A device is provided for sealing an inner tube and an outer tube without excessively deforming the tubes. The device includes two ferrules which cooperate to form a vacuum-tight seal between the inner tube and outer tube and having mating surfaces such that overtightening is not possible.

A cylindrical eddy current tube testing probe is disclosed. Current flow in dual electromagnetic coils separated by an eddy current sensing coil is so directed that magnetic fields of the electromagnet coils have components extending in opposite directions axially of the tested tube and components extending radially of the tube which add in the region of the eddy current sensing coil.

An assembly is disclosed for mounting a pH probe in a flowing solution, such as a sanitary sewer line, which prevents the sensitive glass portion of the probe from becoming coated with grease, oil, and other contaminants, whereby the probe gives reliable pH indication over an extended period of time. The pH probe assembly utilizes a special filter media and a timed back-rinse feature for flushing clear surface contaminants of the filter. The flushing liquid is of a known pH and is utilized to check performance of the probe.

A head assembly for a borehole extensometer and an improved extensometer for measuring subsurface subsidence. A plurality of inflatable anchors provide discrete measurement points. A metering rod is fixed to each of the anchors which are displaced when subsidence occurs, thereby translating the attached rod. The head assembly includes a sprocket wheel rotatably mounted on a standpipe and engaged by a chain which is connected at one end to the metering rod and at the other end to a counterweight. A second sprocket wheel connected to the standpipe also engages the chain and drives a connected potentiometer. The head assembly converts the linear displacement of the metering rod to the rotary motion of the second sprocket wheel, which is measured by the potentiometer, producing a continuous electrical output.

A steering system for use with a multiple vehicle train is disclosed which permits tracking without rails of one vehicle after another. This system is particularly useful for moving conveyor systems into and out of curved paths of room and pillar underground mine installations. The steering system features an elongated steering bar pivotally connected to each of adjacent vehicles at end portions of the bar permitting angular orientation of each vehicle in respect to the steering bar and other vehicles. Each end portion of the steering bar is linked to the near pair of vehicle wheels through wheel yoke pivot arms about king pin type pivots. Movement of the steering bar about its pivotal connection provides proportional turning of the wheels to effect steering and tracking of one vehicle following another in both forward and reverse directions.

A system and method are provided for controlling the storing and release of thermal energy from a thermal storage wall wherein said wall is capable of storing thermal energy from insolation. The system and method includes a device such as a plurality of louvers spaced a predetermined distance from the thermal wall for regulating the release of thermal energy from the thermal wall. This regulating device is made from a material which is substantially transparent to the incoming solar radiation so that when it is in any operative position, the thermal storage wall substantially receives all of the impacting solar radiation. The material in the regulating device is further capable of being substantially opaque to thermal energy so that when the device is substantially closed, thermal release of energy from the storage wall is substantially minimized. An adjustment device is interconnected with the regulating mechanism for selectively opening and closing it in order to regulate the release of thermal energy from the wall.

A method and apparatus for electronically focusing and electronically scanning microscopic specimens are given. In the invention, visual images of even moving, living, opaque specimens can be acoustically obtained and viewed with virtually no time needed for processing (i.e., real time processing is used). And planar samples are not required. The specimens (if planar) need not be moved during scanning, although it will be desirable and possible to move or rotate nonplanar specimens (e.g., laser fusion targets) against the lens of the apparatus. No coupling fluid is needed, so specimens need not be wetted. A phase acoustic microscope is also made from the basic microscope components together with electronic mixers.

A method is presented for preparing a boride layer on a transition metal substrate for use in corrosive environments or as a harden surface in machine applications. This method is particularly useful in treating current collectors for use within a high temperature and corrosive electrochemical cell environment. A melt of a alkali metal boride tetrafluoride salt including such as KF to lower its melting point is prepared including a dissolved boron containing material, for instance NiB, MnB/sub 2/, or CrB/sub 2/. A transition metal to be coated is immersed in the melt at a temperature of no more than 700/sup 0/C and a surface boride layer of that transition metal is formed within a period of about 24 hours on the substrate surface.

The present invention is directed to a method for making a wide variety of general-purpose cermets and for radioactive waste disposal from ceramic powders prepared from urea-dispersed solutions containing various metal values. The powders are formed into a compact and subjected to a rapid temperature increase in a reducing atmosphere. During this reduction, one or more of the more readily reducible oxides in the compact is reduced to a selected substoichiometric state at a temperature below the eutectic phase for that particular oxide or oxides and then raised to a temperature greater than the eutectic temperature to provide a liquid phase in the compact prior to the reduction of the liquid phase forming oxide to solid metal. This liquid phase forms at a temperature below the melting temperature of the metal and bonds together the remaining particulates in the cermet to form a solid polycrystalline cermet.

Coal (or other carbonaceous matter, such as biomass) is converted into a product gas that is substantially free from hydrocarbons. The coal is fed into a solar reactor, and solar energy is directed into the reactor onto coal char, creating a gasification front and a pyrolysis front. A gasification zone is produced well above the coal level within the reactor. A pyrolysis zone is produced immediately above the coal level. Steam, injected into the reactor adjacent to the gasification zone, reacts with char to generate product gases. Solar energy supplies the energy for the endothermic steam-char reaction. The hot product gases flow from the gasification zone to the pyrolysis zone to generate hot char. Gases are withdrawn from the pyrolysis zone and reinjected into the region of the reactor adjacent the gasification zone. This eliminates hydrocarbons in the gas by steam reformation on the hot char. The product gas is withdrawn from a region of the reactor between the gasification zone and the pyrolysis zone. The product gas will be free of tar and other hydrocarbons, and thus be suitable for use in many processes.

Ductile long range ordered alloys having high critical ordering temperatures exist in the (V,M)(Fe,Ni,Co)/sub 3/ system having the composition comprising by weight 20.6 to 22.6% V, 14 to 50% Fe, 0 to 64% Co, and 0 to 40% Ni, and 0.4 to 1.4% M, where M is a metal selected from the group consisting of Ti, Zr, Hf, and their mixtures. These modified alloys have an electron density no greater than 8.00 and exhibit marked increases at elevated temperature in ductility and other mechanical properties over previously known ordered alloys.

A device is described for indicating and preventing damage to voltage cells such as galvanic cells and fuel cells connected in series by detecting sequential voltages and comparing these voltages to adjacent voltage cells. The device is implemented by using operational amplifiers and switching circuitry is provided by transistors. The device can be utilized in battery powered electric vehicles to prevent galvanic cell damage and also in series connected fuel cells to prevent fuel cell damage.

A multicompartment photoelectrodialytic demineralization cell is provided with a buffer compartment interposed between the product compartment and a compartment containing an electrolyte solution. Semipermeable membranes separate the buffer compartment from the product and electrolyte compartments. The buffer compartment is flushed to prevent leakage of the electrolyte compartment from entering the product compartment.

A control system for the automatic or self-actuated shutdown or scram of a nuclear reactor is described. The system is capable of initiating scram insertion by a signal from the plant protection system or by independent action directly sensing reactor conditions of low-flow or over-power. Self-actuation due to a loss of reactor coolant flow results from a decrease of pressure differential between the upper and lower ends of an absorber element. When the force due to this differential falls below the weight of the element, the element will fall by gravitational force to scram the reactor. Self-actuation due to high neutron flux is accomplished via a valve controlled by an electromagnet and a thermionic diode. In a reactor over-power, the diode will be heated to a change of state causing the electromagnet to be shorted thereby actuating the valve which provides the changed flow and pressure conditions required for scramming the absorber element.

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.

Method and apparatus are presented for sequentially scanning a plurality of target elements with an electron scanning beam modulated in accordance with variations in a high-frequency analog signal to provide discrete analog signal samples representative of successive portions of the analog signal; coupling the discrete analog signal samples from each of the target elements to a different one of a plurality of high speed storage devices; converting the discrete analog signal samples to equivalent digital signals; and storing the digital signals in a digital memory unit for subsequent measurement or display.

A technique for pyrolyzing biomass materials is disclosed wherein a hot surface is provided having a predetermined temperature which is sufficient to pyrolyze only the surface strata of the biomass material without substantially heating the interior of the biomass material thereby providing a large temperature gradient from the surface strata inwardly of the relatively cool biomass materials. Relative motion and physical contact is produced between the surface strata and the hot surface for a sufficient period of time for ablative pyrolyzation by heat conduction to occur with minimum generation of char.

A nuclear fuel processing solution containing: (1) hydrocarbon diluent; (2) tri-n-butyl phosphate or tri-2-ethylhexyl phosphate; and (3) monobutyl phosphate, dibutyl phosphate, mono-2-ethylhexyl phosphate, di-2-ethylhexyl phosphate, or a complex formed by plutonium, uranium, or a fission product thereof with monobutyl phosphate, dibutyl phosphate, mono-2-ethylhexyl phosphate, or di-2-ethylhexyl phosphate is contacted with silica gel having alkali ions absorbed thereon to remove any degradation products from said solution. The principal impurities removed from TBP solvent by the process of this invention are monobutyl phosphate, dibutyl phosphate, UO/sub 2//sup 2 +/, Pu/sup 4 +/, and fission products of plutonium and uranium complexed with monobutyl phosphate or dibutyl phosphate. Nitric acid is also removed from the TBP solution by the treated silica gel. Conventional adsorption column techniques are applicable for the process of the invention.

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.

A conductor and method of making the conductor are provided for use in winding electrical coils which are cooled by a fluid communicating with the conductor. The conductor is cold worked through twisting and reshaping steps to form a generally rectangular cross section conductor having a plurality of helical cooling grooves extending axially of the conductor. The conductor configuration makes it suitable for a wide variety of winding applications and permits the use of simple strip insulation between turns and perforated sheet insulation between layers of the winding.

A load switching circuit for switching two or more transformer taps under load carrying conditions includes first and second parallel connected bridge rectifier circuits which control the selective connection of a direct current load to taps of a transformer. The first bridge circuit is normally conducting so that the load is connected to a first tap through the first bridge circuit. To transfer the load to the second tap, a switch is operable to connect the second bridge circuit to a second tap, and when the second bridge circuit begins to conduct, the first bridge circuit ceases conduction because the potential at the second tap is higher than the potential at the first tap, and the load is thus connected to the second tap through the second bridge circuit. The load switching circuit is applicable in a motor speed controller for a wound-rotor motor for effecting tap switching as a function of motor speed while providing a stepless motor speed control characteristics.

An improved downhole steam injector has an angled water orifice to swirl the water through the device for improved heat transfer before it is converted to steam. The injector also has a sloped diameter reduction in the steam chamber to throw water that collects along the side of the chamber during slant drilling into the flame for conversion to steam. In addition, the output of the flame chamber is beveled to reduce hot spots and increase efficiency, and the fuel-oxidant inputs are arranged to minimize coking.

A free electron laser and free electron laser amplifier using beam transport devices for guiding an electron beam to a wiggler of a free electron laser and returning the electron beam to decelerating cavities disposed adjacent to the accelerating cavities of the free electron laser. Rf energy is extracted from the electron beam after it emerges from the wiggler by means of the decelerating cavities which are closely coupled to the accelerating cavities, or by means of a second bore within a single set of cavities. Rf energy extracted from the decelerated electron beam is used to supplement energy provided by an external source, such as a klystron, to thereby enhance overall efficiency of the system.

A hydrotreating catalyst is prepared from coal mineral matter obtained by low temperature ashing coals of relatively low bassanite content by the steps of: (a) depositing on the low temperature ash 0.25 to 3 grams of an iron or nickel salt in water per gram of ash and drying a resulting slurry; (b) crushing and sizing a resulting solid; and (c) heating the thus-sized solid powder in hydrogen.