Exxon Research and Engineering Company

Alvin Skopp

John S Batzold

Henry Shaw

George Ciprios

The present invention encompasses the use of a specific fuel fed electrode in depositing metals from solutions thereof and in the absence of an external applied potential. Basically as shown in FIG. 1, the electrode comprises an electrically conductive porous substrate 3 bearing on one surface thereof a fuel activating catalyst 4. The porosity of the substrate is sufficient that the current density at surface 2 of the substrate 3 opposite the catalyst 4 will assure substantially complete depletion of metal ions very near the surface of the porous substrate, whereby the catalyst surface and the pores remain substantially free of deposited metal.

Spontaneous deposition of metals using fuel fed catalytic electrode

A tubular solar collector system is provided in which a heat absorbing fluid is contained within tubular solar collectors completely separate and independent from a fluid circulated through the manifold to which the tubular collectors are operably attached. The collectors extend downwardly from the generally horizontal manifold so that when the fluid within the tubular collector is heated by incident solar radiation it is circulated to a heat exchanger in the manifold by thermosyphoning action.

Tubular solar collector system

A novel method for operating gas turbine combustors while minimizing the formation and discharge of pollutants such as NO.sub.x is described. In one embodiment, the use of more than one catalyst in series is employed to effect fuel oxidation at temperatures below flame temperature, thereby minimizing NO.sub.x formation. In another embodiment, a staged catalytic combustor is employed comprising a two zone combustion chamber involving a noncatalytic zone in which fuel is partially combusted under fuel rich conditions and combustion is completed in the second zone, utilizing catalytic oxidation with excess air to complete the combustion and minimize NO.sub.x formation. Still another embodiment concerns the use of a novel design for the primary combustion zone by which fuel is partially burned with substoichiometric amounts of air and, thereafter, the partially burned primary zone effluent is mixed into the secondary air stream where continued combustion proceeds at a temperature below that needed for NO.sub.x production. The operation of the primary zone under fuel rich conditions minimizes NO.sub.x formation, and the novel primary combustion zone design provides good mixing of the hot, partially burned primary zone effluent into the secondary air stream.

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Clark, NJ, United States of America

Alvin Skopp