Patent ID: 7516908

Claim:
An apparatus for discharging a fire retardant material comprising: a container element with a pressurized gas source controllable to pressurize said container element and to flow a gas and a fire retardant material mixture through a discharge conduit; a discharge device connected at an inlet to an outlet end of said discharge conduit, said discharge device comprising: an inlet duct attached at a downstream end to an inlet end of an expansion section and said expansion section connected at a downstream end to an inlet end of an outlet duct having an outlet nozzle; a diffuser disposed in said inlet duct having a divergent cross-sectional circular form in the direction of downstream flow and disposed and attached in an upstream portion of said expansion section having a constant diameter cross-sectional circular form wherein said diffuser has a generally conical form with a tip end adjacent said inlet and a base end in said upstream portion; said diffuser has a nose element attached to a diffuser shaft that is attached to a base element and a rotor element is rotatably attached on said diffuser shaft intermediate said nose element and said base element; and said rotor element having a plurality of vanes attached to an outer surface of said rotor element wherein said plurality of vanes are inclined relative to a longitudinal axis of said discharge device.