Abstract: The specification describes a gas-liquid separator which is compartmentalized for eliminating high speed streams of gas-carrying liquid. These compartments in combination with anti-vortex and liquid flow path impeding means reduce the liquid flow speed and turbulence in the liquid to effect the separation of the gas from the liquid. The separator is provided with a liquid outlet and a separate venting means for the escape of the separated gas.

Abstract: An hydraulic separating device with automatic flow control having an outer member providing a passage circumscribed by a surface of revolution; an inner member mounted concentrically in the passage circumscribed by a surface of revolution and with the outer member defining an annular passage therebetween; means for directing fluid in a swirling action through the passage to centrifuge heavier constituents therefrom; and a frusto-concial flap mounted on the inner member in circumscribing relation thereto, the flap extended in converging relation toward the outer member in the direction of the fluid flow therethrough and being resiliently flexible toward and from said outer member.

Abstract: The discharge end portion of a sewage delivery tube is surrounded by the input end portion of a conveyor pipe. A long, flat strip of consumable filter material is inserted through the annular space between them and into the conveyor pipe. Prior to this insertion, however, the filter strip is shaped and fastened into the form of a closed tube. The conveyor pipe discharges into an incinerator equipped with means for breaking the sewage sludge into burnable droplets. The conveyor pipe is supported over a liquid-collecting funnel and is perforated in the portion thereof that is over the funnel. A vibrator attached to the conveyor pipe oscillates it longitudinally; and ratchet teeth inside the conveyor pipe are oriented to cooperate with the vibrator to urge the filter-encased sludge toward the incinerator.

Abstract: A chute is formed by a bottom wall and side walls, and the bottom wall is provided with cross grooves for catching ore particles. The bottom and front walls of the grooves are formed on about the same radius of curvature with the curvature of the front wall forming an undercut under the feed edge of the grooves. The rear wall of the grooves leads from the bottom wall in a straight line inclined upwardly in a discharge end direction. Ore containing material which is fed down the chute is separated out in the grooves by a back eddy developed by the particular shape of the grooves.

Abstract: An improved process and apparatus is described for separating a gas from an upwardly flowing gas-liquid mixture at the top of a vertical reactor or tube covered by a separator hood in which the upper or overflow edge of the upflow tube is extended and modified by a series of vertical partitions traversing the space directly above the upflow tube and extending outwardly therefrom to afford a series of adjacent, alternating riser and downcomer compartments, the riser compartments being bottomless in the space directly over the upflow tube and the downcomer compartments being bottomless in the space outside the top of the upflow tube, such that any liquid being separated from the gas-liquid mixture first passes through a riser compartment and over a partition into a downcomer compartment before it is collected for withdrawal.

Abstract: Apparatus for treating sewage by providing a plurality of uniquely designed thin discs that are mounted on a shaft so that the discs are immersed approximately 40% in a sewage tank. The shaft is rotated at peripheral speeds on the order of 35-75 feet per minute to alternately expose the discs to the atmosphere and the liquid containing wastewater in the tank to treat the wastewater in the tank by providing for the growth of biological slimes on the surfaces of the discs. The discs have a corrugated configuration with the corrugations of the alternate discs disposed at ninety degrees to each other to provide maximum usable surface area in a given rotating volume while having sufficient clearance to permit unobstructive sloughing of growths.

Abstract: A transmission fluid filter having a fluid outlet comprising a sheet metal base member with a plurality of upstanding spaced support bosses. A polyester fiber mesh is molded into a plastic filter frame which includes a peripheral edge for attachment to the base member and a plurality of ribs extending generally from the region of the fluid outlet to the frame edge and supported by the bosses to form a fluid cavity between the mesh and the base member.

Abstract: Described herein is a sorbent element, especially useful for removing matter from a liquid system, comprising particulate sorbent material such as charcoal, ion exchange resins and silicas, substantially loosely encapsulated within a porous filter membrane such as woven polypropylene or Teflon. A particular application of the encapsulated element is in the qualitative and quantitative analysis of drugs contained in biological samples. Sorption processes utilizing the novel sorbent element are also described, as well as apparatus for performing analytical techniques utilizing the sorbent element.

Abstract: A unitized apparatus with no moving parts capable of degassing the liquid flowing through it, forming a liquid seal and reservoir between the pressurization system and flowing liquid, and operating in an aircraft type varying "G" environment. Two cylindrical tanks are vertically disposed one within the other with a transfer tube forming the means of communication between their interiors. Liquid within the inner tank covers one end of the transfer tube both to form a liquid seal and to function as a limited reservoir. Gas introduced into the upper region of the inner tank pressurizes the system. The flowing liquid to be degassed is introduced tangentially between the tanks and exists through an opening in the outer tank near its lower end, producing a rotational flow and a centrifugal force to drive the gas bubbles inward toward gas traps located on the surface of the inner tank. Vortex flow within the trough-like gas traps captures the gas bubbles and confines them in the traps while the bubbles rise.

Abstract: H.sub.2 S is removed continuously from H.sub.2 S-rich liquid sulfur by contacting same with an H.sub.2 S-lean carrier gas in more than one discrete contacting stage. Preferably, the liquid sulfur is recirculated in at least one discrete contacting stage to provide better contacting between the sulfur and the carrier gas within said stage.

Abstract: A hub assembly for use in the filtration of fluids comprising a hub with a tapered bore extending therethrough, and a filter membrane in the bore. The filter membrane has a first portion extending across the bore and a second portion extending from the first portion in substantial contact with the hub around the bore. Means within the bore presses the second portion into tight contact with the hub around the bore to secure the filter membrane therein.A method of fabricating a filter membrane and inserting the same into a hub having a bore extending therethrough, the bore being substantially circular in cross section and tapered to define a large opening at its proximal end and a small opening at its distal end, includes forming a substantially flat, circular filter membrane from a filter medium, the membrane having a diameter larger than the large opening of the bore.

Abstract: A skimmer assembly adapted for installation through an opening in a pool wall from the rear side thereof to mask the otherwise exposed edges of the wall opening, includes a circular type weir involving a float having means for offering resistance to dropping of the float in response to operation of the pool pump, whereby to minimize and stabilize the layer of water flowing over the weir.

Abstract: A filter relief valve assembly for a simple, easy to assemble use with filter structures of the common oil filter throw away type which will function to permit oil bypass of the filter element whenever the fluid pressure exceeds a predetermined value. The assembly unit is complete unto itself, but when assembled with the other filter components support and center one end of the filter element and also center and align an associated check valve in cooperation with the filter end closure.

Abstract: A tea strainer for use in straining tea while it is poured into a teacup, which may be sitting in a saucer. A bowl-like sieve member, provided with projections for engaging the lip of the cup, also has a handle which is made in two parts connected together by a hinge. The hinge is so located that the outer portion of the handle can swing downwardly into contact with the table on which the cup rests. The inner handle portion is sufficiently long so that it lies normally beyond the diameter of the saucer when the cup is sitting in the saucer. The hinge is stiff enough so that it ordinarily must be manually and purposely moved from one position to another. When held in the hand, the tea strainer functions as a normal tea strainer with a stiff handle, but when placed in the cup and the handle moved about the hinge and put in contact with the table, it becomes self-supporting.

Abstract: A drainage piping system for discharging soil water and waste water from various plumbing fixtures comprises a vertical main pipe and lateral branch pipes connected to the fixtures. To provide a single-pipe confluence system for installation in medium-sized or high buildings without employing a vent pipe to be arranged along the vertical main pipe, the main pipe incorporates at least one twisted pipe portion having an axis helically deviating from the axis of the main pipe.

Abstract: To isolate ammonia from gas mixtures containing ammonia and carbon dioxide, the gas mixture is first partially absorbed in a solvent, with residence times of at most 0.1 second, and the non-absorbed gas is then separated from the solution obtained. The solution is then subjected to a first desorption stage, in which only the ammonia present in an excess over a molar ratio of 3 parts of ammonia to 1 part of carbon dioxide is expelled by heating, and the entrained carbon dioxide is washed out of the expelled ammonia by means of solutions containing free ammonia. The solution remaining after the first desorption stage is substantially freed from ammonia and carbon dioxide in a second desorption stage and the expelled gas, containing solvent, together with fresh gas mixture is fed to the adsorption stage, while the solvent obtained from the second desorption stage is employed for the absorption.

Abstract: An enclosure having an inlet and an outlet for hot air, and an inlet and an outlet for waste water, contains a plurality of refractory, porous, tubular, membrane-type filters, each of which is closed at one end and connected at its other end to the waste water outlet. Hence, waste water entering through its inlet in the enclosure must pass through the walls of the filter tubes before being discharged through its outlet. During this process, any solid particles in the water become deposited on the outer surfaces of the filter tubes. After a filtering cycle is over and the waste water has been drained through its outlet, a heating means, equipped with a blower and attached to the hot-air inlet, forces heated air into the enclosure to incinerate the solids deposited on the filter tubes. Therefore, the filter tubes serve also as refractory grates to hold the sludge while it burns. After the sludge has been burned, an automatic timer switches back to the filtering cycle.

Abstract: A high capacity blood transfusion micro filter comprises a case having inlet and outlet ports, upper and lower chambers, inward projections in the upper chamber and a quantity of woolly blood filter material contained in both chambers. The woolly material in the upper chamber is of less density than that in the lower chamber and is fluffed out into the spaces between the projections to provide filter areas of still lower density. Baffle means direct the flow of blood centrally in both upper and lower chambers.

Abstract: A structure for dewatering solids utilizing a rotating cylindrical screen wherein the solids and water are directed to a portion of the rotating screen with the water passing into the interior of the screen and the solids adhering to the external surface of the screen. Doctor means remove substantially all of the solids from the external surface of the screen, after which the screen is washed by the water which has entered into the screen, the water being directed by a baffle into a flowing stream which strikes the screen and passes therethrough in a concentrated mass. The baffle is fixedly carried by a fixed shaft on which the screen is mounted for rotation.

Abstract: Suspended contaminated particles are removed by magnetic separation from a liquid containing ferromagnetic particulate material to which the particles adhere. A plurality of radially extending filter discs are provided on a horizontally disposed rotatable shaft for rotation therewith, the liquid being directed toward the discs and through gaps provided therebetween. Permanent magnets are provided on the discs for producing local magnetic field gradients in the gaps, and the discs have non-magnetic portions outwardly of the magnets along the periphery of the discs. The particulate material is scraped from the discs which adhere thereto when the liquid passes the gaps, and the scraped material is moved outwardly of the discs.