Abstract: A measuring system for the detection of ice buildup on aircraft in flight is described. It depends for its action on a well-known physical phenomenon called "heat of fusion" and senses the heat required to melt ice back to liquid water. The energy signal that is measured can only be produced by an ice-to-water transition, hence this system uniquely identifies the presence or absence of ice without regard to time, temperature, altitude, pressure or other factors. The system is capable of generating a rapid, real-time electrical signal that can be displayed to and readily understood by crew members, so that corrective action may be taken to safeguard the operation of the craft.

Abstract: A compact fixed-bed catalytic reactor containing a plurality of staggered partitioning plates inside a reactor vessel to form a folded reaction path. The reactor is substantially rectangular in shape and each of the partitioning plates is held inside the reactor by a frictional force between the partitioning plate and the inner wall of the reactor vessel while one side thereof, being shorter than the width of a corrsponding inner side the reactor, forms an opening allowing the passage of reactant therethrough. The partitioning plates contain a plurality of fingers to further secure the same in place and prevent horizontal movement thereof. The present invention allows a box-like catalytic reactor to provide the advantages of a fixed-bed tubular reactor, while maintaining a desirable spacial compactness and lowering the construction cost.

Abstract: A catalytic chemical reactor of a sandwiched configuration is described. The reactor has at least one plate with a major surface and two minor ends opposite one another across the major surface. A plurality of reaction chambers are present in the plate, parallel to one another and the major surface, extending from one of the minor ends to the other. The reactor additionally comprises at least one heating panel adjacent and parallel to the flat plate. The plates may be configured in modular pairs with a heating panel in between each pair. The reactor is particularly adapted to produce organic chemicals, such as acrolein, in significant, but moderate quantities. Additionally, the reactor is of such a size that it is readily portable. Unusually, the reactor plates, or at least their inner surfaces, may be made from materials such as aluminum, tantalum, titanium, tungsten, niobium and mixtures thereof.

Abstract: A catalyst support for use in promoting oxidation reactions composed of metal particles is described. The metal particles are selected from the group of aluminum, tantalum, titanium, tungsten, niobium and mixtures thereof, where aluminum is preferred. The metal particles may have a rough diameter of from 0.02 to 10 mm. The particles may be in the form of spheres, shavings, irregular granules and the like. When the catalyst support is to be used in a tubular reactor, the ratio of the diameter of the reactor to the diameter of the catalyst may range from 1.1 to 200:1. The metal catalyst supports are inert in the reaction and give excellent uniformity in heat distribution throughout the catalyst bed. In oxidation reactions, the catalyst support may bear a metal oxide catalyst to give good results. The particulate catalyst support bearing the active catalyst may also be compressed to inhibit channelling and to help provide higher yield to the desired product.

Abstract: Dilute solutions of acrolein are produced on site and on demand by oxidizing propylene in an improved reactor using an improved catalyst, which is a mixture of molybdenum, bismuth and tellurium oxides. The catalyst is deposited on metal particles, which are of a metal selected from the group consisting of aluminum, tantalum, titanium, tungsten, niobium and mixtures thereof, and are packed to form a catalyst bed which provides improved heat transfer and distribution for better control of the process. The reaction is conducted in a reactor in which all the exposed surfaces are made of a metal selected from the group just mentioned. The produced acrolein is absorbed to form a dilute solution of acrolein in a liquid to be treated, such as irrigation water for weed control, or control of hydrogen sulfide in water used for oil and gas field water floods, or in fuel oil to inhibit growth of organisms.

Abstract: An electrical resistance-type corrosion measuring probe provides an output signal corrected for temperature by computing the ratio of resistance of a test element exposed to a corrosive element to resistance of a reference element protected from the environment. A secondary temperature compensation is provided for by compensating the corrosion output signal for dynamic or short term variation of temperature difference between test and reference elements. The corrosion output signal is compensated for still other environmentally induced errors by measuring temperature gradient between an inner end of the probe within the fluid environment and a portion of the probe outside the corrosive fluid environment. Errors in corrosion probe output signal due to bending stresses on the probe that result from fluid flow velocity and fluid pressure of the environment, are also compensated by measuring bending strain and pressure to provide additional compensation for the corrosion output signal.

Abstract: An all metal-welded flush electrical resistance probe for measuring corrosion of a fluid in a pipe avoids problems of sealing dissimilar materials by using a thin, metallic test disc that is welded around its periphery to the open end of a probe body which also mounts a reference element. The very thin test element is backed up by a solid supporting medium within the probe body, and resistance of the test disc is measured between a point at the disc periphery and a point nearer to the disc center.