Abstract: A system and method of cleaning a gas of undesired particulate, aromas, and gases is disclosed. The invention uses a centrifugal scrubbing space to liquid wet a gas and includes a container for containing a liquid with a pump to circulate the liquid. The gas is pumped from outside the container, through an inlet cylinder, a fan wheel, a scrubbing space, over a surface of the liquid, through a cyclone space, and out a top outlet. The liquid may be pumped with a standard pump, a cone-shaped rotatable case attached to the fan wheel, or a pump with a non-case rotatable case and an impeller attached to a same shaft as the fan wheel. The gas inlet may be positioned below or above the apparatus, and the fan motor may be positioned inside or outside the apparatus.

Abstract: A method of installing an annular bearing element within a centrifugal pump utilizes a mechanical staking operation. The bearing element locates within a receptacle of a pump stage that is surrounded by a retaining wall. Once the bearing element is located within the retaining wall, the retaining wall is permanently deformed at various points against the bearing element. The bearing element, if of a hard wear resistant metal, may have flats for the circumferentially spaced apart deformations to locate within. The bearing element may be a thrust washer for transmitting downward thrust, or it may be a radial support bearing sleeve.

Abstract: A deep-water floating offshore platform includes a buoyant hull having a substantially flat top, and substantially flat bottom, and a plurality of substantially flat sides. The hull further includes a tendon access shaft and a plurality of riser guide sleeves. The tendon access shaft extends below the bottom of the hull and includes a counterweight connected to the lower portion of the tendon access shaft to provide stability to the hull. The hull can be constructed from a cargo tank section of an existing oil tanker or through the use of new construction based on using the flat-plate design used in constructing cargo tank sections of oil tankers.

Abstract: A method and apparatus for detecting lubricant depletion in a disk drive is provided. Disk operation performance parameters are monitored for each of a plurality of zones on the surface of the disk and stored. Examples of performance parameters include dwell time, flying height changes, and data recovery measurements. The performance parameters are compared against predetermined threshold values. If the performance parameters exceed the predetermined threshold values for any of the zones, a potential lubricant depletion or other general degradation problem is flagged for the corresponding zone. Optionally, when a potential lubricant depletion problem is flagged for a particular zone, corrective action is taken. Examples of corrective action include moving recently accessed data from the flagged zone to a zone not identified as having a lubricant depletion problem, moving older archival data to the flagged zone, and/or removing access to the flagged zone.

Abstract: A rotating drilling head seals around drill pipe while drilling. The drilling head has an outer housing that mounts to the rig floor. An inner housing is rotatably mounted in the outer housing. An annular bladder is mounted in the inner housing. An annular elastomeric gripping member is mounted in the bladder. The inner housing having a passage for delivering hydraulic fluid pressure to the outer surface of the bladder to cause the bladder to deform inwardly, thereby forcing the gripping member to deform inwardly to grip and rotate with a drill pipe. The gripping member has a first end secured to the inner housing for rotating the inner housing as the drill pipe rotates and a second end that is free to move axially to allow the bladder to elongate in response to the deformation by the bladder.

Abstract: A timing circuit for measuring time of arrival of an asynchronous event is disclosed. The timing circuit includes a counter, a register, a gray code-to-binary converter, and a cascade circuit. In response to a time of arrival of a trigger signal that denotes an occurrence of an asynchronous event, the counter generates a set of high-order binary bits and the register generates a set of gray code bits. The gray code-to-binary converter then converts the set of gray code bits to a set of low-order binary bits. Finally, the cascade circuit concatenates the high-order binary bits and the low-order binary bits to form the time of arrival of the asynchronous event.

Abstract: A centrifugal pump pumps well fluid with a high gaseous content by utilizing an impeller design for use in gaseous liquids. The impeller has high discharge angles and large balance holes. The impeller has short and long vanes alternating with each other. The shorter vanes have a leading surface that is concave in shape. In one design, the longer vanes have a radially outward portion of a leading surface that is concave in shape. The radially outward portion of the longer vanes of this design has substantially the same radius of curvature as the shorter vanes. The radially inward portion of the leading edge of the longer vanes can be concave or convex in shape.

Abstract: A non-fluorocarbon oil and grease barrier packaging for storing materials, particularly products that need oil and grease resistant characteristics. The barrier packaging does not contain fluorocarbons, which improves the environmental rating of the oil and grease barrier packaging. The packaging is made by applying an acrylate based overprint varnish to a substrate and then curing the overprint varnish with a curable energy source, which regulates a cross-link density of the overprint varnish. Application can be flexography, rotogravure, or either rod or blade coated. The overprint varnish possesses oil and grease resistant characteristics, which allows packaging producers to forego use of oil and grease resistant coated substrates in their packaging manufacturing processes.

Abstract: A process and apparatus for exploitation and liquefaction of natural gas in offshore stranded gas reserves. Two ordinary nautical vessels are used to produce, store and unload LPG and LNG. Typical front end processing is performed on the first vessel. The treated inlet gas is transported to the second vessel where the stream goes through liquefaction and storage until it is offloaded to a transport vessel for shipment. The liquefaction process utilizes two refrigerant cycles that utilize two expanded refrigerants, at least one of which is circulated in a gas phase refrigeration cycle. The refrigerants and the inlet gas stream are transported between the two vessels by the use of piping. Electricity can be generated to provide power for the compression sections of the refrigeration cycles. Turbines, engines, or boilers from the vessels can be used for generating electricity since they are no longer needed for locomotion purposes.

Abstract: A three-wheeled, electrically powered cart is provided for transporting items typically transported using a hand truck. The cart comprises a body section housing rechargeable batteries and a steerable load section that is hinged to the body section. An electric motor powers the front wheel for propelling the cart. The load section pivots about a generally vertical axis and has a movable load rack that pivots about a horizontal axis. A platform is located between the rear wheels for supporting a user during operation. In one embodiment, the width of the cart is approximately 24 inches, allowing the cart to pass through a typical doorway.

Abstract: Flow enhancing restrictors are located within a fluid conduit to provide pressure reduction and flow enhancement. The restrictors may be used in combination with a conventional choke valve or as a stand-alone pressure reduction means. Alternative exemplary embodiments for flow enhancers are described. Each of the flow enhancers has a generally cylindrical base with at least one fluid passage disposed therethrough. Each of the flow enhancers also provides a dome that projects upwardly from the center of the base to assist in directing fluid flow and receiving the abrasive forces associated with the fluid.

Abstract: A chemical change agent containing water, tall oil, glycerides, and surfactants is used to create synthetic fuels. An alternate composition contains water, glycerides, and surfactants. The chemical change agent is formed by heating the tall oil; combining water, fatty acids, and surfactant; and adding the heated tall oil and the water, fatty acid, and surfactant to form an emulsion. The synthetic fuel contains coal and the chemical change agent. The synthetic fuel is formed by mixing coal with the chemical change agent and pressing the two components into a briquette or other suitable treatment to create a finished product.

Abstract: The microwaviness (i.e., surface waviness for wavelengths on the order of the length of the transducing head) of a recording disk surface is measured during manufacture as a quality control process. Preferably, the disk is measured using an actuator-mounted thermal sensor, comprising an electrical resistance element driven with a constant current. At small distances, the disk surface acts as a heat sink and variation in this distance will be detected as a change in resistance of the sensor. Preferably the sensor is initially used to characterize the gross waviness of the surface, and the actuator then follows this gross waviness to measure surface variations in the microwaviness range.

Abstract: A method of reducing telephone usage charges billed by a telephone service provider for connecting a source telephone to a target telephone by communicating to a computer system the telephone number of the source telephone, and communicating to the computer system the telephone number of the target telephone, with the computer system originating a connection to the source telephone and originating a connection to the target telephone. The computer system then connects the source telephone to the target telephone. This connection is made such that a telephone service provider for the source telephone interprets the source telephone as a receiving telephone and bills the source telephone number at the discount rate for incoming calls for the telephone call. The computer system for this system may include a PBX system and computers capable of managing phone calls to and from the PBX system to accommodate both two party and multiple party calls.

Abstract: An electrical submersible pump assembly has first and second modular component sections, each of the sections having an outer housing and an inner shaft member. A coupling sleeve having a bore is disposed between the modular component sections and receives the shaft member of each of the component sections. The bore of the coupling sleeve and the shaft members having mating radial load transmitting shoulders for transmitting torque. An axial load transmitting shoulder is affixed to the shaft member of the first modular component section and located in the bore of the coupling sleeve. A locking element is carried by the shaft member of the second modular section and engages the axial load transmitting shoulder to secure the shaft members to one another for transferring axial tension from one of the shaft members to the other.

Abstract: A balance clip in a hard disk drive spindle motor facilitates improved disk pack balance correction. The balance clip has one end that is offset from the semi-circular shape of the body of the balance clip. The offset end is located opposite the precise bent tab that provides tooling engagement in the balance clip. The offset end of the balance clip is offset at a radius that is less than the radius of the balance clip, or at a pre-determined, lesser radial offset from the original circular shape. Consequently, the cross-sectional edge of the clip at the offset end does not make contact with the surface of the groove in which the balance clip is seated. This design eliminates scratching between the offset end and motor hub, and thereby greatly reduces friction and particle generation during clip adjustment in the disk pack balancing process.

Abstract: A jumper for transferring fluids from an umbilical to a subsea tree assembly has a plurality of steel tubes. The steel tubes are bent so that the jumper is in a serpentine or w-shape while in a natural state. The steel allows resists damage to the jumper from the fluids and chemicals being transferred to the tree assembly. The w-shape of the jumper allows the jumper to be stretched or contracted so that the distance between the connectors on each end of the jumper can vary. The contracted width jumper is attached to a terminal plate located on the tree assembly as it is landed on a subsea wellhead. An ROV disconnects the jumper and connects the jumper to receptors on the tree assembly and the umbilical, while stretching the jumper to the necessary length to reach the receptors. The jumper can be disconnected from the tree assembly when maintenance is necessary without moving the umbilical.

Abstract: A system on interactive tracking and inventorying of incident response equipment and associated methods is provided. The system and methods enable command centers to determine the geographic location of all available emergency response equipment that are capable of responding to an incident. The systems and methods allow the inventory to be updated as equipment and personnel are spent during the course of the incident. The location of the equipment and personnel can be viewed on a topography map, as well as an aerial map, to enable the incident command to determine the atmospheric surroundings of each piece of equipment. The maps can be superimposed so that more than one type of map data can be viewed simultaneously.

Abstract: A cart for transport of material, such as tools, equipment, supplies and the like on curved surface roofs of a building or other structure which as a varying or changing slope. The cart has a base frame mounted on rear wheels and forward casters. The base frame attaches by a rope or cable to an anchor point on the roof. An equipment basket is suspended at pivot points between supports extending above the base frame. The basket and its contents thus remain in a level, stable position on the roof as the cart is moved to various locations over the curved roof surface during use.