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.

Americium is separated from mixtures containing plutonium, other actinides, and other non-lanthamide impurities, by a combined process of anion exchange resin sorption to remove plutonium, and a bidentate organophosphorus solvent extraction of americium of the anion exchange resin effluent. Dihexyl-N,N-diethylcarbamylmethylenephosphonate is a preferred solvent. The initial mixture may be subjected to a cation exchange operation to remove monovalent impurities. The process is especially effective when aluminum, zinc, lead, and copper are present in significant quantities in the original mixture.

This report discusses the design of a solid electrolytic capacitor having a solid electrolyte comprised of manganese dioxide dispersed in an aromatic polyamide capable of to forming polyimide linkages. This solid electrolyte being disposed between a first electrode made of valve metal covered by an anodic oxide film and a second electrode opposite the first electrode. The electrolyte autogenously produces water, oxygen, and hydroxyl groups which act as healing substances and is not itself produced pyrolytically. Reduction of the manganese dioxide and the water molecules released by formation of imide linkages result in substantially improved self-healing of anodic dielectric layer defects.

This invention, a trainer mounted and housed within a mobile console, is used to teach and reinforce fluid principles to students. The system trainer has two centrifugal pumps, each driven by a corresponding two-speed electric motor. The motors are controlled by motor controllers for operating the pumps to circulate the fluid stored within a supply tank through a closed system. The pumps may be connected in series or in parallel. A number of valves are also included within the system to effect different flow paths for the fluid. In addition, temperature and pressure sensing instruments are installed throughout the closed system for measuring the characteristics of the fluid, as it passes through the different valves and pumps. These measurements are indicated on a front panel mounted to the console, as a teaching aid, to allow the students to observe the characteristics of the system.

An on-line, nonreferenced apparatus for measuring the concentration of a biomarker species in authentic biological samples in solution comprises conduit means for conducting said sample solution from a source of said solution, stream diversion means disposed within the conduit for diverting a predetermined amount of said sample for analysis, means for introducing and independently regulating the flow of one or more reactants disposed in fluid communication with said diverted stream, incubating means within the diverted stream for reacting said reactants and biomarkers to produce a bioluminescence emission, and means disposed within the diverted stream for monitoring said emission intensity which is correlatable to said biomarker concentration.

It is therefore an object of the present invention to provide a capacitively-coupled inductive shunt current sensor. To achieve the other object, and in accordance with the purpose of the present invention, as embodied and broadly described herein, the apparatus of this invention may comprise a capacitively coupled inductive shunt current sensor comprising: annular inductive channel means formed in a conductor carrying a high voltage pulsed current; an electrode capacitively coupled to said conductor on opposite sides of said annular inductive channel means; voltage dividing capacitor means connected in series with said electrode for reducing the magnitude of the detected output signal; output coupling means connected to said voltage dividing capacitor means for producing an output signal representative of said high voltage pulsed current.

A data transmission system is disclosed which includes a transmission medium which has a certain propagation delay time over its length. A number of data stations are successively coupled to the transmission medium for communicating with one another. Each of the data stations includes a transmitter for originating signals, each signal beginning with a carrier of a duration which is at least the propagation delay time of the transmission medium. Each data station also includes a receiver which receives other signals from other data stations and inhibits operation of the transmitter at the same data station when a carrier of another signal is received.

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.

Chloromethyl chlorosulfate (CMCS) is used as a passive film growth inhibitor in electrochemical cells to minimize voltage delay and low-voltage discharge. Film growth on lithium anodes is significantly diminished when CMCS is added to SOCl{sub 2} and SO{sub 2}Cl{sub 2} electrolytes of lithium batteries. The CMCS also has the effect of extending the shelf-life of Li/SOCl{sub 2} and Li/SO{sub 2}Cl{sub 2} batteries.

Coal hydrogenation vessel has hydrogen heating passages extending vertically through its wall and opening into its interior.

A surge counter for a rotating compressor is provided which detects surging by monitoring the vibration signal from an accelerometer mounted on the shaft bearing of the compressor. The circuit detects a rapid increase in the amplitude envelope of the vibration signal, e.g., 4 dB or greater in less than one second, which is associated with a surge onset and increments a counter. The circuit is rendered nonresponsive for a period of about 5 seconds following the detection which corresponds to the duration of the surge condition. This prevents multiple registration of counts during the surge period due to rapid swings in vibration amplitude during the period.

A drill rig for drilling in potentially hazardous areas includes a drill having conventional features such as a frame, a gear motor, gear box, and a drive. A hollow rotating shaft projects through the drive and frame. An auger, connected to the shaft is provided with a multiplicity of holes. An inert gas is supplied to the hollow shaft and directed from the rotating shaft to the holes in the auger. The inert gas flows down the hollow shaft, and then down the hollow auger, and out through the holes in the bottom of the auger into the potentially hazardous area.

This report describes an off-gas stack for a melter, furnace or reaction vessel comprising an air conduit leading to two sets of holes, one set injecting air into the off-gas stack near the melter plenum and the second set injecting air downstream of the first set. The first set injects air at a compound angle, having both downward and tangential components, to create a reverse vortex flow, counter to the direction of flow of gas through the stack and also along the periphery of the stack interior surface. Air from the first set of holes prevents recirculation zones from forming and the attendant accumulation of particulate deposits on the wall of the stack and will also return to the plenum any particulate swept up in the gas entering the stack. The second set of holes injects air in the same direction as the gas in the stack to compensate for the pressure drop and to prevent the concentration of condensate in the stack. A set of sprayers, receiving water from a second conduit, is located downstream of the second set of holes and sprays water into the gas to further cool it.

The invention is a dust feed device for delivery of a uniform supply of dust for long periods of time to an aerosolizing means for production of a dust suspension. The device utilizes at least two tandem containers having spiral brushes within the containers which transport the dust from a supply to the aerosolizer means.

This invention is comprised of an electrochemical cell has a layer-type or sandwich configuration with a Teflon center section that houses working, reference and counter electrodes and defines a relatively narrow electrolyte cavity. The center section is surrounded on both sides with thin Teflon membranes. The membranes are pressed in place by a pair of Teflon inner frames which are in turn supported by a pair of outer metal frames. The pair of inner and outer frames are provided with corresponding, appropriately shaped slits that are in plane generally transverse to the plane of the working electrode and permit X-ray beams to enter and exit the cell through the Teflon membranes that cover the slits so that the interface between the working electrode and the electrolyte within the cell may be analyzed by transmission geometry. In one embodiment, the center section consists of two parts, one on top of the other. Alternatively, the center section of the electrochemical cell may consist of two intersliding pieces or may be made of a single piece of Teflon sheet material. The electrolyte cavity is shaped so that the electrochemical cell can be rotated 900 in either direction while maintaining the working-and counter electrodes …

A heat pipe configuration is described for use in a magnetic field environment of a fusion reactor. Heat pipes for operation in a magnetic field when liquid metal working fluids are used are optimized by flattening of the heat pipes having an unobstructed annulus which significantly reduces the adverse side region effect of the prior known cylindrically configured heat pipes. The flattened heat pipes operating in a magnetic field can remove 2 to 3 times the heat as a cylindrical heat pipe of the same cross sectional area.

An improved method of preparing composite multifilament superconducting wire of Nb/sub 3/Sn in a copper matrix which eliminates the necessity of coating the drawn wire with tin is described. A generalized cylindrical billet of an alloy of copper containing at least 15 weight percent niobium, present in the copper as discrete, randomly distributed and oriented dendritic-shaped particles, is provided with at least one longitudinal opening which is filled with tin to form a composite drawing rod. The drawing rod is then drawn to form a ductile composite multifilament wire containing a filament of tin. The ductile wire containing the tin can then be wound into magnet coils or other devices before heating to diffuse the tin through the wire to react with the niobium forming Nb/sub 3/Sn. Also described is an improved method for making large billets of the copper-niobium alloy by consumable-arc casting.

A single-crystal, monolithic, tandem, photovoltaic solar cell is described which includes (a) an InP substrate having upper and lower surfaces, (b) a first photoactive subcell on the upper surf ace of the InP substrate, (c) a second photoactive subcell on the first subcell; and (d) an optically transparent prismatic cover layer over the second subcell. The first photoactive subcell is GaInAsP of defined composition. The second subcell is InP. The two subcells are lattice matched.

A method of vitrifying soil at or below a soil surface location. Two or more conductive electrodes are inserted into the soil for heating of the soil mass between them to a temperature above its melting temperature. Materials in the soil, such as buried waste, can thereby be effectively immobilized.

The present invention relates generally to an integrated fuel cell power plant, and more specifically to a combination of cycles wherein a first fuel cell cycle tops an indirect-fired gas turbine cycle and a second fuel cell cycle bottoms the gas turbine cycle so that the cycles are thermally integrated in a tandem operating arrangement. The United States Government has rights in this invention pursuant to the employer-employee relationship between the United States Department of Energy and the inventors.

An iron active electrode and method of preparing same in which iron sulfate is calcined in an oxidizing atmosphere at a temperature in the range of from about 600/sup 0/C to about 850/sup 0/C for a time sufficient to produce an iron oxide with a trace amount of sulfate are described. The calcined material is loaded into an electrically conductive support and then heated in a reducing atmosphere at an elevated temperature to produce activated iron having a trace amount of sulfide which is formed into an electrode plate.

This paper describes an invention of a pressure measuring instrument which uses laser radiation to sense the pressure in an enclosed environment by means of measuring the change in refractive index of a gas - which is pressure dependent.

This invention is comprised of a method for cutting with a laser beam where an oxygen-hydrocarbon reaction is used to provide auxiliary energy to a metal workpiece to supplement the energy supplied by the laser. Oxygen is supplied to the laser focus point on the workpiece by a nozzle through which the laser beam also passes. A liquid hydrocarbon is supplied by coating the workpiece along the cutting path with the hydrocarbon prior to laser irradiation or by spraying a stream of hydrocarbon through a nozzle aimed at a point on the cutting path which is just ahead of the focus point during irradiation.

This invention is comprised of a method is described for producing silicon carbide particles using solar energy. The method is efficient and avoids the need for use of electrical energy to heat the reactants. Finely divided silica and carbon are admixed and placed in a solar-heated reaction chamber for a time sufficient to cause a reaction between the ingredients to form silicon carbide of very small particle size. No grinding of silicon carbide is required to obtain small particles. The method may be carried out as a batch process or as a continuous process.