Method and apparatus for the destruction of suspected terrorist weapons by detonation in a contained environment
US6354181B1 · kind B1 · utility
Inventor
Key dates
| Filing date | Dec 9, 1999 |
| Grant date | Mar 12, 2002 |
| Priority date | — |
| Expiry date | Dec 9, 2019 |
Classification
- Technology area (CPC F)Mechanical Engineering; Lighting; Heating
- CPC primaryF42D5/045
- WIPO fieldOther special machines
- WIPO sectorMechanical engineering
Abstract
An apparatus and method for the destruction of terrorist weapons, including explosives chemical and biological agents, by detonation in an enclosed double-walled steel explosion chamber having its walls, access door and floor filled with granular shock damping material. The chamber is vented through orifices into vent pipes which converge in a manifold which exhausts into an expansion tank or scrubber for cooling, testing, and environmental treatment of the explosion products. A weapon to be destroyed is placed into the chamber with a donor explosive charge and held in place by a disintegratable string hammock, along with one or more plastic polymer film bags containing water. After closing the access door, the donor charge is detonated by an electrical detonation means. For use in destroying known or suspected chemical or biological weapons the donor charge is augmented with an oxidizing material such as potassium nitrate, and the resulting fireball is enhanced by powdered metal such as aluminum, to achieve an instantaneous pressure of 100 kilobars and instantaneous temperature of 3,000 degrees Celsius.
Source: USPTO / EPO open patent data. Objective bibliographic and citation counts.