Abstract: An apparatus and method for a continuous phase-separated synthesis of particulates, and in particular an apparatus and method for a continuous polymerization which utilizes a reactor vessel having stationary annular baffles through which an aqueous medium is circulated, and to which a monomer and initiator are added. During polymerization, as the fluid circulates through the reactor vessel, the eddies created by the baffles enhance a thorough and even mixing of the fluid.
Abstract: Apparatus and method for detecting the formation and dissociation of gas hydrates in a fluid. The apparatus used comprises a piezoelectric crystal sensor and a signal analyzer. The crystal sensor has a deposition surface in contact with the fluid. Under a range of pressures and or temperatures the resonant frequency or an electrical parameter dependent on the resonant frequency of the piezoelectric sensor is measured. There is a step change in the resonant frequency which occurs upon the formation or dissociation of a clathrate hydrate on the deposition surface, so that the formation or dissociation of said clathrate hydrate may be detected.
Type:
Grant
Filed:
December 27, 1999
Date of Patent:
October 9, 2001
Assignee:
Heriot-Watt University
Inventors:
Rhoderick William Burgass, Adrian Christopher Todd, Sayed Ali Danesh, Bahman Tohidi Kalorazi
Abstract: Apparatus and method for detecting the dew point or bubble point phase transition in fluid. The apparatus used comprises a piezoelectric crystal sensor and a signal analyser. The phase transition of the fluid is measured by monitoring, directly or indirectly, change in the resonant frequency of the piezoelectric crystal sensor while said one of the temperature and pressure is varied, so as to detect a substantial change in said resonant frequency and/or in the rate of change in resonant frequency with change in the varying one of the temperature and pressure.
Type:
Grant
Filed:
December 22, 1999
Date of Patent:
May 1, 2001
Assignee:
Heriot-Watt University
Inventors:
Rhoderick William Burgass, Adrian Christopher Todd, Sayed Ali Danesh, Bahman Tohidi Kalorazi
Abstract: A floor construction of wood panels (12) overlying a base support (11) with a layer (13) of yieldably resilient materials (14, 15) sandwiched between the panels (12) and the base support (11). The materials (14, 15) are of mutually different stillnesses, one being a relatively large main panel area of an open-cellular material (14) and the other being a relatively small area of a closed-cellular material (15) in the form of strips bordering the main panel area. The open-cellular material (14) provides a large degree of vibration isolation, whilst the closed-cellular (stiffer) material (15) stabilizes the panels in the vicinity of panel-to-panel joints and/or the floor periphery.
Abstract: The present invention relates to a test cell 1 suitable for use in applying directionally variable three dimensional stress fields to cylindrical test specimens 6 normally obtained by conventional coring techniques used for sample recovery. The test cell 1 comprises a cell body 2 having a barrel 4 extending therethrough for receiving a test specimen 6. The barrel 4 has an array 8 of elongate tubes 10 mounted side-by-side so as to line the inside wall 12 of the barrel. The tubes 10 have flexible side walls 14 and are formed and arranged for connection to a pressurized fluid supply 16. The test cell 1 also includes a control system 15 so that at least one tube 10a can be supplied with pressurized fluid at a different pressure to that in another tube 10b so as to provide an angularly variable radial pressure loading on the test specimen 6 mounted in the barrel 2.
Abstract: A laser guide comprising an outer sheath enveloping a series of sections of aser material in end-to-end relationship, the sections being angled to one another along the length of the guide and arranged so that a laser beam projected from one section enters the next successive section, thereby allowing transmission of the beam along the guide without significant loss of intensity.
Type:
Grant
Filed:
March 16, 1988
Date of Patent:
May 29, 1990
Assignee:
Medical Laser Uit of Heriot-Watt University of Research Park