Abstract: A horizontal piston compressor is disclosed, including a frame with a cylinder, and a piston reciprocably received in the cylinder. The has piston h an inner chamber and first and second end walls. The piston and the cylinder form a compression chamber for compressing the gas. A valve and an orifice are disposed in the first end wall, and are configured to supply gas from the compression chamber to the inner chamber during a compression stroke of the piston. A gas bearing supports the piston relative to the frame. The gas bearing includes an opening for supplying gas from the inner chamber to a space between the piston and the cylinder such that the gas supplied to the space exerts an upward pressure on the piston. The valve may be a spring-loaded valve, and the orifice may be an orifice insert positioned between the valve and the compression chamber.

Abstract: Embodiments include methods, systems and computer program products for offloading multiple processing operations to an accelerator. Aspects include receiving a database query from an application, performing an analysis on the query, and identifying a plurality of available accelerators. Aspects further include retrieving cost information for one or more templates available on each of the plurality of available accelerators, determining a query execution plan based on the cost information and the analysis on the query, and offloading one or more query operations to at least one of the plurality of accelerators based on the query execution plan.

Abstract: A heat recovery vapor trap is provided for removal of vapor condensate from a container, while preventing any appreciable escape of vapor, and for achieving beneficial heat recovery from said condensate prior to temperature degradation associated with depressurization, whereby useful heating to much higher temperature is possible. The trap is indirect acting, and is preferably mechanically actuated by a float.

Abstract: A level control system is provided. The system includes multiple sensors configured to measure multiple parameters related to a drum, wherein the multiple parameters include a drum liquid level, a vapor flow rate leaving the drum, a downstream pressure of the drum, and a feed-liquid flow rate entering the drum. The system also includes a level controller configured to adjust a level control valve in accordance with a signal representative of the drum liquid level, a signal representative of the downstream pressure and a signal representative of a given drum liquid level set point. The level controller is further configured to receive a feedback signal representative of a combination of a fraction of the signal representative of the drum liquid level and a fraction of the signal representative of the downstream pressure.

Abstract: The present invention relates to a steam generation device for automatic water supply using self vapor pressure that continuously generates necessary steam while smoothly supplying water to a steam tank by using a self vapor pressure stored in the steam tank as well as minimizes heat loss in a process of generating steam to outside thereby reducing energy consumed in generating steam, and more particularly, to a steam generation device for automatic water supply using self vapor pressure that supplies water more smoothly through a control method of opening a water supply pressure tank only after the water supply pressure tank is supplied with sufficient vapor pressure.

Abstract: A suppression chamber in a nuclear reactor containment includes a heat exchanger disposed in a gas space above water in the suppression chamber. A gravity-driven pool contains a supply of make-up water that is gravity fed to the heat exchanger through a conventional level-maintaining valve such as a float valve. A top header in the heat exchanger includes a free surface area for permitting separation of steam from water, thereby permitting venting of vapor only, while retaining the liquid coolant in the heat exchanger. A downcomer tube permits return of excess water to a lower location for further use in the heat exchanger. The heat exchanger is normally sealed, whereby internal surfaces in the heat exchanger require only a small amount of low-volatility corrosion inhibitors to prevent corrosion on internal surfaces thereof. Locating the heat exchanger in the gas space in the suppression chamber reduces the amount of corrosion on its external surfaces.

Abstract: A recirculation apparatus is employed to recirculate a portion of the feedwater in a vertical-tube economizer to reduce the likelihood of reverse flow and steaming at startup and/or low load. A recirculation valve, opened at low load, directs part of the water from the economizer outlet back to the inlet of the boiler feed pump via a deaerator. The recirculated water not only increases the pumping head across the economizer tube planes, but also reduces the temperature rise of the increased water flow rate passing through the economizer tubes which now enters the economizer tube bank at an elevated temperature. The reduced temperature rise in a given single pass through a tube plane consequently reduces the buoyant force which opposes the pumping head in downflowing tube planes. Additionally, the amount of water being recirculated at these light load conditions results in a total boiler feed pump flow which is well within the capacity of a given pump size without consideration of the present invention.

Abstract: Mechanical methods for reducing drastically the energy consumption of high pressure liquid pumping and for eliminating the use of expensive multi-tube heat exchangers.The basic method is to utilize high pressure vapor at the suction side of the pump to reduce the required pumping pressure head. The energy content of the high pressure vapor is returned or utilized. Additional methods are provided to reduce energy requirement for transferring liquid to vapor generator, apparatus located at high elevation and apparatus having high pressure resistance.

Abstract: A closed-loop, steam generating and distributing system with uniform fluid temperature and pressure everywhere and devoid of any steam-trap or like phase separator, comprising a boiler, a receiver collecting condensates through gravity feed, a pump drawing condensates from said receiver and forcing them back into said boiler, a water make-up tank connected through a feed pipe-line and a feed pump to the bottom of said receiver, and a condensate bleed duct leading from the discharge side of the condensate pump to the top of said receiver through a restriction.

Abstract: A mechanical arrangement to reduce drastically the energy consumption for pumping condensate to feed high pressure vapor generators for power generation, industrial processing, and heating systems. Involved is a method to pump the condensate into one condensate receiver located at the sucton side of the condensate feed pump, and to bleed high pressure vapor from the vapor generator into the condensate receiver for imposing a pressure head upon the condensate therein to be approximately the same as that in the generator, and thus the pressure difference between the suction side and the discharge side of the pump is also drastically reduced while pumping the condensate into the generator, with the result that the energy consumption of the pump is also drastically reduced. The receiver is full of high pressure vapor while the condensate therein is drained by the pump, and the high pressure vapor means energy.

Abstract: An auxiliary fat container near a deep fat fryer lowers to a convenient height for filling with an entire replenishment package of solidified cooking fat.A heater within the auxiliary container melts and elevates the temperature of the replenishment fat to approximately cooking temperature. A fat level sensor within the deep fat fryer meters the addition of preheated replenishment fat.