Gas generator with starter mechanism and catalyst shield
The present application is directed to gas generators comprising a fuel mixture and a catalyst. The catalyst is contained in a self-regulated reactor or buoy, and selectively opens and closes to produce a gas in accordance with the demand for gas. This fuel mixture is generally a solution formed by dissolving a solid fuel component in a liquid fuel component. The mixing preferably occurs before the first use, and more preferably occurs immediately prior to the first use. The inventive gas generators preferably further comprises a starting mechanism that isolates the solid fuel from the liquid fuel or vice versa before the first use. In one embodiment, the starting mechanism further comprises a catalyst shield mechanism that isolates the catalyst in the reactor or buoy from the liquid and/or the solid fuel prior to the first use.
1. A gas-generating apparatus comprising:
a fuel reacting in the presence of a catalyst to produce a gas;
a reactor comprising a first housing portion and a second housing portion wherein the catalyst is disposed between the first housing portion and the second housing portion; and
wherein at least one of the housing portions is connected to an actuator extending to the outside of the gas-generating apparatus, and
wherein in a closed configuration the first and second housing portions isolate the catalyst from the fuel prior to a first use and in an open configuration the actuator is activated the housing portions move away from each other to expose the catalyst to the fuel.
2. The gas-generating apparatus of claim 1 wherein the reactor further comprises an expandable member connecting the first housing portion to the second housing portion and wherein after the first use the reactor moves between the closed configuration and the open configuration depending on a pressure difference between a pressure inside the expandable member and an internal pressure of the gas-generating apparatus.
3. The gas-generating apparatus of claim 2 , wherein the expandable member is in fluid communication with atmospheric pressure.
4. The gas-generating apparatus of claim 1 , wherein the fuel is a mixture of a solid fuel and a liquid fuel.
5. A gas-generating apparatus comprising:
a reaction chamber;
a fuel mixture within the reaction chamber, wherein the fuel mixture reacts to produce a gas in the presence of a catalyst; and
a catalyst sealing member comprising a substantially non-planar pressure sensitive flexible chamber disposed at least partially within the reaction chamber, wherein said flexible chamber defines a space within the flexible chamber isolated from the fuel mixture, wherein the catalyst sealing member has at least a first configuration and a second configuration, wherein the catalyst is contactable by the fuel mixture when the catalyst sealing member is in the first configuration, wherein the catalyst is not contactable by the fuel mixture when the catalyst sealing member is in the second configuration, wherein a pressure in the reaction chamber actuates the non-planar pressure sensitive flexible chamber to move between the first configuration and the second configuration.
6. The gas-generating apparatus of claim 5 , wherein the non-planar pressure sensitive flexible chamber has a substantially cylindrical shape.
7. The gas-generating apparatus of claim 5 , wherein the catalyst is disposed within the catalyst sealing member, wherein in the first configuration the catalyst sealing member is open, and in the second configuration the catalyst sealing member is closed, and when a pressure in the flexible chamber is higher than the pressure in the reaction chamber the catalyst sealing member is open, and when the pressure in the flexible chamber is lower than the pressure in the reaction chamber, the catalyst sealing member is closed.
8. The gas-generating apparatus of claim 5 , wherein the flexible chamber is elastomeric.
9. The gas-generating apparatus of claim 8 , wherein the elastomeric chamber fluidically connected to the outside of a housing, such that the pressure in the elastomeric chamber is atmospheric pressure.
10. The gas-generating apparatus of claim 8 , wherein there are a plurality of catalyst sealing members in the reaction chamber, and wherein the pressures in the elastomeric chamber in the catalyst sealing members are different than each other, so that the catalyst sealing members open and close at different pressures inside the reaction chamber.
11. The gas-generating apparatus of claim 5 , wherein the reaction chamber comprises a gas-permeable liquid-impermeable composite and wherein a lattice structure is disposed between two gas-permeable membranes and the produced gas flows through one or both of the membranes and into the lattice structure.
12. The gas-generating apparatus of claim 5 , wherein the reaction chamber comprises a gas-permeable liquid-impermeable composite wherein the composite is subjected to a compression pressure within the reaction chamber.