Abstract: Sewage sludge is dewatered to a cake-like state. The viscosity of the sludge is lowered by admixing a quantity of urea, urea-ammonium-nitrate, or other nitrogen-containing material, in with the dewatered sludge. The treatment also removes pathogens, and renders the product suitable for use as a fertilizer.

Abstract: Applying pulses to liquid being injected into wells makes the ground/liquid formation more homogenous, and more penetrative. A system for automatically creating the pulses is described, in which a piston is acted upon by the pressure differential (PDAF) between the supplied accumulator pressure and the formation pressure. The changing levels of the PDAF as the pulse-valve opens (and the PDAF falls) and as the pulse-valve closes (and the PDAF rises) are harnessed to actuate an inhibitor that restrain movement of the valve-piston, and delays opening and/or closing of the pulse-valve. The pulse-valve is engineered to open explosively, and thus create penetrative porosity-waves in the formation. The system includes a pressurized-gas accumulator, and injection-check-valve which can maintain pulsing even when the ground is not saturated, and the static injector, which allows non-pulsed injection only when the ground is non-saturated.

Abstract: For use when injecting remediation liquid via an injection-well into contaminated groundwater, in the ground. The injection equipment includes a pulse-generator, which has an upstream chamber and a downstream chamber, linked by a pulse-conduit and a bypass conduit. The pulse-conduit includes a pulse-port, which opens and closes cyclically. The pulse-port is formed by the interaction of two apertures, one in the motorised rotor, the other in the stator. The rotor and stator may be formed as two facing plates held slightly apart, or as two cylinders one inside the other. The pulse-generator is located at the ground surface and can be adjusted as to pulse frequency, pulse amplitude, pulse rise-time, and as the the differential pressure between the upstream-chamber and the downstream chamber.

Abstract: The water to be treated might be river water which needs to be clarified, or might be septic tank effluent which needs to have its BOD and dissolved organics content diminished, and its ammonium oxidized. Treatment is done by passing the water through a block of soft open-cell foam. The block of foam is rectanguloid in its basic form. The block of foam is housed in a watertight box. The rectanguloid form enables minimal hydraulic heads, and is simple and cheap to manufacture and install.

Abstract: An N-nary photonic transistor (PT) based on a heterojunction optical semiconductor microstructure is presented. The PT has one control signal input, one data signal input, and one output. The lights for each input can be one of the wavelengths within the N number (N-nary) of predetermined lightwaves. The output light of the PT is determined by the inputs in accordance with the switching function of the PT. The PT can be used to construct either N-nary digital logic gates or binary Boolean logic gates. For the N-nary system, both the wavelength domain and intensity domain of the lights are used which forms a two dimensional logic system. An optical AND gate, which can be used as either N-nary or binary, is constructed using the current photonic transistor, which is also presented herein.

Abstract: Guide case (24) for use in conjunction with a water turbine (20), with a helical top wall (35) of the annular chamber (27) extended downstream of the inner wall (39) of the inlet port (30). The extension is wetted on its downstream side by the top water entering the inlet port, and on its upstream side by the bottom water. The extension serves to keep the top water separate from the bottom water until the velocity vectors of the two water streams have been aligned, therefore reducing turbulence at the point where the waters mix and merge, and enabling more of the energy to be extracted from the water.

Abstract: The weight sensing device may include a base, a cover, a first load cell attached to the base and the cover, a second load cell attached to the base and in contact with the cover but not attached, and an analyzing circuit which is connected by electrical wires to the load cells. The base may be a fork, for example, a lift truck fork. When a load is positioned on the load bearing surface of the cover, the load cells flex and cause an electrical signal to be transmitted over the wires to the analyzing circuit.

Abstract: For extracting a liquid (such as oil) from a porous medium, the liquid is subjected to pulses that propagate through the liquid flowing through the pores of the medium. The pulses cause momentary surges in the velocity of the liquid, which keeps the pores open. The pulses can be generated in the production well, or in a separate excitation well. If the pulses travel with the liquid, the velocity of travel of the liquid through the pores can be increased. The solid matrix is kept stationary, and the pulses move through the liquid. The pulses in the liquid can be generated directly in the liquid, or indirectly in the liquid via a localized area of the solid matrix.

Abstract: The left and right sideblades are hinged to the mainblade about vertical axes, and can pivot each through 180°. The sideblades are rotated by means of left and right hydraulic rotary actuators. The actuator includes a piston formed with helical splines, which drive a rotor sleeve of the actuator to rotate in a single-plane-circle when the piston is driven axially. The journal bearings in the rotary actuator are supplemented by bearings provided in a coaxial lower hinge, which are of much greater journal capacity than the bearings in the rotary actuators. The lower hinge protects the hydraulic rotary actuator from shocks due to the sideblade impacting against a kerb.

Abstract: The cage comprises a metal support framework and plastic panels that define trays for containing live-poultry. Horizontal floor panels of the trays are domed and slitted to prevent pooling of water. Vertical fence panels are formed as open lattice boxes, combining good containment with good ventilation. Openable doors for the trays have a double-detent camming action, whereby the doors snap to open or snap to closed, whichever is closer. The cage is lifted on/off a truck with a fork lift.

Abstract: The headrest support tubes are secured to the seat frame member not by the usual welding, but by gripping the web of the member between two rings or lock-beads swaged into the metal of the tube. The first ring is swaged-out by compressing the tube. The tube, with the one ring, is then assembled into a through-hole in the web of the frame member. Then, the second ring is swaged into the metal of the tube, on the other side of the web, and the web lies gripped between the rings. The seat frame member may be an I-section extrusion, or a round tube with localised squeezed-flat areas, flanked by flanges.

Abstract: In a belt splicer, having crossbeams straddling over and under the splice area, and having tie-bolts holding the ends of the crossbeams together, the safety system comprises link-spacers which link the crossbeams together. The link-spacers are profiled complementarily to the crossbeams, whereby the link-spacers can slide relative to the crossbeams. If a tie-bolt should fail, the cross-beams are held in place, relative to the other crossbeams, by the link-spacers.

Abstract: The vented port-cap includes a check-valve, which admits air into the barrel of the hydrant when the pressure inside is lower than the pressure outside. After an inspection of the hydrant, the hydrant can be left to drain by itself, even though the port-cap has been replaced and tightened.

Abstract: For use in drawing samples of e.g water from a well. The sampling pipe is formed as an extrusion in polyethylene. The profile includes three equi-spaced channels. The profile, being triangulated, is rigid and resistant to buckling, which allows the sampling pipe to be coiled for transport to the site. Sample-tubes, pumps, etc, can be inserted into the channels. The channels can be plugged for isolation of sampling ports at different depths.

Abstract: Headrest-mounting-tubes are attached into the seatframe of an automotive seat. Headrest-posts engage the mounting-tubes, and support the headrest. The headrest-posts need to be orientated correctly, and so have a key that engages a keyway in the mounting-tube. The keyway is formed as a keyway-pocket, being punched from the open end of the tube. Preferably, the keyway-pocket is punched after the mounting-tube has been attached into the seatframe.

Abstract: In a sewage treatment plant, dissolved ammonium is extracted from the waste-water stream, and is transferred to a body of secondary water. The secondary water is passed through an electrolysis station, where the ammonium is transformed to nitrogen gas. The capture and transfer can be done by ion-exchange, the electrolysis then being done on the regenerant water. Or the capture and transfer can be done by first transforming the dissolved ammonium to ammonia gas by raising the pH of the waste-water, then passing the ammonia gas through acidic secondary-water, in which the ammonia dissolves, the electrolysis then being done on the acid-water. The electrolysed, ammonium-diminished, secondary-water can be re-used in further capture/transfer episodes. The secondary-water does not mix with the waste-water stream.

Abstract: The puck-deflector is a one-piece moulding in polyurethane, having a sloping apron for deflecting the puck up and into the net. The puck-deflector fits around the bottom pipe of the goalframe, and prevents incoming pucks from striking the bottom pipe, and rebounding back out over the goal-line.

Abstract: The envelope comprises layers of plain un-coated kraft paper and of bubble-wrap polyethylene. A stack of the layers is joined at the marginal edges of the envelope by squeezing the stack between a pair of points-dies, which are formed with points that puncture the kraft paper but do not puncture the polyethylene. The points push crowns of un-punctured polyethylene through the punctured boles in the paper. Then, the marginal edges are squeezed flat between flat-dies, the flat-dies being heated enough to cause fuse-bonding. The margins of the finished envelope are held together not only by fuse-bonding, but by the presence of the crowns, which, penetrating right through the holes in the paper, serve as mechanical rivets.

Abstract: In place of a conventional septic tank, wastewater undergoes anaerobic treatment and settlement in a treatment-pipe. The treatment-pipe has a long/narrow configuration. End chambers provide inlet and outlet ports, a sump for collecting settled-out solids, and sealing attachments for the treatment-pipe itself.

Abstract: The device comprises a sheet of paper or card, having a slit formed therein. The slit makes an inverted U-shape, having left and right leg portions, and a cross-bar. The slit divides the sheet into a front panel, on which a greetings message can be written or printed, and a fixing-loop, which slips over the neck of the bottle. The vertical length of the legs of the slit is shorter than the width between the legs, whereby the device comes to rest on the bottle, with the neck of the bottle touching the inside of the front panel and the back of the fixing-loop. The bottle does not touch the legs of the slit. An envelope for the device is also disclosed.