Abstract: A method for the treatment of a liquid in a reactor comprising a chamber having an upper portion and a lower portion, a liquid inlet located in the upper portion of the chamber, a liquid outlet located in the lower portion of the chamber and an absorbent bed within the chamber between the upper and lower portions thereof, said method comprising using as said absorbent bed a porous packing that is able to absorb by capillarity the liquid to be treated, said porous packing having a given capillarity height h.sub.s which is the height that the liquid to be treated reaches by capillarity action when it is fed in a column filled up with a continuous layer of said porous packing; mounting at least one horizontally extending separation member within the chamber so as to divide the absorbent bed into at least two superimposed layers of a given height that is equal to or lower than h.sub.

Abstract: A system for detecting simultaneously the moisture content and basis weight of paper is disclosed utilizing a submillimeter laser source of radiation of two different wavelengths which is subsequently scanned across the face of the paper. A plurality of detectors placed on the side of the paper opposite the laser supplies the transmittance information for each of the wavelengths to a microcomputer which in turn calculates the moisture content and the basis weight of the material. The two different wavelengths of submillimeter radiation are produced by either a pair of submillimeter lasers pumped by a continuous wave CO.sub.2 laser or by a single submillimeter laser pumped by a waveguide type continuous wave CO.sub.2 laser whose output is controlled by a piezoelectric crystal tuned resonator in order to provide the required two separate wavelengths alternating in time which are output in the single beam of the submillimeter laser.

Abstract: A method and a device for measuring the fibre orientation anisotropy in a fibrous structure such as a sheet of paper or a textile. According to this method, a linearly polarized, far infrared laser beam is directed towards one side of the fibrous structure whose fibre orientation anisotropy is to be measured. The incident energy of the laser beam is measured before this beam traverses the fibrous structure, and its transmitted energy is measured on the other side of the fibrous structure. The transmission coefficient T of the laser beam is determined in at least two different orientations of the polarization plane of the beam with respect to the fibrous structure, this coefficient T being the ratio of the transmitted-to-incident energies. This coefficient T varies exponentially with the basis weight of the fibrous structure and the ratio .alpha.

Abstract: Method and apparatus for sustaining the oscillatory movement of an oscillating device of the type comprising a mass oscillating between dead points on opposite sides of a point of equilibrium, with a potential force acting to return the mass toward the point of equilibrium. This potential force is greatest at the dead points and the speed of the oscillating point is greatest adjacent the point of equilibrium. A force is applied to the device from a motive source, which force is greater than the maximum potential force at a speed lower than the speed of the device adjacent the point of equilibrium. The force of the motive source is applied to the oscillating device on the portion of the path of movement of the oscillating device preceding one of the dead points, and the application speed of the force of the motive source is higher than what would be the instantaneous speed of the oscillating device along that portion of its trajectory were the force of the motive source not applied.