Engineering Commons^™

Magnetic Solvent Extraction, Jiann-Yang Hwang

Michigan Tech Patents

Particles of a magnetic material coated with a hydro- phobic surfactant are dispersed in an organic solvent extractant to produce a magnetic solvent extractant which can be used in solvent extraction processes. Phase separation of an organic phase, carrying the component to be separated, from the aqueous phase can be accelerated by applying a magnetic field to the organic phase. After removal of the organic phase, a magnetic field can be applied to the aqueous phase to remove any residual organic phase and thereby enhance the degree of separation.

Method Of Making High Strength Articles From Forged Powder Steel Alloys, Alfred A. Hendrickson, Darrell W. Smith

Michigan Tech Patents

High strength steel parts or articles are made from a powder alloy by compacting the powder into a preform, sintering the preform in a sintering furnace or the like under a highly-reducing atmosphere and at a temperature of at least 1150° C., cooling the preform, preheating the sintered preform in a highly-reducing atmosphere, such as an inert gas-based atmosphere containing hydrogen or pure hydrogen, to a temperature of at least 1000° C. and transferring the preheated preform to an impact forging device and impacting the preform at a peak averaging forging pressure of at least about 1000 MPa to obtain …

Method For Compression Molding Articles From Lignocellulosic Materials, Robert D. Palardy, Bruce A. Haataja, Andrew D. Williams

Michigan Tech Patents

Flakeboard or particle board panels and other composite articles made from wood flakes or other particulate lignocellulosic materials having a relatively high internal bond and improved resistance to moisture are made from flakes or particles which have a moisture content of at least 15%. A catalyst capable of accelerating the reaction between the flakes or particles, the binder and water is applied to the flakes or particles prior to the addition of a moisture-tolerant particle board binder, such as an organic polyisocyanate. A mat of the resulting furnish is compression shaped under pressure and at a temperature less than 250° …

Process For The Extracting Oxygen And Iron From Iron Oxide-Containing Ores, Surendra K. Kawatra, Timothy C. Eisele

Michigan Tech Patents

Oxygen and metallic iron are produced from an iron oxide-containing mineral, such as ilmenite, by extracting iron from the mineral with hydrochloric acid, separating solid residue from the resulting solution and drying same, electrolyzing the separated, iron chloride- containing solution to produce electrolytic iron and chlorine gas, combining the chlorine gas with water recovered from the drying and/or iron chloride-containing solution electrolysis steps of regenerate hydrochloric acid and recycling the hydrochloric acid to the extraction step. In an alternate embodiment, the chlorine gas is reacted with recovered water in the presence of a catalyst to produce hydrochloric acid which is …

Method For Treating Wood Against Fungal Attack, Peter E. Laks

Michigan Tech Patents

Complexes of sulfited tannin extract and a copper(II) ion effectively protect wood against fungal attack. The complex can be impregnated into wood in a single step treatment using a water/organic solvent system, or formed in situ by treating the wood with an aqueous solution containing the extract and subsequently treating the wood with an aqueous solution containing a copper (II) salt.

Method For Forming Articles Having Deep Drawn Portions From Matted Wood Flakes, Gordan R. Debruine, Bruce A. Haataja, L. Bogue Sandberg

Michigan Tech Patents

An article having non-planar portions, such as a material handling pallet, including a substantially flat deck member and a plurality of hollow leg members projecting integrally from the deck member, is molded as a one-piece unit from a loosely-felted mat formed from a mixture of resinous particle board binder and flake-like wood particles. The leg members are preformed in a separate preform mold or the article forming mold and the mat is deposited on the female die over mold cavities containing the preforms. When the article forming mold is closed, the mat and preforms are compressed into substantially the desired …

Method And Apparatus For Sensing The Regeneration Of A Diesel Engine Particulate Trap, John H. Johnson, Peter V. Woon

Michigan Tech Patents

A diesel engine exhaust system is provided with a particulate trap for collecting the products of incomplete combustion during the engine power cycle. A sensing mechanism including an electrode downstream of the trap and a signal generating circuit provides a positive indication of occurrence of regeneration of the trap. Charged particles generated during regeneration induce a charge of the electrode, that charge activates the signal generating circuit and it, in turn, produces an indication external of the exhaust system that trap regeneration is occurring. That indication can be in the operator’s compartment.

Method Of Magnetizing Nonmagnetic Materials, Jiann-Yang Hwang

Michigan Tech Patents

Particles of a nonmagnetic material are rendered magnetic by contacting their surfaces with a magnetizing reagent comprising water containing particles of a magnetic material, each of which has a two layer surfactant coating including an inner layer and an outer layer. The inner layer covers the magnetic particle and is a mono- molecular layer of a first water soluble, organic, hetero- polar surfactant containing at least 3 carbon atoms and having a functional group on one end which bonds with the magnetic particle. The outer layer coats the inner layer and is a monomolecular layer of a second water soluble, …

Biocidal Treatment Of Materials With Catechins, Peter E. Laks

Michigan Tech Patents

Sulfide derivatives of catechins derived from condensed tannins have broad spectrum biocidal characteristics. Epicatechin-4-alkylsulfides and cupric complexes thereof containing up to 20, preferably 5 to 15, carbon atoms are particularly effective biocides against wood rotting fungi and gram-positive bacteria. Such sulfides are prepared by reacting condensed tannin, either in the form of a purified tannin extract or comminuted plant tissue, with an appropriate thiol under mild acidic conditions.

Reagents For Magnetizing Nonmagnetic Materials, Jiann-Yang Hwang

Michigan Tech Patents

Particles of a nonmagnetic material are rendered magnetic by contacting their surfaces with a magnetizing reagent comprising water containing particles of a magnetic material, each of which has a two layer surfactant coating including an inner layer and an outer layer. The inner layer covers the magnetic particle and is a mono- molecular layer of a first water soluble, organic, hetero- polar surfactant containing at least 3 carbon atoms and having a functional group on one end which bonds with the magnetic particle. The outer layer coats the inner layer and is a monomolecular layer of a second water soluble, …

Method For Forming A Pallet With Deep Drawn Legs, L. Bogue Sandberg, Bruce A. Haataja, Douglas C. Jurmu, Robert D. Palardy, Frank H. Story, William A. Yates

Michigan Tech Patents

A method for molding articles such as pallets from flake-like wood particles mixed with binder, the pallets housing a deck and integral molding legs. A loosely fitted mat of wood flakes is formed by depositing a first plurality of layers of wood flakes onto a supporting surface with a flake aligners provided for causing alignment of those flakes which will form legs of the pallet. A second plurality of layers are formed with a flake aligner provided for causing alignment of flakes which will form the legs of the pallet and in a direction transverse to the direction of alignment …

Goes Imagery Fills Gaps In Montserrat Volcanic Cloud Observations, Mark A. Davies, William I. Rose

Department of Geological and Mining Engineering and Sciences Publications

GOES satellite imagery offers great potential to lessen the risk of volcanic ash clouds to aviation, and the situation at Montserrat in the Caribbean is providing the proof. Many transatlantic, commercial, and private aircraft use airspace around Montserrat, where the Soufriere Hills Volcano has been erupting since 1995.

Worldwide over the last 15 years, more than 80 airplanes have reported encountering volcanic ash along flight paths. Encounters cannot be avoided because onboard radar cannot detect fine-grained ash particles—those with a radius of 15 microns or less. In recent years volcanic cloud encounters are estimated to have caused hundreds of millions …

Biocidal Derivatives Of Catechins, Peter E. Laks

Michigan Tech Patents

Sulfide derivatives of catechins derived from condensed tannins have broad spectrum biocidal characteristics. Epicatechin-4-alkylsulfides and cupric complexes thereof containing up to 20, preferably 5 to 15, carbon atoms are particularly effective biocides against wood rotting fungi and gram-positive bacteria. Such sulfides are prepared by reacting condensed tannin, either in the form of a purified tannin extract or comminuted plant tissue, with an appropriate thiol under mild acidic conditions.

Common Characteristics Of Paired Volcanoes In Northern Central America, S. P. Halsort, William I. Rose

Department of Geological and Mining Engineering and Sciences Publications

Four pairs of active volcanoes along the northern Central American volcanic front have erupted basalt-andesite magmas that show consistent intrapair behavioral and compositional differences. These differences are found in records of volcanic activity and complete major and minor element data on over 200 samples. From northwest to southeast along the volcanic front the four volcano pairs are Cerro Quemado-Santa María, Tolimán-Atitlán, Acatenango-Fuego, and Santa Ana-Izalco. The volcano pair relations help explain compositional differences, apart from those reflecting variation in crustal thickness of about 15 km along the volcanic front, providing insight into across-arc variations and closely spaced subvolcanic plumbing systems. …

Direct Rate Measurements Of Eruption Plumes At Augustine Volcano: A Problem Of Scaling And Uncontrolled Variables, William I. Rose, Grant Heiken, Kenneth Wohletz, Dean Eppler, Sumner Barr, Theresa Miller, Raymond L. Chuan, R. B. Symonds

Department of Geological and Mining Engineering and Sciences Publications

The March–April 1986 eruption of Augustine Volcano, Alaska, provided an opportunity to directly measure the flux of gas, aerosol, and ash particles during explosive eruption. Most previous direct measurements of volcanic emission rates are on plumes from fuming volcanoes or on very small eruption clouds. Direct measurements during explosive activity are needed to understand the scale relationships between passive degassing or small eruption plumes and highly explosive events. Conditions on April 3, 1986 were ideal: high winds, clear visibility, moderate activity. Three measurements were made: 1) an airborne correlation spectrometer (Cospec) provided mass flux rates of SO₂; 2) …

Precipitation Of Scale-Forming Materials From Solution, William A. Hockings, Duane M. Thayer

Michigan Tech Patents

Scale-forming metal oxides and carbonates, such as cupric oxide, can be precipitated from an ammoniacal leaching solution with minimum scale buildup by distilling the solution in an externally heated distillation chamber mounted for rotation about a generally horizontal axis. The distillation chamber includes a plurality of axially spaced annular baffles defining a plurality of compartments containing a tumbling medium, such as spherical balls. The solution is continuously introduced into the inlet end of the chamber and heated under pressure to a temperature above its boiling point as it flows over the baffles toward the outlet end of the chamber. A …

Hydrocarbon Fuel Additives And Method For Preparing Same, G. David Mendenhall, Hsiang T. Chen

Michigan Tech Patents

A compound having the general formula R*COH[- CORJj,, wherein R is a lower alkyl hydrocarbon radical, y is 0 or 1, and x is 2 when y is 1 and 3 when y is 0, is prepared by admixing carbon monoxide, a transition metal halide, and an organomonolithium compound or an anionic equivalent thereof.

Column Froth Flotation, David C. Yang

Michigan Tech Patents

The froth flotation device includes a flotation column partially filled with a packing which defines a large number of small flow passages extending in a circuitous pattern between the upper and lower portions of the column. A conditioned aqueous pulp of a mineral ore, such as iron ore, is introduced into the midzone of the column. A pressurized inert gas, such as air, is introduced into the bottom of the column and is forced upwardly through the flow passages in the packing. As the air flows upwardly through these flow passages, it is broken into fine bubbles which intimately contact …

Dynamic Deformation Of Volcanic Ejecta From The Toba Caldera: Possible Relevance To Cretaceous/Tertiary Boundary Phenomena, Neville L. Carter, Charles B. Officer, Craig A. Chesner, William I. Rose

Department of Geological and Mining Engineering and Sciences Publications

Plagioclase and biotite phenocrysts in ignimbrites erupted from the Toba caldera, Sumatra, show microstructures and textures indicative of shock stress levels higher than 10 GPa. Strong dynamic deformation has resulted in intense kinking in biotite and, with increasing shock intensity, the development in plagioclase of planar features, shock mosaicism, incipient recrystallization, and possible partial melting. Microstructures in quartz indicative of strong shock deformation are rare, however, and many shock lamellae, if formed, may have healed during post-shock residence in the hot ignimbrite; they might be preserved in ash falls. Peak shock stresses from explosive silicic volcanism and other endogenous processes …

Process For Recovering Terephthalic Acid From Waste Polyethylene Terephthalate, Richard A. Lamparter, Bruce A. Barna, David R. Johnsrud

Michigan Tech Patents

Terephthalic acid (TPA) is recovered from used polyethylene terephthalate beverage containers by reacting comminuted containers in a reaction zone with an aqueous medium containing ammonium hydroxide at elevated temperatures and pressures to form a water soluble diammonium salt of TP A, separating any undissolved solids from the reaction product, acidifying the remaining reaction product to liberate TP A, and separating the precipitated TPA. A portion of the liquid remaining after separation of TPA can be mixed with lime or slaked lime, the resulting mixture treated in an ammonia stripper to remove ammonia therefrom and the ammonia overheads from the stripper …

Flake Aligner Including Reciprocating Baffles, Tauno B. Kilpela

Michigan Tech Patents

Apparatus for forming a loosely felted mat of elongated wood flakes, the wood flakes being aligned in parallel relation and parallel to the longitudinal direction of the mat. The apparatus includes a former for depositing wood flakes on a support surface in a uniformly dispersed, loosely felted relation, and a plurality of vertically oriented baffles positioned below the former and in mutually parallel alignment. The baffles are reciprocated in the direction of the mat to cause flakes lying across the baffles to fall between the baffles and to be aligned with the longitudinal direction of the mat.

Fan-Shaped Loader For Making A Loosely Felted Mat Of Aligned Wood Flakes, Gordan P. Krueger, Anders E. Lundi, Roy D. Adams

Michigan Tech Patents

Apparatus for forming an elongated continuous mat of elongated wood flakes mixed with a binder and adapted to be compressed to form a densified composite wood product for continuously depositing wood flakes on that supporting surface and for aligning the elongated wood flakes being deposited in mutually parallel relation and in alignment with the direction of movement of the supporting surface. A hopper for containing wood flakes deposits wood flakes into the upper end of a fan-shaped flake loader comprised of a plurality of channels positioned in side-by-side relation and sloping downwardly from the hopper to a supporting surface. The …

Flake Feeder Aligner Including Reciprocating Baffles, Tauno B. Kilpela

Michigan Tech Patents

Apparatus is described for forming a loosely felted mat of elongated wood flakes, the wood flakes being aligned in parallel relation and parallel to the longitudinal direction of the mat. The apparatus includes a former for depositing wood flakes on a support surface in a uniformly dispersed, loosely felted relation, and a plurality of vertically oriented baffles positioned below the former and in mutually parallel alignment. The baffles include a first set and a second set with respective ones of the second set of baffles being positioned between respective ones of the baffles of the first set. The baffles of …

Static Dropless Flake Aligner For Producing Composite Wood Material, Gordan P. Krueger, Anders E. Lund, Roy D. Adams

Michigan Tech Patents

Apparatus are provided for forming a loosely felted mat of elongated wood flakes, the wood flakes being supported on an elongated caul. The flakes are deposited between a plurality of closely spaced parallel baffles so as to be aligned in mutually parallel relation. The caul is supported adjacent the lower edges of the baffles and is support for vertical movement to facilitate buildup of the mat. Apparatus movable back and forth along the length of the caul is provided to deposit wood flakes in an evenly dispursed manner. At least one picker wheel also moves along the length of the …

Sulfur Dioxide And Particles In Quiescent Volcanic Plumes From Poás, Arenal, And Colima Volcanos, Costa Rica And Mexico, T. Casadevall, William I. Rose, William H. Fuller, William H. Hunt, Mark A. Hart, Jarvis L. Moyers, David C. Woods, Raymond L. Chuan, James P. Friend

Department of Geological and Mining Engineering and Sciences Publications

Measurements of SO₂ emission rates and concentrations and of particle distribution, size, shape, and composition were made in quiescent volcanic plumes emitted into the troposphere from Poás and Arenal volcanos, Costa Rica, and Colima volcano, Mexico. SO₂ emission rates were 700±180 metric tons per day (t/d) for Poás, 210±30 t/d for Arenal, and 320±50 t/d for Colima. The concentrations of SO₂ calculated from the COSPEC/lidar data were 5–380 ppb. Concentrations of SO₂measured directly by flame photometry were 10–250 ppb. Particles collected in the plumes with a quartz crystal microbalance impactor were mostly less than 3 …

Amatitlan, An Actively Resurging Cauldron 10 Km South Of Guatemala City, Richard L. Wunderman, William I. Rose

Department of Geological and Mining Engineering and Sciences Publications

A 14×16 km diameter collapse caldera has been recognized 10 km south of Guatemala City, Guatemala. The caldera is north of the presently active volcano Pacaya and west of Agua, a large stratovolcano. The caldera was not previously recognized because its eastern and western margins coincide with faults that outline the Guatemala City graben and because the northern margin of the caldera is buried by pyroclastic rocks. The existence of the northern caldera margin is now established by gravity data and a variety of geological observations including circumferential faults, hot springs, well-log data, and lithological changes in sedimentary rocks. A …

Apparatus For Making Continuous Lengths Of Composite Wood Material, The Apparatus Including Rotating Circular Baffles, Anders E. Lund, Gordon P. Krueger, Bruce A. Haataja, Roy D. Adams

Michigan Tech Patents

Apparatus for forming an elongated loosely felted mat of thin elongated wood flakes with the flakes being aligned in mutually parallel relation and being aligned with the longitudinal direction of the elongated mat. The apparatus comprises a plurality of conveyor belts positioned in closely adjacent side-by-side relation and defining a mat supporting surface adapted to support the aligned wood flakes, the belts being supported on the surface of a cylinder. Wood flakes are deposited in loosely felted relation on the belts, and a plurality of closely spaced parallel planar baffles surround the cylinder, the baffles comprising plates positioned between the …

Multiple Funnel Flake Aligner For Making A Loosely Felted Mat Of Aligned Wood Flakes, Bruce A. Haataja, Tauno B. Kilpela, Gordon P. Krueger, Roy D. Adams

Michigan Tech Patents

Apparatus for forming a loosely felted mat of thin elongated wood flakes with said flakes being aligned in mutually parallel relation. The apparatus includes a mat supporting surface, a hopper for holding a quantity of wood flakes, and a funnel assembly for receiving wood flakes from the hopper and for causing the flakes to be aligned in substantially parallel side-by-side relation as they are deposited on the supporting surface. The funnel assembly includes a plurality of funnels positioned in adjacent side-by-side relation, the funnels each including inclined walls having lower edges defining an elongated narrow opening adjacent the supporting surface …

Method For Reducing Macrosegregation In Alloys, Angus Hellawell

Michigan Tech Patents

Macrosegregation in metal alloy castings and other alloys having similar solidification behavior is reduced by slowly rotating a mold or the like containing the liquid alloy about an axis at an acute angle to the vertical from the time the liquid alloy is poured into the mold until substantially all of the alloy has solidified. The mold is rotated at a speed below that which produces a centrifuging effect or causes stirring or agitation of the interdendritic liquid.

Method For Preparing Organic Hyponitrites, G. David Mendenhall

Michigan Tech Patents

Tertiary organic hyponitrite usable as initiators for polymerizing ethylenically unsaturated compounds are prepared by reacting an alkali metal, alkaline earth, ammonium or substituted ammonium salt of hyponitrite, such as sodium hyponitrite, with a tertiary organic halide, such as tert-butyl chloride, in the presence of one or more weak Friedel-Crafts catalysts, such as ferric or zinc chloride, and in a solution of a neutral solvent.