Inventions: Thermoblast Flame-Jet Drill

Title Inventions: Thermoblast Flame-Jet Drill
Publication Type
News Article
Year
2012
Author(s) Lee Michaelides
Journal/ Publication
Dartmouth Engineer Magazine
Abstract

Inventor: James A. Browning ’44

Scientists drilling into the Ross Ice Shelf of Antarctica can look back at millions of years of the frozen continent’s history. Probably few researchers, however, know of a more recent bit of ice shelf history.

Thirty-five years ago a new kind of drilling technology, dubbed “Thermoblast” by its inventor, Thayer Professor James A. Browning ’44, was successfully field tested on the polar ice. In 1977 Browning’s high-temperature rocket drill pierced the 1,400-foot-thick ice shelf so scientists could study the ocean underneath. Drilling time: nine hours.

URL
Categories Other, Thermal Drilling
Citation Lee Michaelides ( 2012 ) Inventions: Thermoblast Flame-Jet Drill. Dartmouth Engineer Magazine , .
Lead Author
Lee Michaelides