Abstract: A method of manufacturing a heat-insulating polyurethane foam lining of a container having a rigid outer shell with flat inner wall surfaces that intersect to form corners of the container for transport or storage of liquefied gases is disclosed. The flat inner surfaces of the rigid outer shell of the container located in both sides of a corner of the container are covered with polyurethane foam by spraying layers of polyurethane foam onto the surfaces and on top of each other. The end parts of the layers of polyurethane foam which are located adjacent to the corner at the intersection of two surfaces are cut or ground to form a gap defined by substantially flat planes adjacent to the corner. A thin layer of a sealing material is then applied onto the flat planes of the gap and allowed to set. The sealing material may be either an epoxy resin formulation or a polyurethane resin formulation.

Abstract: A new and improved apparatus for detecting cracks in the heat-insulating liner of a container for cold liquids, wherein a plurality of breakable or frangible electrical conductors and a barrier means having a woven mat of glass-fiber material are incorporated in the heat-insulating material and detector means is connected with the electrical conductors to detect breaks in the electrical conductors caused by cracks in the heat-insulating material attaining a critical length. The frangible electrical conductors may be frangible wires or stripes of conducting paint.

Abstract: An improved process for the production of a soot-free hydrogen and carbon monoxide-containing gas by non-catalytic partial combustion of a carbonaceous fuel is described. In this process high yields of hydrogen and carbon monoxide are obtained by staging the partial combustion reaction in a manner such that a substantial portion, e.g., up to 95%, of the carbonaceous fuel charge to the process is reacted with diluted oxygen in a first reaction zone maintained at 1200.degree. to 1700.degree. C to form a first reaction zone effluent made up principally of hydrogen and carbon monoxide and this first reaction zone effluent is passed into a second reaction zone maintained at a temperature at least 100.degree. C lower than the first reaction zone wherein the remaining carbonaceous material is substantially completely converted to gaseous partial combustion products.

Abstract: A process is disclosed for quenching of the partial combustion product gas of a slagging coal gasifier containing suspended molten slag particles wherein the hot product gas of the gasifier is passed through a tubular quench zone into which a shielding gas is introduced circumferentially to form an annular layer or protective gas shield between the product gas and the walls of the quench zone and a cooling gas is injected radially to effect direct cooling of the product gas to a temperature at which the molten slag particles solidify and lose their stickiness, said protective gas shield being maintained for a sufficient distance along the axis of the quench zone to prevent contact between the quench zone walls and the hot product gas during said cooling.

Abstract: Apparatus for treating a surface comprising a first frame adapted to be moved across the surface to be treated, a sliding frame mounted on and adapted to slide relatively to the first frame in a direction perpendicular to the surface to be treated, an adjustable frame mounted on and adapted to be adjusted relatively to the sliding frame in a direction perpendicular to the surface to be treated, a tool carrier mounted on the adjustable frame and means for maintaining the sliding frame at substantially a predetermined distance from the surface to be treated.

Abstract: Dry coal powder is fed to a high-pressure coal gasification reactor from a high-pressure chamber in inert gas. The powder is introduced in the chamber via a centrifugal pump having an inlet tube passing through a wall of the chamber and a rotor inside the chamber, which rotor throws the powder into the chamber through radial nozzles by centrifugal force. Gas leakage from the chamber through the centrifugal pump is created to prevent blockage.

Abstract: An apparatus for detecting a leak in an insulation system utilizing a plurality of sensing devices disposed in a grid-like arrangement in heat transfer relationship to the insulation. Each sensing device comprises a small enclosed chamber filled with an ion-conducting material that solidifies when subjected to the temperature produced by a leak in the insulation and changes conductivity. The conductivity of the sensing devices is monitored to detect leaks in the insulation.

Abstract: An apparatus for the continuous gasification of coal by partial combustion with a reactant gas is disclosed, wherein a vertical gasification reactor is provided with a reactant supply and ash removal assembly adapted to supply coal and reactant gases and to remove ash particles to and from the reactor via a constricted passageway in the reactor bottom. The assembly includes an ash quench chamber having means for supplying coal and reactant gases through the reactor disposed therein which opens opposite the constricted passageway a predetermined distance therefrom. The apparatus may be operated continuously without collecting by-product ash particles in the reactor and without superheating the reactant supply means.

Abstract: Two spaces are provided, one of which is at a higher pressure than the other. A transfer arrangement serves for transferring a finely divided solid material, e.g., a combustible fuel, from one to the other space, usually from the lower-pressure space into the higher-pressure space. This arrangement includes a housing bounding a spherical chamber having two openings each of which communicates with one of the spaces. A spherical body is located turnably in the housing and provided with a blind bore the open end of which can be placed into communication with one or the other of the openings, depending upon the turning of the spherical body. A piston is reciprocable in this bore and can be retracted to draw a quantity of solid material into the blind bore when the open end thereof registers with one of the openings, and can be advanced for expelling the quantity when the open end registers with the other of the openings. A direct communication between the two spaces is therefore reliably avoided at all times.

Abstract: Charges of finely comminuted solid fuel particles are admitted into an oxygen-containing gasification chamber through a system of locks having an uppermost bunker which is maintained at atmospheric pressure, an intermediate bunker wherein the pressure alternately rises and drops, a lowermost bunker wherein the pressure is always above atmospheric, a metering device which connects the lowermost bunker with the gasification chamber, a pipe which can supply compressed inert gas into the intermediate bunker after the latter has received a charge of fuel particles from the uppermost bunker but before the intermediate bunker is respectively sealed from the uppermost bunker and connected with the lowermost bunker, and a pipe which evacuates compressed gas from the intermediate bunker subsequent to transfer of a charge into the lowermost bunker.