New Patents XIII

and a fiber optic cable for transmitting the light beam to the reservoir for exciting the fluid in the reservoir to generate fluorescent radiation and for receiving the fluorescent radiation emitted by the fluid as a result of the excitation. The monitor also includes a photodetector for receiving the fluorescent radiation and for gene- rating a signal which is a function of the intensity of the received fluorescent radiation and a dis- play for receiving the signal to indicate the level of fluid in the reservoir.

5022266

P A S S I V E A C O U S T I C S P R O C E S S T O M O N I T O R F L U I D I Z E D B E D

F L O W

George D Cody, Eugene Elzinga, Charles Baker assigned to Exxon Research and Engineering Company

A method for the non-intrusive determination of flow anisotropy through the cross-section of a two phase fluid bed reactor.

5022268

P A S S I V E A C O U S T I C S S Y S T E M T O M O N I T O R F L U I D I Z E D B E D

S Y S T E M S

H Alan Wolf, David L Chu assigned to Exxon Research and Engineering Company

Vibrational Analysis technology translates ac- oustic/vibratory energy created by industrial processes into useful, process-related informa- tion. This invention enables a non-acoustical ex- pert to easily collect and interpret the data.

5022419

RINSER DRYER SYSTEM

Raymon F Thompson, Aleksander Owczarz as- signed to Semitool Inc

Rinser dryer system for rinsing process chemical from silicon or gallium arsenide wafers, sub- strates, masks or disks and drying os silicon or gallium arsenide wafers, substrate, masks or disks positioned in a wafer cassette. A wafer cas- sette is positioned in a rotor assembly and the rotor assembly positioned within a removable

heated chamber bowl. The wafer cassette rotates past rinsing and drying manifold nozzles. The removable chamber bowl is secured to a rinser dryer mounting plate by quick disconnect hard- ware for removal and for external cleansing. A broken chip collector in a lower portion of an ex- haust manifold assembly removes small broken chip remains. An acidity sensor is positioned in a bottom portion of the exhaust manifold as- sembly for monitoring rinse effluent during the rinsing process. A gated exhaust valve in an ex- haust gas manifold of the exhaust manifold as- sembly provides for gases to exhaust to an external location. A computer controls cycling of the process modes as the silicon or gallium ar- senide wafers, substrates, masks or disks are sprayed, washed, rinsed, and dried.

5022975

S O L I D S T A T E E L E C T R O C H E M I C A L

P O L L U T I O N C O N T R O L D E V I C E

Arnold Z Gordon assigned to 16R Enterprises Inc

A solid state electrochemical cell adapted to alter the composition of gas streams passing there- through comprising: a porous, high surface area electrolyte forming the body of the cell, said elec- trolyte having darkened electrocatalytic sur- faces; a gas communicating passageway through the cell length; a first electronically conductive region and a second electrolytically conductive region, said regions disposed in opposing seg- ments of the cell; a first electrode located in said first conductive region and a second opposing electrode located within said second conductive region, said solid electrolyte having a trans- ference number of less than 1 and greater than 0.50 in a region between the electrodes.

5022987

A P P A R A T U S A N D M E T H O D F O R S E P A R A T I N G A N D R E M O V A L O F F L O A T I N G P O L L U T A N T S F R O M

A W A T E R S U R F A C E

Robert Wells

A skimmer craft for removal of a layer of oil or other floating pollutants from the surface of a body of water including a pair of spaced-apart pontoons with a horizontal floor plate extending

XIV

between the pontoons. A sump box is positioned at the rear of the skimmer plate or floor and defines a fixed water exit with the sump. The floor and sump are vertically adjustable as a unit. The sump box has a horizontally-extending weir through which oil may enter into the sump. The sump includes a comminutor unit which will reduce and break-up agglomerations in the oil. Propulsion units are positioned along the sides of the pontoons and at the bow and stern of the vessel at predetermined locations. The propul- sion units may be selectively operated to establish a controlled flow pattern to direct water and the associated oil layer into the floata- tion pool where the oil layer is skimmed off and directed into the sump. The propulsion units are also operable to pilot the craft.

New Patents

columbium, tantalum, thorium, and uranium from dilute source solids, such as digestion slud- ges, by a series of steps including: 1) slurrying the source solids with dilute hydrofluoric acid to produce a solid phase and a liquid phase con- taining dissolved tantalum and columbium, then extracting tantalum and/or columbium from the liquid phase by means of a liquid ion-exchange process and then, additionally; 2) roasting the solid phase with sulfuric acid to recover and recycle hydrofluoric acid, leaching the roasted solids with dilute sulfuric acid to produce a dis- posable solid phase and a liquid phase con- taining thorium and uranium, and extracting thorium and uranium from the liquid phase by means of a liquid-liquid amine extraction pro- cess.

5022992

APPARATUS FOR SEPARATING SLUDGE

Jack Looker

A sludge removal apparatus (10) disclosed in- cludes a tank (12) having bottom (14), side walls (16,18) and first and second end walls (20,22) for receiving and holding an immiscible mixture of fluid and floatable sludge. A skimmer (32) mounted on the tank (12) is movable in a sequen- tial path for skimming the sludge from the sur- face of the mixture. The tank bottom (14) and side walls (16,18) are sloped so that any settling particles are reintroduced into a high velocity fluid stream communicated into the tank bottom (14) for further processing. A guide portion (28) guides skimmer (32) into the sludge immediately in front of a diverter (26) in the direction of cir- culation within the tank (12) to eliminate regions of stagnated sludge on the mixture.

5023059

RECOVERY OF METAL VALUES AND HYDROFLUORIC ACID

FROM TANTALUM AND COLUMBIUM WASTE SLUDGE

Edwin Bielecki, Karl Romberger, Bart Bakke, Martin A Hobin, Charles Clark

A metallurgical processing system for economically recovering metal values, such as

5023151

POWER PLANT COGENERATION CONTROL

Michael B Landau, George Vartanian, Kazuyuki Matsuzawa assigned to International Fuel Cells Corporation

Fuel cell coolant loop (2) is to be controlled to maintain set point 38 temperature of the return coolant. Waste heat heat exchanger 10 is con- trolled to maintain set point 22 temperature in the waste heat fluid. Heat rejection heat ex- changer removes additional heat as required to maintain the set point (38) temperature. If both set point temperatures cannot be maintained, a control override allows the waste heat fluid tem- perature to drop.

5023172

PREDICTIVE ASSAY FOR TUMOR CONTROL

Bozidar Djordjevic assigned to The Research Foundation of State University of New York

An in vitro method for determining clonogenicity of and measuring the effect of physical (such as radiation or heat) or chemical treatment on mammalian test cells, including normal and tumor test cells. The method com- prises encasing the test cells in agglomerates of non-proliferating, but metabolically active, feeder cells which are capable of forming