E.i. Dupont De Nemours and Company

Oral R Van Buskirk

William A Doerner

August Ferretti

A seal apparatus is disclosed for sealing an outlet of a pressurized chamber from fluid loss from the chamber and contamination to the chamber. The apparatus includes certain combinations of (a) a chamber outlet structure; (b) a removable cover; (c) means for reversibly connecting the cover to the chamber outlet structure; and (d) a compressible self-energizing ring having a surface which consists essentially of a material selected from the group consisting of noble metals, noble metal alloys and polytetrafluoroethylene, which has a hardness selected to substantially avoid deformation when the cover is sealed to the chamber outlet structure. Also disclosed are certain pressure vessels for hydrothermal crystal growth using a crystal growth media, which comprise (a) a vessel base and (b) a removable vessel cover. The vessels include (i) certain said combinations employing a compressible self-energizing ring with a surface resistant to corrosion by the crystal growth media and a hardness lower than the hardness of the seal surfaces of the base and cover; and/or (ii) (in an aspect of this invention especially suited for the growth of crystals of the formula MTiOXO.sub.4 wherein M is selected from the group consisting of K, Rb, Tl, NH.sub.4 and mixtures thereof and X is selected from the group consisting of P, As and mixtures thereof) vessel bodies of a nickel alloy essentially free of titanium.

Hydrothermal crystallization vessels

Postformable solar selective coatings are disclosed for use on substrates such as aluminum. The coatings use a finely divided black inherently selective spinel pigment such as Co.sub.3 O.sub.4, CuCr.sub.2 O.sub.4 or Cu.sub.x Co.sub.3-x O.sub.4 where x is 0.03 to 0.3 and preferably 0.10 to 0.30. The binders are soluble copolymers of vinylidene fluoride or blends thereof or vinylidene fluoride with a copolymer of methyl methacrylate.

Solar selective surfaces

A cascaded, two-fluid, rotary Rankine cycle engine is provided having improved efficiency and being capable of operating with a power fluid which is solid at ambient temperature. The engine comprises a rotatable annular boiler containing a first boiler liquid and means to heat this first boiler liquid to generate pressure vapor in the boiler, an expander system for extracting work from the vapor, an annular condenser rotatable with the boiler for condensing the exhaust vapor from the expander, said condenser having heat exchange tubes over which the exhaust vapor is passed to heat a second liquid contained in the tubes to generate pressure vapor therein, the second liquid having a lower boiling point than the first liquid, means for returning the vapor condensate to the boiler, a second expander system for extracting work from the pressure vapor in the heat-exchanging tubes, a rotatable second condenser for condensing the exhaust vapor from the second expander, and means for returning the vapor condensate from the second condenser to the heat-exchange tubes.

Cascaded two-fluid rotary closed Rankine cycle engine

A regenerator for rotary Rankine cycle engines having an annular boiler and an internal coaxial expander for pressure vapor generated in the boiler, comprising at least one annular series of axially extending heat exchange tubes disposed radially inward of the boiler and an array of axially spaced annular fins on each of said tubes which rotate with the engine. A condenser for the exhaust vapor rotates with the engine and means is provided for conducting exhaust vapor to the condenser after passing through the regenerator fins and for returning liquid condensate from the condenser to the regenerator for passage through the tubes thereof in heat exchange relation with the exhaust vapor conveyed between the fins on the tubes.

Regenerator for rotary Rankine cycle engines

Rotary cooling and heating apparatus comprising a rotary housing containing a refrigerant compressor, a refrigerant expander rotatable with the housing and an external refrigerant condenser and evaporator. The components are disposed on a common axis for coaxial rotation together as a unit, and rotary power means rotationally drives the compressor and the housing-condenser-evaporator unit at predetermined different speeds. The refrigerant expander is completely self-regulating and is constructed to operate in a highly stable manner essentially adiabatically with no nucleate boiling of the refrigerant in the expander.

Rotary cooling and heating apparatus

Rotary closed Rankine cycle engine powered electric generating apparatus including a rotary boiler, power fluid expander and means for condensing the exhaust vapor from the expander. The power fluid expander is rotatably driven at a predetermined speed by pressure fluid generated in the boiler and in turn drives an alternator that is hermetically sealed in a casing rotatable with the boiler and condensing means as a unit. The alternator is rotatably mounted in gas bearings and a portion of the power fluid condensed in said condensing means is utilized to cool the alternator and to provide power fluid vapor at a constant low pressure which is supplied to the gas bearings to lubricate said bearings. In the disclosed embodiments a magnetic-harmonic drive between the alternator and the rotary engine rotatably drives the latter at a predetermined speed substantially slower than the speed of the expander and alternator. In one disclosed embodiment separate primary and secondary condensers are employed for the exhaust vapor condensing means, and in another disclosed embodiment a single condenser is employed.

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Wilmington, DE, United States of America

Oral R Van Buskirk