Abstract: An apparatus for distributed ignition is disclosed wherein a combustion fuel and an ignition mixture are combined where the ignition mixture comprises ignition agents and fuel and where ignition agents can be nano-metallic particles in combination with single-walled carbon nano-tubes (SWCNTs). The combination of ignition mixture and combustion fuel in the presence of oxygen are exposed to light causing heating of the ignition agents and combustion of the fuel within which the ignition agents are interspersed. A system for igniting fuels using the method is also disclosed.

Abstract: A method for distributed ignition is disclosed wherein a combustion fuel and an ignition mixture are combined where the ignition mixture comprises ignition agents and fuel and where ignition agents can be nano-metallic particles in combination with single-walled carbon nano-tubes (SWCNTs). The combination of ignition mixture and combustion fuel in the presence of oxygen are exposed to light causing heating of the ignition agents and combustion of the fuel within which the ignition agents are interspersed. A system for igniting fuels using the method is also disclosed.

Abstract: This method generates the first electronically excited state of oxygen (singlet delta) at ambient temperature by a gas-solid chemical reaction involving a solid alkali metal peroxide or a solid alkaline earth peroxide and a non-radioactive-hydrogen-isotope halide gas. Singlet delta oxygen was produced from solid lithium peroxide, sodium peroxide or barium peroxide by reaction with gaseous hydrogen chloride, hydrogen bromide, deuterium chloride, or deuterium bromide. The method can be practiced in a static or a flow system, and the reaction may take place in a chemical oxygen-iodine laser. The described process avoids unstable precursors, such as basic hydrogen peroxide, and liquid phase quenching. The method is safe, compact, solvent-free, mechanically simple, requires no external energy source, and permits the generation of large quantities of singlet delta oxygen. Furthermore, since no liquid phase separations are required the process is ideally suited for zero gravitational force conditions.