Abstract: A control device (1) for controlling opening/closing of a valve (16) of a valved container (11), said valve (16) comprising a valve body (17) provided with an orifice (18), a shutter (19) for shutting the orifice (18), the shutter being made at least in part out of a magnetic material, and a return member (20) for returning the shutter (19) of the valve (16) into the closed position of said orifice (18), said device (1) including at least one location (3) for receiving the valve (16) of said container (11), said location (3) comprising a housing (31) into which the valve (16) of the container (11) is suitable for being inserted, and a control system (5) for controlling opening of the valve (16), which system is suitable for being positioned at least in part around said location (3), said control system (5) being configured to hold the shutter (19) of the valve (16) in a position in which the orifice (18) of the valve (16) is open when the valve (16) is in its state in position in said location (3).

Abstract: In a leaching process to recover a selected element or mineral from a gangue, an AC current is applied to the mixture to accelerate the rate at which chemical reactions occur. If the treated material is located in a subsurface earth formation, the AC current may further generate gases in situ to assist in moving and circulating the leaching solution in the formation and to bring the dissolved mineral value to the surface through a borehole or the like. This acceleration of the chemical reactions can shorten the effective leaching time from weeks or months to a matter of hours or days, thereby greatly affecting the rate of recovery of the mineral value and making such leach mining economical on a commercial basis.

Abstract: In a leaching process to recover a selected element or mineral from a gangue, an AC current is applied to the mixture to accelerate the rate at which chemical reactions occur. If the treated material is located in a subsurface earth formation, the AC current may further generate gases in situ to assist in moving and circulating the leaching solution in the formation and to bring the dissolved mineral value to the surface through a borehole or the like. This acceleration of the chemical reactions can shorten the effective leaching time from weeks or months to a matter of hours or days, thereby greatly affecting the rate of recovery of the mineral value and making such leach mining economical on a commercial basis.

Abstract: Metal failures are detected in situ, for example, in the piping system of a nuclear reactor or a pipeline by passing a current through the metal in which the failures are to be detected at various frequencies and monitoring the impedance. By using various frequencies the present invention makes use of the skin effect thereby enabling, through detection of differences in impedance at different frequencies the determination of the depth of a crack or the like in the metal.

Abstract: A drainage flow detector for predicting the clogging of drain lines in which the difference in the time required for air to be exhaled from the drain vent upon discharge of a quantity of waste and the time to inhale that amount of air as the waste drains is determined and compared with predetermined values to give an indication of proper drain operation.