Other

Coal Industry (patents) Limited

Peter J Jackson

David J Buchanan

Richard Davis

Iain M Mason

Treatment of carbohydrates

There is disclosed a pilot operated valve which includes a valve body, a main valve having a main valve member controlling fluid communication between an inlet port and an outlet port, a pilot valve including a vent passage sensing downstream pressure to open and close the main valve member as the sensed pressure is above or below a predetermined pressure, and selectively operable override means to suspend pilot operation of the valve. The override means may be means to occlude the vent passage and thus close the main valve, means to open the vent passage to atmosphere and thus open the main valve, or means to bypass the main valve.

Pilot operated valves

A pressure regulator comprises a housing (1) defining first and second chambers separated by a movable partition (4,5), the first chamber being provided with an inlet port (2) facing towards and sealingly closeable by a rigid central portion (5) of the partition at a position remote from its centroid and an outlet port (3), and the second chamber being vented (7) to a reference pressure, the regulator including means (8) extending between the housing and the central portion (5) of the partition to define a pivot axis for the partition extending between its centroid and the position of the inlet port (2). The partition (4,5) may be a tilting diaphragm or a piston (D) with a peripheral sealing element (S). The pivot axis for the partition may be defined by a fixed pivot pin (20), or by projections (8) extending across the first chamber to abut the partition (4,5). A two-stage device is also described in which the tilting partition (35) controls a pilot jet (32) which in turn controls a valve member (43) adapted to permit or deny access from a supply port (44) to an outlet port (33).

Pressure regulator

An area of a seam is defined and a series of shot locations and detectors are arranged along one side of the area to determine reflected signals. Transmitted signals are also received from a line of shot locations on the other side of the area. The signals received are processed according to an adaptive lag-summing technique to give a map showing the geological faults in the seam.

Mapping faults in a geological seam

Faults in a mineral seam are located by an in-seam seismic technique which involves locating shots and detectors in the seam and firing the shots sequentially. The detectors pick up the reflections of the shots from faults and a common reflection point is determined by analyzing the seismic traces from the detectors.

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Boundary, Nr. Burton-on-Trent, United Kingdom

Peter J Jackson