Due to increasingly strict requirements and regulations, it is becoming more and more important for piston compressors to reduce the amount of leakage of operating medium through the seal of the piston rod. Conventional seals comprising packing rings and/or packing ring combinations always have a certain amount of leakage, both during operation and when at standstill, which is why they are not usable for certain applications, or the complexity involved in such a seal increases considerably. A further problem involving the seals of piston rods relates to transverse movements by piston rods during which the sealing action of the seal must be maintained. Proposed is, therefore, a sealing arrangement according to the principle of a sealing medium barrier providing that the sealing elements 8, 9 are arranged in radial direction at a distance relative to the radial end of the recess 10 that receives the sealing elements 8, 9.

A cap acting as a grease retention feature and venting system allows crash optimization of a propeller shaft with a plunging constant velocity joint. The cap is located between a constant velocity joint and a tube of the propeller shaft system. The cap includes: a rim sealed against the inner diameter of the constant velocity joint, an interior vent chamber, a vent hole facing the interior components of the constant velocity joint and leading to the vent chamber, and an annular radial groove along the entire circumference connected to the vent chamber. The outer race has a hole perpendicular to the joint axis to complete venting to the atmosphere. In the event of a vehicle crash, the constant velocity internal joint components contact the device, causing the device to dislodge from its fixed position, contact the friction weld curls and fracture at a determined load.

Disclosed is a system and method for decreasing airflow and improving ventilation within a tunnel, such as a railroad tunnel, including a path for movement of a vehicle (e.g., train) therethrough. The system has a plurality of air baffles mounted within the tunnel, each device comprising a body and a mounting device. Each mounting device positions each body inside and along the length of the tunnel between the entrance and the exit. The air baffles are configured to restrict airflow at least in part in a longitudinal direction of the tunnel, thereby increasing a relative difference between a vehicle speed and air speed in a tunnel annulus when the vehicle passes through the tunnel. The restriction (e.g., decrease) of airflow in the tunnel reduces the piston effect resulting from the vehicle or train passing through, thus reducing emissions and heat generated by the locomotives in the tunnel.

An aircraft nacelle including a pipe (32), a peripheral wall (34), a lip (36), and a front frame (38) connecting the peripheral wall (34) and the pipe (32) and forming with the lip (36) a space (50) in which the hot air that is provided for frost treatment can circulate, with the pipe (32) including a coating (44) for the composite material acoustic treatment, is characterized in that the nacelle includes at least one element (52) made of a heat-conducting material inserted between the lip (36) and the pipe (32) ensuring the continuity of the aerodynamic surfaces of the lip (36) and the pipe (32) and the propagation of heat from the space (50) toward the rear of the nacelle, whereby the at least one element (52) includes a coating (54) for acoustic treatment that is made of a heat-resistant material.

A silencer (1) for an exhaust gas installation of an internal combustion engine, particularly of a motor vehicle includes a housing (2), with a circumferential shell (3) closed in the peripheral direction (5) and an end base (6) at each of two longitudinal ends, spaced apart in an axial direction (4). A silencer insert (15) is arranged in the housing (2) and has an inlet pipe (8) for exhaust gas and an outlet pipe (10) for exhaust gas. The shell (3) has, in the peripheral direction (5) has at least one inlet shell-segment (11) and one outlet shell-segment (12). The inlet shell-segment has at least one inlet opening (7), into which such an inlet pipe (8) is inserted from the inside. The outlet shell-segment (12) has at least one outlet opening (9) into which such an outlet pipe (10) is inserted from the inside.

A speaker diaphragm contains a material obtained by adding a cycloolefin polymer resin to a carbon fiber-reinforced liquid crystal polymer. The speaker diaphragm having high sound velocity, a speaker, and a production method of the speaker diaphragm can thereby be obtained.

A protective enclosure for an electronic device can include a waveguide to direct and enhance sound waves emanating from a speaker of an electronic device when installed in the protective enclosure. The waveguide can include a first end and a second end. The first end of the waveguide can be located proximate the speaker of the electronic device. The waveguide can increase in cross-sectional area between the first end and the second end.

A coating composition has a natural fiber-bearing dry matter mixture, as well as cellular plastic grains, mixed into water. By spreading this composition onto any base, particularly by spraying, and by hardening it, particularly through drying, the coating is formed from the coating composition, which coating provides extremely good acoustic properties. If a special fiber base plate based on chemical pulp is used as the base of the coating, the plate-like acoustic element is obtained.

A protective enclosure for an electronic device can include a waveguide to direct and enhance sound waves emanating from a speaker of an electronic device when installed in the protective enclosure. The waveguide can include a first end and a second end. The first end of the waveguide can be located proximate the speaker of the electronic device. The waveguide can increase in cross-sectional area between the first end and the second end. The second end of the waveguide can be located proximate a front surface of the protective enclosure and can direct sound waves toward a user of the electronic device.

This invention describes a collagen fiber reconstituted rawhide useful in the production of pet chews, and a method for making the same. Beginning materials include animal skins with hair, depilated limed splits and leftovers from the manufacture of rawhide pet chews. The materials are pretreated, ground, subjected to acid treatment to swell and separate the collagen fibers that comprise the animal hide, further ground into pulp, vacuum filtered, mixed with a dehydration agent that chemically shrinks the expanded fibers, drained, formed and dried into sheet and finally exposed to a cross-linking agent to increase the adhesive strength of the end product. Edible materials, including meats, may be added to the solution prior to draining, to enhance the nutritional value and palatability of the final product, and the reconstituted rawhide sheets may be bleached for appearance.

A system and method for monitoring and mitigating leakage currents is disclosed. The data acquisition system records data from multiple monitoring locations over extended periods of time to identify stray voltage and/or leakage currents present at the monitoring location. The data is processed to identify trends in the stray voltage and/or leakage currents and to suggest methods for mitigating the same.

A folding system for a fabric product is provided. The folding system includes an information obtaining device, a folding device and a width controlling device. The information obtaining device obtains first information held by a fabric product. The folding device includes a platen member, a width adjusting mechanism and a folding mechanism. The platen member is for holding the fabric product. The width adjusting mechanism adjusts the width directional length of the platen member. The folding mechanism folds the fabric product on the platen member. The width controlling device controls the width adjusting mechanism by using the first information obtained by the information obtaining device.

Methods and apparatus for processing of waste and low-value products to produce useful materials in reliable purities and compositions, at acceptable cost, without producing malodorous emissions, and with high energy efficiency are disclosed. In particular, multi-stage processes are disclosed to convert various feedstocks such as offal, animal manures, municipal sewage sludge, tires, and plastics, that otherwise have little commercial value, to useful materials including gas, oil, specialty chemicals, and carbon solids. Disclosed processes subject the feedstock to heat and pressure, separates out various components, then further applies heat and pressure to one or more of those components. Various materials produced at different points in the process may be recycled and used to play other roles within the process. Also disclosed are apparatus for performing multi-stage processes of converting waste products into useful materials, and at least one oil product that arises from the process.

A method and apparatus for pyrolytic destruction of polymer products including whole vehicle vulcanised rubber tires is disclosed. The apparatus 111 has a reaction chamber 153 into which a tire can be placed, and immersed for pyrolytic decomposition in a molten alloy of zinc with a minor proportion of aluminium. The apparatus 111 has a heated reservoir 155 in which the alloy is maintained in a molten state, and from where it can be transferred to the reaction chamber 153 to immerse the tire. Fluid hydrocarbon byproducts are drawn off for condensation and recovery, and solid zinc sulphides are also recovered. Where steel belted tires are processed, carbon and steel residues are also recovered.

A system, method and configuration for recovering turpentine during the manufacturing of wood chips, wood pellets or other substances that may include turpentine. In general, a turpentine recovery system is used to capture turpentine from exhaust of a dryer as wood chips are being dried. Advantageously, application of the various techniques disclosed herein can result in the recovery of turpentine that can then be sold to generate revenue and, may contribute to a reduction in the capital and operation costs for emission controls for the dryer exhaust.

This invention relates to a process for thermochemically transforming biomass or other oxygenated feedstocks into high quality liquid hydrocarbon fuels. In particular, a catalytic hydropyrolysis reactor, containing a deep bed of fluidized catalyst particles is utilized to accept particles of biomass or other oxygenated feedstocks that are significantly smaller than the particles of catalyst in the fluidized bed. The reactor features an insert or other structure disposed within the reactor vessel that inhibits slugging of the bed and thereby minimizes attrition of the catalyst. Within the bed, the biomass feedstock is converted into a vapor-phase product, containing hydrocarbon molecules and other process vapors, and an entrained solid char product, which is separated from the vapor stream after the vapor stream has been exhausted from the top of the reactor. When the product vapor stream is cooled to ambient temperatures, a significant proportion of the hydrocarbons in the product vapor stream can be recovered as a liquid stream of hydrophobic hydrocarbons, with properties consistent with those of gasoline, kerosene, and diesel fuel. Separate streams of gasoline, kerosene, and diesel fuel may also be obtained, either via selective condensation of each type of fuel, or via later distillation of the combined hydrocarbon liquid.

A process for producing a renewable hydrocarbon fuel. The process can include providing a feed including a lignocellulosic material to a pyrolysis zone to produce a stream including a pyrolysis oil, providing the pyrolysis oil stream to a refining zone producing a refined stream, providing at least a portion of the refined stream to a reforming zone producing a stream including hydrogen, providing at least a portion of the hydrogen stream to the refining zone; and recovering the renewable hydrocarbon fuel from the refined stream.

A system and method for processing biomass into hydrocarbon fuels that includes processing a biomass in a hydropyrolysis reactor resulting in hydrocarbon fuels and a process vapor stream and cooling the process vapor stream to a condensation temperature resulting in an aqueous stream. The aqueous stream is sent to a catalytic reactor where it is oxidized to obtain a product stream containing ammonia and ammonium sulfate. A resulting cooled product vapor stream includes non-condensable process vapors comprising H2, CH4, CO, CO2, ammonia and hydrogen sulfide.

This invention presents a versatile and continuous drying technology that utilizes controlled heat combined with forced air supply for drying a feedstock. The dryer virtually divided top-down into different zones, each having definite heated air distribution rate to secure desired condition for drying of the feedstock. The heat source of the dryer is waste heat, either provided by the feedstock itself through exothermic heat generated by the feedstock or reclaimed waste heat or solar heat. The discharge system of the dryer is a fail-safe discharge system, which ensures equal residence time for the feedstock through all the zones. The synergic interaction of all these components along with recycling the heat through an efficient use of heat exchangers, optimized control of airflow rate and feedstock resident time, purifying the exhaust air and condensing the outlet vapor empowers the technology to function with minimum energy, minimum processing time, minimum environmental foot-print, minimum cost and with minimum operational cost.

An apparatus (100) for processing waste material is provided which comprises a heat proof chamber (102), a hot gas inlet (106, 112) for heating the interior of the heat proof chamber (102), and a rotatable drum (118) for containing waste to be processed. The drum (118) has gaps (120) therein, is located within the heat proof chamber (102), and separated therefrom around its edge by a gap. The apparatus (100) is also provided with a drive (126, 128) for rotating the drum (118) at a speed such that, in use, waste material that is heat softened is centrifugally separated from the remainder of the waste and passes through the gaps (120) in the drum (118).

A process and system is disclosed for optimizing a key parameter of a biomass feedstock that enhances bio-oil production. The process and system involves optimizing the values of the key parameter in multiple biomass feedstocks by regulating their feed rates and blending those feedstocks to produce a cumulative biomass feedstock with an optimal value for the key parameter. The key parameter in the biomass feedstocks is measured and the feed rates of the multiple biomass feedstocks are adjusted in order to produce a cumulative biomass feedstock exhibiting optimal values for the desired key parameter. The key parameters can include compositional properties, such as lignin content or mineral content, and/or fluidization properties of the biomass materials, such as density, particle cohesion force, or particle size.

Pyrolysis fuels and methods for processing pyrolysis fuel are provided. In one embodiment, a method of processing pyrolysis fuel converts biomass to pyrolysis fuel including pyrolysis oil and char particles. Also, the method includes resizing a portion of the char particles so that substantially all resized char particles have a largest dimension no greater than about 5 microns.

A pyrolysis device and process to convert a carbonaceous feedstock to a carbon solid and pyrolysis gas, and processes for refining the resulting carbon solid and pyrolysis gases. The pyrolysis process may include introducing a carbonaceous feedstock into a pyrolysis processor having a vertical rotary tray processor, heating the feedstock to a temperature above about 790° F., removing a carbon material from a bottom of the pyrolysis processor, and removing a pyrolysis gas from a top of the pyrolysis processor.

A method and an apparatus for pyrolysing a solid organic feed material are disclosed. Solid organic material is moved through a reaction chamber and exposed to a temperature profile within the chamber that dries and pyrolyses the organic material and releases water vapour and a volatile products gas phase. The water vapour phase and the volatile products gas phase are moved counter-current to the solid organic material so that the water vapour phase and condensable components of the volatile products gas phase condense in cooler upstream sections of the chamber and form a liquid water product and a separate liquid oil product. The liquid water product is discharged via an outlet along the length of the chamber and a dried and pyrolysed solid product is discharged from a downstream outlet in the chamber. The chamber includes a plurality of heat transfer members extending within the chamber and a supply of oxygen-containing gas for establishing and maintaining the temperature profile within the chamber.

A process and a unit for fluidized bed torrefaction and grinding of particles of a biomass with a largest dimension of 2 cm to 5 cm, and which unit contains an envelope having a general shape of a sector having a) two substantially vertical walls delimiting that sector; and b) at least one inclined wall defining three zones, from bottom to top: a lower zone provided with a fluidization means, and provided with a grinder placed at the bottom of that zone; an intermediate zone (2) provided with a fluidization means; and an upper zone (3) provided with a fluidization means; and a pipe (11) for introducing the particles reaching into the unit to the level of the intermediate zone.

The disclosure encompasses in-line reactive condensation processes via vapor phase esterification of bio-oil to decease reactive species concentration and water content in the oily phase of a two-phase oil, thereby increasing storage stability and heating value. Esterification of the bio-oil vapor occurs via the vapor phase contact and subsequent reaction of organic acids with ethanol during condensation results in the production of water and esters. The pyrolysis oil product can have an increased ester content and an increased stability when compared to a condensed pyrolysis oil product not treated with an atomized alcohol.

A method for producing individual compacts made of coke and suitable for coke oven chambers by dividing a coal cake in a non-mechanical manner, wherein the coal cake is produced by a compression method according to the prior art and the coal cake is divided by non-mechanical, energy-supplying media, and the non-mechanical media supplying shearing energy are, for example, a laser beam, a high-pressure water jet, an abrasive-solid jet, an ultrasonic beam, a compressed-air jet, or a gas jet. By using the method, coal compacts can be produced from coal cakes without forming dust, without wearing out cutting tools, and with high precision.

The method produces a hydrocarbonaceous fluid (a liquid mixture of hydrocarbons, or in other words a mixture of hydrocarbons which is liquid at ambient room temperature and atmospheric pressure), which functionally is a liquid hydrocarbon fuel, from a feed of waste plastic. The method can comprise the steps of: (step 1) melting a feed of substantially solid waste plastic in an aerobic atmosphere (for instance, air) whereby a waste-plastic melt is produced; (step 2) distilling at least a portion of the waste-plastic melt whereby a hydrocarbonaceous distillate is produced; and (step 3) collecting the hydrocarbonaceous distillate. That distillate is generally referred to above as a condensate. The method can include the step of comminuting the feed of substantially solid waste plastic into pieces substantially no greater than about 1.5 cm2 prior to step 1. The method can also include the step of adding an effective amount of a cracking catalyst to the waste plastic prior to step 2.

A method for processing biomass to produce biofuel includes decomposing lignocellulosic material into byproduct polymers that include lignin, decomposing the lignin into targeted chemical fragments, and chemically converting the targeted chemical fragments into a biofuel.

A method of treating untreated low calorific coal containing moisture and organic volatiles includes feeding untreated coal to a dryer, and drying the coal. The dried coal is subjected to a pyrolyzing step where oxygen-deficient gases are brought into contact with the coal, thereby lowering the volatile content of the coal and producing a stream of pyrolysis effluent gases. The pyrolysis effluent gases are subjected to a separation process to separate lean fuel gases from liquids and tars, wherein the separation process removes less than about 20 percent of the pyrolysis effluent gases as the liquids and tars, with the remainder being the lean fuel gases. The lean fuel gases are returned to the dryer combustor, the pyrolyzer combustor, or the pyrolyzer.

A device for proportioning of secondary combustion air into the secondary air soles of coke oven chamber ovens is shown. The device is formed by a slide gate or a parallelepiped device or by plates moved by means of a thrust bar, the thrust bar being moved longitudinally in parallel to the coke oven chamber wall so that the plates move away from the secondary air apertures and open or close these. The thrust bar is moved by means of a positioning motor, with the power transmission being effected hydraulically or pneumatically. Via suitable measuring parameters, it is thus possible to optimize secondary heating so that heating is provided evenly from all sides, thus achieving an improvement in coke quality.

The present technology describes apparatus, systems, and methods for the thermal decomposition of carbonaceous feedstocks through continuous pyrolysis. A reciprocating reactor is described that includes an inner reactor pipe and an outer reactor pipe. The outer reactor pipe has a first portion that surrounds the inner reactor pipe forming an annulus space, and a second portion that extends beyond the inner reactor pipe and forms a turnaround zone. The inner reactor pipe defines an inner reactor zone that produces partially reacted carbonaceous feedstock, and the annulus space defines an outer reactor zone that produces product gases and solids.

A method for processing plastic waste, in particular polyolefins, and a device for processing plastic waste, in particular polyolefins, are used especially in the industrial utilization of plastic waste. The method consists in that a primarily refined charge after being fed into a reactor (6) is fluidized and cracked during forced progressive-rotational movement coinciding with heating. A gas-steam fraction obtained during a utilization process is continuously guided out to a cooling system whereas impurities are periodically guided out from the reactor (6) to a waste tank (22).

A process for heat treatment of a solid, with a coolant solid, in which a stage for mixing the solid with the pre-heated coolant solid is carried out, with the coolant solid being a solid hydrocarbon. The solid hydrocarbon is ground, before the mixing stage with the solid, to obtain a solid hydrocarbon powder with a grain size of between 20 μm and 300 μm. The solid is ground, before the mixing stage with the coolant solid, to obtain solid pellets with a thickness of between 1 mm and 30 mm, a width of between 1 mm and 40 mm, and a length of between 1 mm and 100 mm. The mixing is carried out at a temperature of between 80° C. and 700° C.

A pyrolyzer apparatus (i.e. a “cracking pipe”) comprises a first screen, a second screen, and a catalyst material positioned between the first and second screens. The pyrolyzer is structured so that feedstock is pyrolyzed and pyrolyzer-generated gas is drawn through the first screen, through the catalyst material, and then through the second screen in series. The gas may then be directed to other processing equipment so that bio-oil is extracted from the gas.

An apparatus for producing proof prints on which the correctness of page impositions can be checked comprises a stand configured to receive a roll of paper. A first printer and a second printer are provided for printing pages on the front side and the rear side, respectively, of a paper web fed from the paper roll. An optical sensor is arranged between the first printer and the second printer. The optical sensor is configured to detect the position of an alignment mark which has been printed by the first printer on the front side of the paper. A control unit modifies the spatial relationship between the rear side of the paper and what is printed on the rear side of the paper depending on the detected position of the alignment mark. This can be accomplished either by electronically modifying the second pages as such, or by mechanically modifying the paper position with respect to a printing head contained in the second printer.

A method for preparing a lenticular guide roll for use in a lenticular printing run. The method comprises providing a printing roll of a printing press and a first piece of lenticular media. The first piece of lenticular printing substrate has a pitch which is substantially identical to a second lenticular printing substrate to be used in the lenticular printing run. The, method further comprises attaching the first piece of lenticular printing substrate to the printing roll to allow the maneuvering of the second lenticular printing substrate by the printing roll in the printing press.

A security device comprises two or more regions (1, 2). Each region (1, 2) contains a material or combination of materials wherein the two or more regions exhibit substantially the same visible appearance under first viewing conditions and different visible appearances under second viewing conditions, the second viewing conditions. The second viewing conditions comprise a combination of a) visible light and b) substantially any UV wavelength.

Systems and methods for applying customer-specific labels to an unprinted or non-displayed side of printed products.

The disclosure provides a frequency synthesizer. It includes a PFD that generates an up signal and a down signal in response to a reference signal and a feedback signal. A charge pump generates a control voltage in response to the up signal and the down signal. A low pass filter generates a filtered voltage in response to the control voltage. An oscillator circuit generates an output signal in response to the filtered voltage. A feedback divider is coupled between the oscillator circuit and the PFD, and divides the output signal by a first integer divider to generate the feedback signal. A sigma delta modulator (SDM) generates a second integer divider in response to the feedback signal, the reference signal, the output signal and the first integer divider. A digital filter is coupled between the SDM and the feedback divider, and filters quantization noise associated with the SDM.

There is provided an image processing device including a decoding section that decodes an encoded stream and generates quantized transform coefficient data, and an inverse quantization section that, taking transform coefficient data as transform units to be used during inverse orthogonal transform, inversely quantizes the quantized transform coefficient data decoded by the decoding section, such that in a case where a non-square transform unit is selected, the inverse quantization section uses a non-square quantization matrix, corresponding to a non-square transform unit, that is generated from a square quantization matrix corresponding to a square transform unit.

An object of the present invention is to increase efficiency of information compression in coding and decoding. A moving picture encoding apparatus 10 of the present invention has a motion vector predicting part for performing, based on a temporal relation among adjacent reference frame images 703a, 703b, 703c referred to for detecting motion vectors of adjacent blocks adjacent to a coding target block, a target reference frame image 702 referred to for detecting a motion vector of the target block, and a target frame image 701 being the frame image of the coding target, or based on time information thereof, a correction of scaling the motion vectors 751a, 751b, 751c of the adjacent blocks on the basis of the target reference frame image 702; and a determination of an optimum predicted motion vector based on the motion vectors of the adjacent blocks; and thereby predicting the optimum predicted motion vector after the correction.

A first vector predictor candidate list generating unit generates a first motion vector predictor candidate list from motion vectors of encoded neighboring blocks to blocks to be encoded. A second vector predictor candidate list generating unit generates a second motion vector predictor candidate list from motion vectors of blocks at the same positions as the blocks to be encoded in an encoded image and neighboring blocks to the blocks at the same positions. A combination determining unit determines whether to generate a third vector predictor candidate list combining the first and second vector predictor candidate lists by comparison of a block size of the blocks to be encoded and a threshold size. A vector predictor candidate list deciding unit generates the third vector predictor candidate list from the first vector predictor candidate list.

A first vector predictor candidate list generating unit generates a first motion vector predictor candidate list from motion vectors of encoded neighboring blocks to blocks to be encoded. A second vector predictor candidate list generating unit generates a second motion vector predictor candidate list from motion vectors of blocks at the same positions as the blocks to be encoded in an encoded image and neighboring blocks to the blocks at the same positions. A combination determining unit determines whether to generate a third vector predictor candidate list combining the first and second vector predictor candidate lists by comparison of a block size of the blocks to be encoded and a threshold size. A vector predictor candidate list deciding unit generates the third vector predictor candidate list from the first vector predictor candidate list.

Systems and associated methods for reciprocity calibration of MIMO wireless communication are disclosed. In one embodiment, a method includes receiving, by a base station, a first set of pilot symbols by receivers (RXes) of the base station based on a first pilot symbol transmitted from a transmitter (TX) of at least one reference antenna, transmitting, by the base station, a second pilot symbol by TXes of the base station, wherein the transmitted second pilot symbol is received by an RX of the at least one reference antenna as a second set of r0,i pilot symbols calculating non-reciprocity compensation factors based on the first set of pilot symbols and the second set of pilot symbols.

A reciprocating jetting water pump primarily for use on a vacuum truck is disclosed. The jetting water pump includes a pair of reciprocating pistons that are each movable within an outer cylinder mounted to a center block. Each of the outer cylinders is mounted to the center block by a plurality of tie-rod that each extend between the center block and an end plate. An airflow passageway is formed in the center block to vent air trapped within the open interior of the first outer cylinder during reciprocating movement of the piston in the first outer cylinder. A control system mounted to the vacuum truck senses the pressure of water leaving the jetting water pump and controls the supply of pressurized hydraulic fluid to the jetting water pump to maintain the water pressure at an operator selected value.

Integrated processes are provided for syngas refining and bioconversion of syngas to oxygenated organic compound. In the integrated processes ammonia contained in the syngas is recovered and used as a source of nitrogen and water for the fermentation. The integrated processes first remove tars from syngas by scrubbing using a first aqueous medium under conditions that ammonium bicarbonate is unstable. With tars removed, contact between the syngas and a second aqueous medium enables ammonia and carbon dioxide to be removed from the syngas without undue removal of components adverse to the fermentation, processing or oxygenated product such as benzene, toluene, xylene, ethylene, acetylene, and hydrogen cyanide. At least a portion of the second aqueous medium is supplied as a source of water and ammonia for the fermentation.

Reactive diluent fluid (22) is introduced into a stream of synthesis gas (or “syngas”) produced in a heat-generating unit such as a partial oxidation (“POX”) reactor (12) to cool the syngas and form a mixture of cooled syngas and reactive diluent fluid. Carbon dioxide and/or carbon components and/or hydrogen in the mixture of cooled syngas and reactive diluent fluid is reacted (26) with at least a portion of the reactive diluent fluid in the mixture to produce carbon monoxide-enriched and/or solid carbon depleted syngas which is fed into a secondary reformer unit (30) such as an enhanced heat transfer reformer in a heat exchange reformer process. An advantage of the invention is that problems with the mechanical integrity of the secondary unit arising from the high temperature of the syngas from the heat-generating unit are avoided.

A gas separation process that utilizes ejector recycle with a membrane separation step in combination with a second separation step. The second separation step may be a second membrane separation, or may involve a different type of separation process. At least a portion of the non-product (i.e. residue) stream withdrawn from the second separation step is directed back to the ejector to form a processing loop. The ejector drives the gas flow in the loop and recycles the non-product stream to the first separation step.

Provided are apparatus and systems having a poppet valve assembly and swing adsorption separation techniques related thereto. A poppet valve includes a valve body, a plurality of static valves fixedly secured to the valve body and a single dynamic poppet valve having a plurality of openings. The plurality of static valves align and mate with the plurality of openings. The single dynamic poppet valve reciprocates to selectively open and close the plurality of static valves.