Abstract: A method of separating at least one gaseous component from a feed comprising a mixture of gases using a liquid membrane barrier and a sweep fluid is disclosed that includes selecting a sweep gas or a sweep liquid membrane and providing a treatment zone in a treatment chamber having a plurality of hydrophobic microporous hollow fibers, the treatment chamber having opposed end walls with ports including feed and membrane inlets and a sweep outlet at one end and a sweep inlet and a feed and membrane outlets at the opposed end and a plurality of hydrophobic elongated microporous hollow fibers extending between the feed and sweep inlet ports and feed and sweep outlet ports respectively and arranged for counter-current flow of feed gas and sweep fluids therethrough.

Abstract: The present invention is a fundamental method and apparatus of a microcomponent assembly that overcomes the inherent limitations of state of the art chemical separations. The fundamental element enabling miniaturization is the porous contactor contained within a microcomponent assembly for mass transfer of a working compound from a first medium to a second medium. The porous contactor has a thickness, and a plurality of pores extending through the thickness. The pores are of a geometry cooperating with a boundary tension of one or the other or both of the media thereby preventing migration of one, other or both through the microporous contactor while permitting passage of the working compound. In the microcomponent assembly, the porous contactor is placed between a first laminate such that a first space or first microplenum is formed between the microporous contactor and the first laminate. Additionally, a cover sheet provides a second space or second plenum between the porous contactor and the cover sheet.

Abstract: The invention relates to a gas dehydration membrane comprising a membrane having pores communicating between a first and an opposing second surface of the membrane and further having an average pore diameter on the first surface of the membrane which is about 10 to 1000 times smaller than that on the opposing second surface of the membrane. The invention further relates to a process for dehydrating a gaseous feedstock comprising passing the gaseous feedstock over a membrane characterized by high surface porosity wherein pore openings on a first surface thereof are at least 10 to 1000 times smaller than pore openings on an opposing surface thereof and wherein from about 2% to about 30% of the pore volume is occupied by a humectant.

Abstract: A mass transfer composite membrane for use with a fuel cell power plant includes a transfer medium core between opposed, rigid, porous support sheets. An inlet surface of the composite membrane is positioned in contact with an oxidant inlet stream of a fuel cell power plant, and an opposed exhaust surface of the composite membrane is positioned in contact with an exhaust stream exiting the fuel cell power plant to recover mass such as water from the exhaust stream and transfer it into the oxidant inlet stream entering the fuel cell. The transfer medium core may comprise any of a variety of materials for sorbing a fluid substance consisting of polar molecules such as water molecules from a fluid stream consisting of polar and non-polar molecules. A preferred transfer medium core is an ionomeric membrane such as a water saturated polyfluorosulfonic acid ionomer membrane.

Abstract: The invention relates to a method and to an apparatus for continuously removing metabolically produced carbon dioxide from respired air, such as the air found in life support systems or cabin circulating systems, using two sets of hollow fibers disposed in a flowing, carbon dioxide-selective liquid membrane. The carbon dioxide-containing respired air flows through the first set of hollow fibers and the second set of hollow fibers serves to carry away the permeate stream.

Abstract: An inorganic filter element for filtering a fluid medium in order to recover a filtrate, the filter element being of the type including an inorganic rigid porous support of cylindrical shape having a longitudinal central axis, and channels formed in the support parallel to its central axis and presenting respective surfaces each covered in at least one separator layer that is intended to come into contact with the fluid medium, and at least some "peripheral" ones of the channels. The channels have their centers situated on a circle that is coaxial about the central axis and present a peripheral wall situated facing the outside surface of the support and co-operating therewith to define a direct through passage for the filtrate, and at least one radial wall co-operating with the facing radial wall of an adjacent channel to define a partition, the walls being interconnected by connection fillets. The channels also have a transverse cross-section that is non-circular.

Abstract: The invention relates to a method for the absorption of one or more gaseous components from a gas phase, in that the gas phase with the component(s) to be absorbed present therein is brought into contact with a liquid phase, wherein the gas phase and the liquid phase are separated by a hydrophobic membrane of a material other than polytetrafluoroethene, wherein the liquid phase comprises water and a water-miscible and/or water-soluble absorbent, and wherein the liquid phase does not give rise to any leakage from the membrane or is effective in preventing or counteracting leakage from the membrane. According to a first preferred aspect, the liquid phase comprises waterand a water-miscible and/or water-soluble organic absorbent, wherein the surface tension at 20.degree. C. has been brought to at least 60.times.10.sup.-3 N/m by adding a water-soluble salt.

Abstract: The present invention relates to an improved design for a moving liquid membrane module. In one embodiment, the tubular or hollow fiber module, at least one tubular or hollow fiber element is contained within a housing. This element comprises an inner tubular membrane and an outer tubular membrane. The element comprises a first tubular membrane located within a second tubular membrane of larger diameter. The membrane liquid is continuously passed through annular gap between the two tubular membranes. The feed fluid is continuously passed through the lumen of the inner tubular membrane and the purge or strip fluid is continuously passed over the outer surface of the outer tubular membrane. In a second embodiment, the spiral wound moving liquid membrane module, a spiral wound cartridge is incorporated into a housing. The cartridge is formed by wrapping at least one permeant depletion channel, one permeant enrichment channel and one membrane liquid channel around a core tube.

Abstract: The device for feeding gaseous substances into liquid media comprises a number of hollow membrane bodies which are permeable to gas and contain the liquid media. These membranes are arranged with a distance between them in such a way that they can be reached by the gaseous substances. Such a device lends itself particularly to air purification. Gaseous substances such as nitrogen oxides can be converted with the aid of this device. According to the invention the device can also be used for pure or mixed cultures of various microorganisms whereby, above all, information about the toxicity of individual substances can be obtained.

Abstract: A membrane for the separation of carbon dioxide is disclosed which includes a hydrogel film of a cross-linked, vinyl alcohol/acrylic acid salt copolymer impregnated with an aqueous carrier solution containing a carbon dioxide carrier dissolved therein. A composition containing a solvent, an alkali metal carbonate or bicarbonates, and a polydentate ligand capable of forming a complex with an alkali metal ion is suitably used as the carrier solution. This composition may also be used for the preparation of a liquid film of a carbon dioxide separation membrane.

Abstract: Oxygen-separating porous membranes comprise a complex of (a) a transition metal (II) ion, (b) a ligand, and (c) an aromatic amine, retained in the pores of a substrate.

Abstract: A device and method for removing, concentrating and analyzing airborne organic compounds. The device includes a nonporous membrane which contains a collection media. The liquid collection media typically includes a component which has a molecular weight that is too large to pass through transport corridors in the nonporous membrane and a component which has a molecular weight which is sufficiently small enough to pass through the transport corridors in the nonporous membrane and thereby forming a thin film on the exterior surface of the device. The collection media can consist of only components too large to pass through the membrane transport corridors. Organic contaminants are trapped in the thin film on the exterior surface of the device or the membrane and transported by concentration gradient diffusion forces into the bulk of the collection media within the nonporous membrane.

Abstract: Carbon dioxide and water vapor are continuously removed by a venting membrane system which employs porous membranes and a liquid amine based sorbent, and which has a partial pressure gradient across the porous membranes. The partial pressure gradient induces absorption of carbon dioxide and water vapor from a gaseous stream, transport of the absorbed carbon dioxide through the pores of the membrane or to a second membrane, and desorption of the absorbed carbon dioxide.

Abstract: There is described an electrophotographic toner comprising a resin material and as an additive a sterically hindered phenol, that is a phenol that has its atoms arranged in a particular manner in a molecule and does not undergo an expected chemical reaction due to inhibition by particular atomic groupings. These phenols are effective as thermal stabilizers for toner resins in that they reduce the rate of thermal decomposition and/or act as plasticizers in that they lower the toner melt viscosities and fusing temperatures.

Abstract: A photograph of an object is made on color film in a conventional manner. Then the object is back-lighted only to silhouette it and a second photograph is made using the same film. The two films are developed simultaneously so as to subject them to identical processing conditions. Using the photograph taken while the object was back-lighted, a contact exposure is made on a high contrast film to produce a negative. After development of this negative, it and the initial, front-lighted, photograph of the object are employed on a scanner to produce the color separations for printing purposes.

Abstract: The claimed reproduction procedure avoids the use of as many masks as there are degrees of shading for each primary color.For each primary color, only a single mask capable of being stripped and not painted in gouache is used. This mask serves as the mask assignable to the most densely shaded areas, and then upon stripping, as each of the masks assignable to the less densely shaded areas and so on to the weakest density. The mask acts as a photomask for a film which is underexposed for each degree of shading desired bymeans of a single screen.The invention is applicable to the reproduction of all documents using a number of shades of color.

Abstract: The present invention relates to a process for the production of masked subtractive positive color images in accordance with the silver dye bleach process. In the material to be processedA. a silver halide emulsion layer consisting at least partially of silver iodide is allocated to the dyestuff, of which the undesired parasitic color density is to be compensated,B. in a further layer, at least one second dyestuff, of which the main color density corresponds to a parasitic color density, requiring compensation, of the first dyestuff, and a silver halide emulsion free from iodide ions, are present,C. a further layer, which is adjacent to that containing the second dyestuff, contains colloidal nuclei which are capable of depositing metallic silver from soluble silver complexes,D. a separating layer is present between the layer containing the nuclei and the dyestuff layer, of which the parasitic color density is to be compensated.

Abstract: A color photographic material having three light-sensitive silver halide emulsion layers separately sensitized to different regions of the spectrum and containing an each colorless coupler for the production of partial color images, is partly fogged in one of said layers to produce on color development in unexposed areas a color fog with a density of between 0.25 and 0.75 suited to compensate for undesired side densities of the image dye in one or more of the other of said layers.

Abstract: A diffusible-dye releasing type dye consisting of a radical which reacts with an oxidation product of a color developing principal agent in a color development process to yield a substantially colorless compound and a dye residue carrying water-soluble radicals. Its photographic uses are also disclosed.

Abstract: A photosensitive material for making a color separation record is imaged through a color separation filter. An electroluminescent panel having an image reversal property is then placed on the material. The panel is imaged through a color correction filter and radiates a negative color removal image onto the material.