Gas generator utilizing granular silicon carbide as coolant

A gas generator of use for inflating gas bags, comprising:

• a housing having a wall formed with a plurality of gas discharge apertures;
• a first metal partition arranged in said housing at a distance from said wall so as to define a reaction chamber which is spaced from said wall in the interior of said housing;
• a second metal partition arranged in said housing along the inside of said wall such that a cooling chamber is defined between said first and second partitions;
• a plurality of pellets of a solid gas-generating composition which undergoes an exothermic and self-sustaining reaction when ignited with generation of a heated reaction gas confined in said reaction chamber;
• an electrically initiatable ignition device attached to said housing so as to be able to ignite said pellets;
• and
• granules of .alpha. SiC confined in said cooling chamber to absorb heat from said reaction gas during passage of said reaction gas through said cooling chamber, at least a major amount of said granules individually having sharp-edged shapes;
• each of said first and second metal partitions being a wire screen so that said reaction gas is allowed to pass therethrough, the ratio of the particle size of each of said granules of .alpha. SiC to the size of each opening of said wire screen being in the range from 4.0 to 3.4, said granules having a size such that they pass through a 12-mesh screen and are retained on a 14-mesh screen.