Patents by Inventor Mark O. Lenz

Mark O. Lenz has filed for patents to protect the following inventions. This listing includes patent applications that are pending as well as patents that have already been granted by the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO).

  • Method and apparatus for jet pump restrainer assembly repair
    Patent number: 8819911
    Abstract: A method and apparatus for repairing and/or preventatively maintaining a jet pump restrainer assembly used in a Boiling Water Reactor (BWR), the repair including attaching a bearing plate or plates to a horizontal surface of a jet pump restrainer assembly bracket, the bearing plate or plates acting to supplement and/or replace an existing contact surface between a mixer wedge and the jet pump restrainer assembly bracket of a jet pump restrainer assembly.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 30, 2009
    Date of Patent: September 2, 2014
    Assignee: GE-Hitachi Nuclear Energy Americas LLC
    Inventors: Robin D. Sprague, Michael S. Defilippis, Mark O. Lenz
  • METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR A JET PUMP INLET-MIXER SLIP JOINT
    Publication number: 20130315365
    Abstract: A slip joint of the jet pump assembly inlet-mixer is the interface between a diffuser and an inlet-mixer. The diffuser is coated with a first hardfacing alloy, and the inlet-mixer is coated with a second hardfacing alloy different from the first hardfacing alloy. The first hardfacing alloy may be a cobalt-based alloy and the second hardfacing alloy may be a cobalt-free alloy, i.e., at least one of an iron-based and nickel-based hardfacing alloy.
    Type: Application
    Filed: May 23, 2012
    Publication date: November 28, 2013
    Applicant: GE-HITACHI NUCLEAR ENERGY AMERICAS LLC
    Inventors: Catherine Procik Dulka, Henry P. Offer, Mark O. Lenz, Elizabeth B. Umhoefer, Mark S. Godfrey
  • Method and apparatus for jet pump restrainer assembly repair
    Publication number: 20100242279
    Abstract: A method and apparatus for repairing and/or preventatively maintaining a jet pump restrainer assembly used in a Boiling Water Reactor (BWR), the repair including attaching a bearing plate or plates to a horizontal surface of a jet pump restrainer assembly bracket, the bearing plate or plates acting to supplement and/or replace an existing contact surface between a mixer wedge and the jet pump restrainer assembly bracket of a jet pump restrainer assembly.
    Type: Application
    Filed: March 30, 2009
    Publication date: September 30, 2010
    Inventors: Robin D. Sprague, Michael S. Defilippis, Mark O. Lenz
  • Apparatus and methods for protecting a jet pump nozzle assembly and inlet-mixer
    Patent number: 6633623
    Abstract: A jet pump for a nuclear reactor includes a riser and an inlet mixer having a set of nozzles and a mixing section for receiving coolant flow from the nozzles and suction flow from an annular space between the reactor vessel and the shroud core. To minimize or eliminate electrostatic deposition of charged particulates carried by the coolant on interior wall surface of the inlet-mixer of the jet pump, and also to inhibit stress corrosion cracking, the interior wall surfaces of the nozzles and mixing section are coated with a ceramic oxide such as TiO2 and Ta2O5 to thicknesses of about 0.5-1.5 microns.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: November 29, 2000
    Date of Patent: October 14, 2003
    Assignee: General Electric Company
    Inventors: Catherine P. Dulka, John F. Ackerman, David W. Sandusky, Mark O. Lenz, Leland L. Lantz, Michael B. McMahan, Glen Arthur MacMillan
  • Apparatus and methods for protecting a jet pump nozzle assembly and inlet-mixer
    Publication number: 20020101952
    Abstract: A jet pump for a nuclear reactor includes a riser and an inlet mixer having a set of nozzles and a mixing section for receiving coolant flow from the nozzles and suction flow from an annular space between the reactor vessel and the shroud core. To minimize or eliminate electrostatic deposition of charged particulates carried by the coolant on interior wall surface of the inlet-mixer of the jet pump, and also to inhibit stress corrosion cracking, the interior wall surfaces of the nozzles and mixing section are coated with a ceramic oxide such as TiO2 and Ta2O5 to thicknesses of about 0.5-1.5 microns.
    Type: Application
    Filed: November 29, 2000
    Publication date: August 1, 2002
    Inventors: Catherine P. Dulka, John F. Ackerman, David W. Sandusky, Mark O. Lenz, Leland L. Lantz, Michael B. McMahan, Glen Arthur MacMillan