said heat exchanger and further directing a first non-surplus portion of said warm air, from said heat exchanger, and through the interiors of multiple permeable membrane bundles encased within an outer shell portion of an air separator module within said system; c. additionally directing a second surplus portion of said warm air into said outer shell portion of said air separator module and around the outer peripheries of said membrane bundles, thereby utilizing at least some of the heat energy of said second portion of said warm air for further warming said air separator module; and d. thereafter exhausting said second surplus portion of said warm air from said outer shell portion of said air separator module.