Abstract: A multi-stage rotary inertial device and method in which rotary inertial thermodynamic impedance is used in the separation of materials according to their diferences in mass. Thus, an input flow composed of substances having two different masses is separated into two output flows having preferred concentrations, respectively, according to their different masses. Rotary inertial thermodynamic pumping is used for operation of intermediate separator stages. This can be controlled from outside the rotating device by selectively supplying heat to the rotating device.

Abstract: Flexible walled conduits and flexible walled enclosures which are adapted to contain fluids at pressures in substantial equilibrium with the pressure of a body of water in which the conduit or enclosure is positioned are discussed. Particular attention is directed to the physical configurations and structure of enclosure for containing municipal and industrial sewage and particularly for segregating the solid matter contained therein and treating the biological matter contained therein. Apparatus is shown for segregating solid debris by means of buoyancy characteristics and for removing both heavy and light solids into enclosures from which they can be further processed, recovered or eliminated. Large, flexible walled enclosures called equipods and equiponds are disclosed, as are their combinations, in systems which are adapted to treat municipal sewage and utilize the biological processes.

Abstract: Heat is transferred between conduit sections so as to use heat which otherwise would not be utilized and improve the efficiency of the apparatus and method. The sections contain working fluids flowing in opposite directions. Heat transfer longitudinally of the conduit sections is reduced relative to heat transfer transversely of the conduit sections. In a preferred embodiment, the conduit sections extend at an acute angle to the direction of the principal gravity or other acceleration field; that is, at an acute angle to horizontal in a stationary system, or at an acute angle to the radial direction in a rotary system.

Abstract: One or more thin-wall tubes called "equiducts" are located near or on the bottom of a body of water such as a lake or ocean, or, more typically, in a water artery such as a river or stream. When the tubes are used for waste transport along a river, communities and industrial plants discharge their sewage and other wastes into the tubes at various locations along the river. The liquids in the tubes are in fluid equilibrium with the surrounding water, so that the tube walls can be thin and made of relatively inexpensive materials. The liquids are carried downstream in the tubes by the natural grade of the river bed, and by pumps located at spaced intervals on the river bed. The liquids are conducted to one of several different disposal arrangements. One disposal arrangement is a conventional on-shore processing plant. Another is simply a deep-water disposal site far out into the ocean or a large lake at the end of the river.

Abstract: A system and method for measuring and controlling the parameters and conditions of a thin-wall submersed-tube fluid transport system called an "equiduct" system. The tube or tubes preferably are located near the bottom of a water artery such as a river, and are in fluid equilibrium with the surrounding water. This permits the tubes to have relatively thin, flexible walls, which makes the tubes relatively inexpensive and easy to install. Simple pumps cooperate with the slope of the river bed in pumping fluids through the tubes. Parameters such as fluid pressures and velocities, depth, gas and liquid concentrations, etc. are measured at spaced locations in the tubes, and the measurements are delivered to a central data processing and control station so that the parameters can be adjusted, or the need for repairs in the tubes can be detected and the repairs can be made.

Abstract: A rotary inertial thermodynamic absorptive system which can be used as a gas-driven heat pump, a heat-flow-driven gas pump, or, in combination, a heat splitter for moving low-grade heat energy from a lower temperature source to a higher temperature heat sink. In one embodiment, an absorptive type rotary inertial thermodynamic device employs overspill/underspill barriers in its absorption and desorption chambers to achieve counterflow heat exchange therebetween and to ensure effective control of thermodynamic impedance.

Abstract: A conduit system for transporting municipal or industrial wastes economically and efficiently is shown. The conduit system comprises a conduit which is located within a body of water and which has a thin, flexible wall adapted to maintain the contents of the conduit in pressure equilibrium with the body of water in which the conduit is situated. By maintaining pressure equilibrium or a slightly higher pressure within the conduit, it is possible to make substantial savings in materials of construction; and by locating the conduit within a body of water, substantially less cost is incurred for right of way. The thin, flexible wall of the conduit maintains the pressure equilibrium whether the conduit is ballasted to the bottom of the body of water or supported at an intermediate location by buoys. Liquids or liquids with entrained solids are transported through the conduit by flow augmentation means positioned at intervals along the length of the conduit.

Abstract: Rotary thermodynamic compression and refrigeration apparatus and methods in which the mechanical impedance and/or thermodynamic impedance of the system are controlled in order to obtain stable operation. By controlling these impedances, the overall pressure drop of the fluid flow in the system is made to increase with increasing fluid flow rate, thus ensuring stable operation.

Abstract: Rotary thermodynamic compression and refrigeration apparatus and methods in which the mechanical impedance and/or thermodynamic impedance of the system are controlled in order to obtain stable operation. By controlling these impedances, the overall pressure drop of the fluid flow in the system is made to increase with increasing fluid flow rate, thus ensuring stable operation.

Abstract: A microscope with a flexible fiber-optic bundle used as a scanner is provided to assist the vision of people; particularly to enable persons with vision defects to read. The eyepiece of the microscope spreads the enlarged images onto the functional portion of the retina of the user. A lenticular screen is used as a diffuser in the microscope. The person moves one end of the fiber-optic bundle along the material to be viewed in order to scan it. The flexibility of the fiber-optic bundle facilitates the scanning motion. The character images are broken up into small segments by the fibers. In each segment the light intensity is substantially the average of the light received by that fiber of the bundle. Thus, confusing background details of the paper, etc., on which the matter is written, are substantially subdued or eliminated.

Abstract: A working fluid such as a liquifiable gas is rotated in a rotor having a thermodynamic compressor, a condenser chamber and an evaporation chamber. The high pressure zone in the condenser chamber is separated from the low pressure zone of the evaporator by a column of liquid. In several embodiments, a forepump is actuated by the thermodynamic compressor in order to vary the thermodynamic operating points of the device.

Abstract: Rotary thermodynamic compression and refrigeration apparatus and methods in which the mechanical impedance and/or thermodynamic impedance of the system are controlled in order to obtain stable operation. By controlling these impedances, the overall pressure drop of the fluid flow in the system is made to increase with increasing fluid flow rate, thus ensuring stable operation.

Abstract: A working fluid such as a liquifiable gas is rotated in a rotor having a thermodynamic compressor, a condenser chamber and an evaporation chamber. The high pressure zone in the condenser chamber is separated from the low pressure zone of the evaporator by a column of liquid. In several embodiments, a forepump is actuated by the thermodynamic compressor in order to vary the thermodynamic operating points of the device.

Abstract: A working fluid such as a liquifiable gas is rotated in a rotor having a thermodynamic compressor, a condenser chamber and an evaporation chamber. The high pressure zone in the condenser chamber is separated from the low pressure zone of the evaporator by a column of liquid. In several embodiments, a fore-pump is actuated by the thermodynamic compressor in order to vary the thermodynamic operating points of the device.

Abstract: A working fluid such as a liquifiable gas is rotated in a rotor having a thermodynamic compressor, a condenser chamber and an evaporation chamber. The high pressure zone in the condenser chamber is separated from the low pressure zone of the evaporator by a column of liquid. In several embodiments, a forepump is actuated by the thermodynamic compressor in order to vary the thermodynamic operating points of the device.

Abstract: Rotary thermodynamic compression and refrigeration apparatus and methods in which the mechanical impedance and/or thermodynamic impedance of the system are controlled in order to obtain stable operation. By controlling these impedances, the overall pressure drop of the fluid flow in the system is made to increase with increasing fluid flow rate, thus ensuring stable operation.

Abstract: The thermodynamic compressor has a pair of conduits, each of which is wound into a group of loops arranged to form a toroid around a rotational drive axis. Each of the loops has an outwardly-extending section, and an inwardly-extending section which is spaced from the outwardly-extending section longitudinally along the rotational axis of the shaft. Each group of loops has the same number of loops in it, and corresponding loops in each of the groups are arranged directly opposite one another and working fluid is introduced in parallel into the groups of loops so that the amount of fluid in each pair of corresponding opposed loops remains the same at all times despite compression of the working fluid in the loops. The loops are arranged with the outwardly-extending sections in one plane, and the inwardly-extending sections in another plane so that heat easily can be added from the outside to the inwardly-extending sections and can be extracted easily from the outwardly-extending sections.