Alloys such as U-6Nb are prepared by forming a stacked sandwich array of uranium sheets and niobium powder disposed in layers between the sheets, heating the array in a vacuum induction melting furnace to a temperature such as to melt the uranium, holding the resulting mixture at a temperature above the melting point of uranium until the niobium dissolves in the uranium, and casting the uranium-niobium solution. Compositional uniformity in the alloy product is enabled by use of the sandwich structure of uranium sheets and niobium powder.

The method comprises selecting an implantable element and a substrate material to be implanted which, at the implant/anneal temperatures, have limited mutual solubility and have no intermediate phases formed. In an example, Be is implanted with 11 {times}10{sup 17} Al/cm{sup 2} at 200 keV and then annealed for 1 h at 500 C. Rutherford backscattering shows that layer formation occurred during the anneal. SEM shows rectangular Be defects in the Al layer. Other examples of implantable elements and suitable substrate materials are tabulated. 6 figs, 1 table. (DLC)

The invention is a process for selectively extracting strontium and technetium values from aqueous nitric acid waste solutions containing these and other fission product values. The extractant is a macrocyclic polyether in a diluent which is insoluble in water, but which will itself dissolve a small amount of water. The process will extract strontium and technetium values from nitric acid solutions which are up to 6 molar in nitric acid.

This document describes a method for converting starch into lactic acid of sufficient purity for use as a substrate for biodegradable plastics. The process is designed to work on industrial food waste streams such as potato wastes or cheese whey permeate. For potato waste, {alpha}-amylase and calcium chloride are added to the starch containing waste and incubated at a pH of 4--7, a temperature of 90--130{degree}C, and a pressure above 15 psi for not less than 15 minutes. At this point, glucoamylase is added and the mixture is incubated at a temperature of 50--70{degree}C and a pH below 6.5 for 4 hours. This results in the conversion of more than 90% of the starch into glucose, which is substantially free of microbial contamination. The hydrolysate is filtered, and introduced with additional nutrients to a fermentor containing a lactose producing microorganism to form a fermentation broth. This results in the fermentation of glucose to lactose, which is filtered and subjected to electrodialysis for purification. Conversion of glucose to lactic acid or lactate occurs with an efficiency of over 95%. 1 fig. (MHB)

This invention is a method of producing Al-26 from potassium chloride by exposing it to a proton beam in order to break potassium and chlorine atoms into smaller pieces, which include Al-26. The Al-26 is isolated from the potassium chloride and substances produced by the beam by means of extraction and ion exchange.

A method is described for making hollow aerogel microspheres of 800--1200{mu} diameter and 100--300{mu} wall thickness by forming hollow alcogel microspheres during the sol/gel process in a catalytic atmosphere and capturing them on a foam surface containing catalyst. Supercritical drying of the formed hollow alcogel microspheres yields hollow aerogel microspheres which are suitable for ICF targets.

This invention is comprised of a charged particle spectrometer that contains a detection system which embodies the benefits of both foil-light emissions and faraday cups, yet it does not interfere with the particle beam. 5 Figs. (GHH)

A robot arm apparatus is provided for inspecting and/or maintaining an interior of a steam generator which has an outside wall and a port for accessing the interior of the steam generator. The robot arm apparatus includes a flexible movable conduit for conveying inspection and/or maintenance apparatus from outside the steam generator to the interior of the steam generator. The flexible conduit has a terminal working end which is translated into and around the interior of the steam generator. Three motors located outside the steam generator are employed for moving the terminal working end inside the steam generator in ``x,`` ``y,`` and ``z`` directions, respectively. Commonly conducted inspection and maintenance operations include visual inspection for damaged areas, water jet lancing for cleaning sludge deposits, core boring for obtaining sludge deposits, and scrubbing of internal parts.

The present invention comprises a method of selective epitaxy on a semiconductor substrate. The present invention provides a method of selectively forming high quality, thin GeSi layers in a silicon circuit, and a method for fabricating smaller semiconductor chips with a greater yield (more error free chips) at a lower cost. The method comprises forming an upper layer over a substrate, and depositing a reflectivity mask which is then removed over selected sections. Using a laser to melt the unmasked sections of the upper layer, the semiconductor material in the upper layer is heated and diffused into the substrate semiconductor material. By varying the amount of laser radiation, the epitaxial layer is formed to a controlled depth which may be very thin. When cooled, a single crystal epitaxial layer is formed over the patterned substrate. The present invention provides the ability to selectively grow layers of mixed semiconductors over patterned substrates such as a layer of Ge{sub x}Si{sub 1-x} grown over silicon. Such a process may be used to manufacture small transistors that have a narrow base, heavy doping, and high gain. The narrowness allows a faster transistor, and the heavy doping reduces the resistance of the narrow layer. The …

A supported liquid membrane system for the separation of a preselected chemical species within a feedstream, preferably an aqueous feedstream, includes a feed compartment containing a feed solution having at least one preselected chemical species therein, a stripping compartment containing a stripping solution therein, and a microporous polybenzimidazole membrane situated between the compartments, the microporous polybenzimidazole membrane containing an extractant mixture selective for the preselected chemical species within the membrane pores is disclosed along with a method of separating preselected chemical species from a feedstream with such a system, and a supported liquid membrane for use in such a system.

Compositions of matter comprised of silicon nitride and molybdenum disilicide and methods of making the compositions, where the molybdenum disilicide is present in amounts ranging from about 5 to about 50 vol%.

An accessory for use with a solid-state NMR spectrometer includes a special imaging probe with linear, high-field strength gradient fields and high-power broadband RF coils using a back projection method for data acquisition and image reconstruction, and a real-time pulse programmer adaptable for use by a conventional computer for complex high speed pulse sequences.

The Stripline Fast Faraday Cup is a device which is used to quantitatively and qualitatively measure gigahertz time structure characteristics of ion beams with energies up to at least 30 Mev per nucleon. A stripline geometry is employed in conjunction with an electrostatic screen and a Faraday cup to provide for analysis of the structural characteristics of an ion beam. The stripline geometry allows for a large reduction in the size of the instrument while the electrostatic screen permits measurements of the properties associated with low speed ion beams.

A cell apparatus for a supported liquid membrane including opposing faceplates, each having a spirally configured groove, an inlet groove at a first end of the spirally configured groove, and an outlet groove at the other end of the spirally configured groove, within the opposing faces of the faceplates, a microporous membrane situated between the grooved faces of the faceplates, said microporous membrane containing an extractant mixture selective for a predetermined chemical species within the pores of said membrane, means for aligning the grooves of the faceplates in an directly opposing configuration with the porous membrane being situated therebetween, such that the aligned grooves form a pair of directly opposing channels, separate feed solution and stripping solution compartments connected to respective channels between the faceplates and the membrane, separate pumping means for passing feed solution and stripping solution through the channels is provided.

This invention is comprised of a wedge assembly that is easily inserted between two surface to be supported thereby, and thereafter expanded to produce a selected spacing between those surfaces. This wedge assembly has two outer members that are substantially identical except that they are mirror images of each other. Oppositely directed faces of these of these outer members are substantially parallel for the purpose of contacting the surfaces to be separated. The other faces of these outer members that are directed toward each other are tapered so as to contact a center member having complementary tapers on both faces. A washer member is provided to contact a common end of the outer members, and a bolt member penetrates this washer and is threadably received in a receptor of the center member. As the bolt member is threaded into the center member, the center member is drawn further into the gap between the outer members and thereby separates these outer members to contact the surfaces to be separated. In the preferred embodiment, the contacting surfaces of the outer member and the center member are provided with guide elements. The wedge assembly is described for use in separating the secondary windings …

An apparatus and a method are disclosed for measuring the average density and relative volumes in an essentially transparent, dispersed two-phase fluid. A laser beam with a diameter no greater than 1% of the diameter of the bubbles, droplets, or particles of the dispersed phase is directed onto a diffraction grating. A single-order component of the diffracted beam is directed through the two-phase fluid and its refraction is measured. Preferably, the refracted beam exiting the fluid is incident upon a optical filter with linearly varying optical density and the intensity of the filtered beam is measured. The invention can be combined with other laser-based measurement systems, e.g., laser doppler anemometry.

A muon detector system including central and end air-core superconducting toroids and muon detectors enclosing a central calorimeter/detector are described in this paper. Muon detectors are positioned outside of toroids and all muon trajectory measurements are made in a nonmagnetic environment. Internal support for each magnet structure is provided by sheets, located at frequent and regularly spaced azimuthal planes, which interconnect the structural walls of the toroidal magnets. In a preferred embodiment, the shape of the toroidal magnet volume is adjusted to provide constant resolution over a wide range of rapidity.

Disclosed is a method for producing a superconductor of the R-Ba-Cu-O system which comprises of selecting an insulating material of the formula RBa{sub x}Cu{sub y}O{sub z} where R is selected from the group consisting of Y, La, Pr, Nd, Sm, Eu, Gd, Ho, Er, Tm, and Lu, and where x ranges from about 1.7 to about 2.3, y ranges from about 2.7 to about 3.3 and z ranges from about 5.0 to about 6.99, and halogenating said material with a halogen selected from the group consisting of chlorine, bromine, iodine, and mixtures thereof, while maintaining said material at a temperature ranging from about 160 to about 440{degrees}C, for a period of time sufficient to cause incorporation of said halogen into said material. Also, disclosed are the materials produced by the method and articles of manufacture incorporating said materials as electronic circuitry components.

A method and apparatus for determining and indicating the flame quality, or efficiency of the air-fuel ratio, in a fixed firing rate heating unit, such as an oil burning furnace, is provided. When the flame brightness falls outside a preset range, the flame quality, or excess air, has changed to the point that the unit should be serviced. The flame quality indicator output is in the form of lights mounted on the front of the unit. A green light indicates that the flame is about in the same condition as when the burner was last serviced. A red light indicates a flame which is either too rich or too lean, and that servicing of the burner is required. At the end of each firing cycle, the flame quality indicator goes into a hold mode which is in effect during the period that the burner remains off. A yellow or amber light indicates that the burner is in the hold mode. In this mode, the flame quality lights indicate the flame condition immediately before the burner turned off. Thus the unit can be viewed when it is off, and the flame condition at the end of the previous firing cycle can …

In a process for the co-processing of waste rubber and carbonaceous material to form a useful liquid product, the rubber and the carbonaceous material are combined and heated to the depolymerization temperature of the rubber in the presence of a source of hydrogen. The deploymerized rubber acts as a liquefying solvent for the carbonaceous material while a beneficial catalytic effect is obtained from the carbon black released on deploymerization the reinforced rubber. The reaction is carried out at liquefaction conditions of 380--600{degrees}C and 70--280 atmospheres hydrogen pressure. The resulting liquid is separated from residual solids and further processed such as by distillation or solvent extraction to provide a carbonaceous liquid useful for fuels and other purposes.

A method of fabricating an electrode for use in a metal chloride battery and an electrode are provided. The electrode has relatively larger and more uniform pores than those found in typical electrodes. The fabrication method includes the steps of mixing sodium chloride particles selected from a predetermined size range with metal particles selected from a predetermined size range, and then rigidifying the mixture. The electrode exhibits lower resistivity values of approximately 0.5 {Omega}cm{sup 2} than those resistivity values of approximately 1.0--1.5 {Omega}cm{sup 2} exhibited by currently available electrodes.

A method of fabricating an electrode for use in a metal chloride battery and an electrode are provided. The electrode has relatively larger and more uniform pores than those found in typical electrodes. The fabrication method includes the steps of mixing sodium chloride particles selected from a predetermined size range with metal particles selected from a predetermined size range, and then rigidifying the mixture. The electrode exhibits lower resistivity values of approximately 0.5 {Omega}cm{sup 2} than those resistivity values of approximately 1.0--1.5 {Omega}cm{sup 2} exhibited by currently available electrodes.

The invention comprises a method for the identification and quantification of sorbed chemical species onto a coating of a device capable of generating and receiving an acoustic wave, by measuring the changes in the velocity of the acoustic wave resulting from the sorption of the chemical species into the coating as the wave travels through the coating and by measuring the changes in the attenuation of an acoustic wave resulting from the sorption of the chemical species into the coating as the wave travels through the coating. The inventive method further correlates the magnitudes of the changes of velocity with respect to changes of the attenuation of the acoustic wave to identify the sorbed chemical species. The absolute magnitudes of the velocity changes or the absolute magnitude of the attenuation changes are used to determine the concentration of the identified chemical species.

The invention consists of an improved method for the preparation of single phase, fine grained ceramic materials from precursor powder mixtures where at least one of the components of the mixture is an alkali earth carbonate. The process consists of heating the precursor powders in a partial vacuum under flowing oxygen and under conditions where the partial pressure of CO{sub 2} evolved during the calcination is kept to a very low level relative to the oxygen. The process has been found particularly suitable for the preparation of high temperature copper oxide superconducting materials such as YBa{sub 2}Cu{sub 3}O{sub x} ``123`` and YBa{sub 2}Cu{sub 4}O{sub 8} ``124``.