Abstract: A system is described for storing ammonia and injecting it into the exhaust gas stream of an engine to reduce nitrogen oxides. The ammonia is stored as a liquid mixture (70) of ammonia and water in a container (50). In one system, the mixture passes through a tube with a portion (62) in contact with the exhaust gas pipe (16) to heat the mixture and separate the ammonia from the water, with the ammonia being further heated at a nozzle (84) to activate the ammonia before injection into an upstream portion of the exhaust gas pipe.

Abstract: A system is described for storing ammonia and injecting it into the exhaust gas stream of an engine to reduce nitrogen oxides. The ammonia is stored as a liquid mixture (70) of ammonia and water in a container (50). In one system, the mixture passes through a tube with a portion (62) in contact with the exhaust gas pipe (16) to heat the mixture and separate the ammonia from the water, with the ammonia being further heated at a nozzle (84) to activate the ammonia before injection into an upstream portion of the exhaust gas pipe.

Abstract: An apparatus for atomizing liquid fuel while mixing it with air, and varying the amount of each while maintaining a substantially constant fuel/air ratio for the intake manifold of an engine. The apparatus includes a frame (16) forming a passage (14) with a throat (44), with a second wall (56) of the passage being moveable toward and away from a stationary first wall (54) of the passage to vary the cross-section of the passage and thereby vary airflow. A fuel-carrying tube (24) has a proximal end (60) fixed to the first stationary wall and has a distal portion (62) that extends through a bore (64) in the moveable wall and with the moveable wall being slideable around the tube. The tube has at least one aperture (70) for flowing fuel into the passage, with the exposed aperture area being progressively increased as the moveable wall moves away from the stationary wall to flow a progressively increasing amount of fuel into the passage.

Abstract: An apparatus for atomizing liquid fuel while mixing it with air, and varying the amount of each while maintaining a substantially constant fuel/air ratio for the intake manifold of an engine. The apparatus includes a frame (16) forming a passage (14) with a throat (44), with a second wall (56) of the passage being moveable toward and away from a stationary first wall (54) of the passage to vary the cross-section of the passage and thereby vary airflow. A fuel-carrying tube (24) has a proximal end (60) fixed to the first stationary wall and has a distal portion (62) that extends through a bore (64) in the moveable wall and with the moveable wall being slideable around the tube. The tube has at least one aperture (70) for flowing fuel into the passage, with the exposed aperture area being progressively increased as the moveable wall moves away from the stationary wall to flow a progressively increasing amount of fuel into the passage.

Abstract: Improvements are described in the injection of ammonia (NH.sub.3) into the exhaust gases of an engine to reduce nitrogen oxides. Instead of merely injecting ammonia into the exhaust gas conduit through a hole in its side, an ammonia injector (90) is provided that projects considerably into the exhaust conduit (16), with the injector having a plurality of holes (94). The ammonia is activated to decompose it into its reactive components, including NH.sub.2 and NH prior to injecting it into the exhaust conduit. Such activation prior to injection can be accomplished by heating the ammonia in the presence of a catalyst such as a metal of the platinum group, iron, nickel, or zinc. In an engine that has a fuel injection system wherein electrical pulses are delivered to fuel injectors to control the fuel flow rate, the durations of these electrical signals are used to control the opening of a valve (72) that controls the flow rate of ammonia into the exhaust gas conduit.

Abstract: A method and apparatus are provided for reducing pollutants and especially nitrogen oxides, or NOx, in the exhaust gases of an engine. The apparatus includes a device for injecting ammonia into a conduit that extends between cylinder exhaust valves and a catalytic converter, to mix the ammonia with the exhaust gases. Ammonia injection occurs at a location a plurality of inches downstream of the exhaust valves to avoid burning of the ammonia by flames. The injection preferably occurs at a location where the exhaust gases are at a temperature of at least about 1200.degree. F. to cause considerable reaction of the ammonia with NOx in the exhaust gases prior to the gases reaching the catalyst, so less NOx must be removed along the catalyst.

Abstract: A method and apparatus are provided for reducing pollutants and especially nitrogen oxides, or NOx, in the exhaust gases of an engine. The apparatus includes a device for injecting ammonia into a conduit that extends between cylinder exhaust valves and a catalytic converter, to mix the ammonia with the exhaust gases. Ammonia injection occurs at a location a plurality of inches downstream of the exhaust valves to avoid burning of the ammonia by flames. The injection preferably occurs at a location where the exhaust gases are at a temperature of at least about 1200.degree.F. to cause considerable reaction of the ammonia with NOx in the exhaust gases prior to the gases reaching the catalyst, so less NOx must be removed along the catalyst. To minimize ammonia use, it is injected only for a limited period such as a minute after a cold engine is started when the catalyst is too cold to cause significant reactions, and during operation of the engine at high power levels when the greatest amounts of NOx are produced.

Abstract: A sterilizer is described that applies ultraviolet light to dental instruments such as slow and fast handpieces, picks, etc., which applies the light largely uniformly to the forward portions of the instruments which are used in patients' mouths. The apparatus includes a plurality of supports (21-24) that are each constructed to hold a dental instrument, with the supports each rotatably mounted on a frame about a different vertical axis (31-34). An ultraviolet light source (18) directs light primarily horizontally at the forward portions of the dental instruments to sterilize them.

Abstract: An information storage system includes a memory medium having a layer of an amorphously transformable, stable metal upon a substrate, a laser or other directed energy source for changing the state of discrete regions of the layer between the amorphous and the crystalline states, in a controllable pattern to store information in the pattern, a beam source to cause X-ray or electron emission from a local region of the metallic layer, and an X-ray or electron detector for analyzing X-rays or electrons from the region to determine whether the region is amorphous or crystalline. Discrete regions are transformed to the amorphous state by heating them above the melting point and permitting them to solidify rapidly. Those regions are transformed back to the crystalline state by heating them above their crystalline transformation temperature, but not above the melting point, using the laser operating at a reduced power level.

Abstract: A germicidal toothbrush holder includes a substantially closed, upright cylindrical housing having a detachable top lid. The lid has an annular array of openings through which the bristled ends of toothbrushes may be inserted and removed. A UV lamp of low intensity is operably mounted within the housing for emitting ultraviolet radiation in the 200 to 300 nanometer wavelength range, as well as some radiation in the visible range above 300 nanometers and in the ozone producing range below 200 nanometers. A removable cup structure supports the bristled ends of the toothbrushes in an annular array immediately surrounding the lamp, and has an annular interior surface coated with aluminum for high reflectance of UV radiation. The UV lamp is on continuously to expose the toothbrushes to germicidal radiation and to generate small quantities of ozone which accumulate to have some sterilizing effect.

Abstract: A particle discharge mechanism is described for use on a centrifugal dewatering system, which is of relatively simple and rugged construction. The discharge mechanism includes a pair of concentric ring-like gates (50, 52 in FIG. 2) that can move across a particle discharge passageway (46) extending around a rotating vessel (14). The gates are operated in a sequence to first trap a mass of particles inside the radially outermost gate (52), to close an innermost gate (50) to isolate the trapped particles, and then to open the outermost gate (52) to release the trapped mass. In one procedure, the outermost gate is opened only slightly prior to complete particle release, to remove small amounts of remaining water in the mass of particles.

Abstract: Fluid pressure reducing apparatus adapted for positioned placement in a fluid valve or conduit in which pressure reduction is to be effected. A disc, sleeve or other body member in the flow path defines a plurality of line-of-sight grooves of non-circular cross-section between an inlet and an outlet communicating with the upstream and downstream portions, respectively, of the valve or conduit in which it is placed. Contained positioned transverse within each of the grooves are a plurality of longitudinally spaced circular crests formed of screw threads, parallel thin discs or the like. The crests in this arrangement cooperate with the groove walls to define a single stage pressure reducer in a fluid flow path from inlet to outlet through the longitudinal open spacing therebetween.

Abstract: A dissipative-type muffler for attenuating the high velocity discharge of a high pressure-high temperature safety valve. A path of flow constituting four stages of controlled turbulence suppressed diffusion is formed internally of the muffler extending from an intake into a plenum chamber then distributed past a plurality of parallel arranged radial diffuser flanges and an acoustical liner before exiting to atmosphere at relatively low velocity and low noise level. Laminar flow to small scale turbulence is obtained in the first stage by a jet impingement directional reversal in a controlled spacing discharge from an intake pipe within the plenum chamber. In the second stage, small scale discharge turbulence of high frequency is achieved by laminar flow induced via radial diffusion through controlled gap spacings between the diffuser flanges.