Abstract: Colloidal carbonaceous material-in-water slurries having nano-particles of carbonaceous material creating a pseudo-fluid. The colloidal carbonaceous material-in-water slurry generally includes from about fifty to about seventy two weight percent of carbonaceous material, with about 20 to about 80 percent of the carbonaceous material having a particle size of about one micron or less with a mode particle size of about 250 nanometers. The carbonaceous material-in-water slurry can also include a surfactant system containing one surfactant or mixtures of two or more surfactants, or mixtures of one or more surfactants and an inorganic or organic salt. The carbonaceous material-in-water slurry can be used in low NOx burner applications as the main fuel and/or the reburn fuel, in gasification processes as the input fuel either alone, or in combination with organic materials, in gas turbine applications, and in diesel engine applications.

Abstract: Colloidal coal-in-water slurries having nano-particles of coal creating a pseudo-fluid. The colloidal coal-in-water slurry generally includes from about fifty to about seventy two weight percent of coal, with about 20 to about 80 percent of the coal having a particle size of about one micron or less with a mode particle size of about 250 nanometers. The coal-in-water slurry can also include a surfactant system containing one surfactant or mixtures of two or more surfactants, or mixtures of one or more surfactants and an inorganic or organic salt. The coal-in-water slurry can be used in low NOx burner applications as the main fuel and/or the reburn fuel, in gasification processes as the input fuel either alone, or in combination with organic materials, in gas turbine applications, and in diesel engine applications.

Abstract: Propagation of ultrasound through a porous body saturated with liquid generates electric response. This electro-acoustic effect is called “seismoelectric current”, whereas reverse version, when electric field is driving force, is “electroseismic current”. It is possible to measure seismoelectric current with existing electro-acoustic devices, which had been designed for characterizing liquid dispersions. Such versatility allows calibration of said devise using dispersion and then applying it for characterizing porous body. In general, magnitude of seismoelectric current depends on porosity, pore size, zeta potential of pore surfaces and elastic properties of matrix. It is possible to adjust conductivity of liquid for simplifying these dependences. For instance, liquid with high ionic strength causes double layers become thin comparing to the pore size, which eliminates dependence of said currents on pore size. We suggest using such case for characterizing porosity.

Abstract: Colloidal coal-in-water slurries having nano-particles of coal creating a pseudo-fluid. The colloidal coal-in-water slurry generally includes from about fifty to about seventy two weight percent of coal, with about 20 to about 80 percent of the coal having a particle size of about one micron or less with a mode particle size of about 250 nanometers. The coal-in-water slurry can also include a surfactant system containing one surfactant or mixtures of two or more surfactants, or mixtures of one or more surfactants and an inorganic or organic salt. The coal-in-water slurry can be used in low NOx burner applications as the main fuel and/or the reburn fuel, in gasification processes as the input fuel either alone, or in combination with organic materials, in gas turbine applications, and in diesel engine applications.

Abstract: Propagation of ultrasound through a porous body saturated with liquid generates electric response. This electro-acoustic effect is called “seismoelectric current”, whereas reverse version, when electric field is driving force, is “electroseismic current”. It is possible to measure seismoelectric current with existing electro-acoustic devices, which had been designed for characterizing liquid dispersions. Such versatility allows calibration of said devise using dispersion and then applying it for characterizing porous body. In general, magnitude of seismoelectric current depends on porosity, pore size, zeta potential of pore surfaces and elastic properties of matrix. It is possible to adjust conductivity of liquid for simplifying these dependences. For instance, liquid with high ionic strength causes double layers become thin comparing to the pore size, which eliminates dependence of said currents on pore size. We suggest using such case for characterizing porosity.

Abstract: Propagation of ultrasound through a porous body saturated with liquid generates electric response.

Abstract: A ribbed module is provided having a ribbed exterior surface defining a plurality of grooves and channels along the surface for receiving water and directing the water in a direction different from that in which it is received to reduce wave energy. The module is formed as a single integral unit, or as a pair of halves having complementary mating locking elements which when engaged join the halves to form the ribbed module. A buoyancy system is also included to adjust the buoyancy of the module for positioning of same at a select position in the water. A plurality of modules are connected to provide breakwaters which reduce the effects of wave action on the shore.

Abstract: A method is described which applies the combination of Electroacoustic and Complex Conductivity measurements to characterize particle electric surface properties, such as ?-potential, and bulk properties, such as the dielectric permittivity, in systems where conductivity data is required for applying an appropriate theoretical model for calculating output parameters from the measured data. In particular, this is important in low conducting systems for which the double layer thickness exceeds the particle radius or in the systems where particles have either high bulk dielectric permittivity or high conductivity.

Abstract: A method is described which applies Acoustic Spectrometry to characterize both the particle size distribution and micro-rheological properties of the structured concentrated dispersions. It suggests to model the structured dispersion as a collection of the spherical particles which are connected together with flexible strings. Oscillation of these strings creates an additional energy dissipation which contributes to the total attenuation. This dissipation is dependent on the second virial coefficient characterizing the flexibility of the strings. It is shown that the value of the second virial coefficient can be calculated from the measured attenuation spectra either for known particle size or together with particle size as adjustable parameter.

Abstract: The process of heavy metals removal from the waste water using silica dispersion without mixing silica dispersion with the waste water. This is achieved due to the membrane device where silica dispersion and waste water stream are separated by membrane with pore sizes smaller that size of the silica particles. The process is organized as counter-flow, which means that silica dispersion and waste water flow in the opposite directions. This provides the maximum utilization of the adsorption capacity corresponding to the adsorbent being in equilibrium with the high initial concentration of the contaminant in distinction from the low utilization when adsorbent works in equilibrium with the low output concentration. In the particular instance the membrane device comprises a lumen of a bundle of hollow fibers with silica dispersion flowing either inside or outside of the fibers and wastewater flowing on the opposite side of the fiber membrane. This process eliminates step of separating silica from the wastewater.

Abstract: A method is described which applies Acoustic Spectrometry to characterize both the particle size distribution and mechanical properties of the soft particles in concentrated dispersed systems. It is shown that compressibility of the soft particles can be calculated from the measured sound speed using well-known Wood expression. The value of the thermal expansion coefficient can be calculated from the measured attenuation spectra either for known particle size or together with particle size as adjustable parameter.

Abstract: A “coupled phase model” is used to characterize the motion induced by a sound wave of a particle relative to its dispersion medium. A Kuvabara cell model is used to describe the hydrodynamic effects, whereas a Shilov-Zharkikh cell model is used to characterize electrokinetic effects. A different approach for interpreting the experimental data is described in which the electroacoustic sensor is treated as a transmission line with various energy losses due to the reflection and sound attenuation. The experimental output is also expressed as a loss, namely the ratio of the Colloid Vibration Current to the gradient in the acoustic pressure, and is computed by subtracting all other known losses from the total loss of the electroacoustic sensor. These other energy losses can be either calculated or measured directly using reflected pulses.

Abstract: A device is described which combines Acoustic and Electroacoustic spectrometers to characterize both particle size distribution and zeta potential for concentrated dispersed systems.The Acoustic Spectrometer measures both attenuation and sound speed for multiple frequencies using each measurement to help optimize and correct the other. The attenuation spectra is used to calculate particle size.The Electroacoustic Spectrometer measures Colloid Vibration Current (CVI), correcting the measured value using attenuation and sound speed data from the Acoustic Spectrometer. The Colloid Vibration Current is used to calculate zeta potential taking into account the particle size calculated from the acoustic measurement as well as particle interaction.Sound speed and multiple frequency CVI measurement provide additional experimental data to check the validity of the data.