A coal gasification operation or similar conversion process is carried out in the presence of an alkali metal-containing catalyst producing char particles containing alkali metal residues. Alkali metal constituents are recovered from the particles by burning the particles to increase their size and density and then leaching the particles of increased size and density with water, to extract the water-soluble alkali metal constituents.

An auto-ranging ac resistance measuring instrument for remote measurement of the resistance of an electrical device or circuit connected to the instrument includes a signal generator which generates an ac excitation signal for application to a load, including the device and the transmission line, a monitoring circuit which provides a digitally encoded signal representing the voltage across the load, and a microprocessor which operates under program control to provide an auto-ranging function by which range resistance is connected in circuit with the load to limit the load voltage to an acceptable range for the instrument, and an auto-compensating function by which compensating capacitance is connected in shunt with the range resistance to compensate for the effects of line capacitance.

Procedures are described for the systematic assessment of a Material Control and Accounting (MC and A) system, in terms of compliance to the proposed MC and A Upgrade Rule. The applicability of these assessment procedures to specific Rule provisions is discussed. Special attention is given to the statistical performance of individual subsystems, and their vulnerability to compromise by insider collusion.

The kinetics of the depletion of sodium on glass surfaces during Auger Electron Spectroscopic analysis is investigated. The decay process is mathematically represented as a sum of two single decaying exponential functions. This behavior may be described by a mechanism that accounts for the neutralization of sodium ions by the electron beam. Sodium ions and neutral sodium atoms are depleted by several known processes.