Conversion Device

The present invention relates to nuclear physics and more particularly to an improved means and method of converting an isotope fissionable by slow neutrons to another or the same fissionable isotope in a neutronic reactor, with a high convei ion factor. 

A small portion of the 94 produced may also be changed to 942 by absorption of neutrons. The neutronic reactors referred to above may be called isotope converters in that one fissionable isotope is formed (94239) as another fissionable isotope (U ) is used up. However, this conversion is not complete, and the natural uranium, which in this case acts to supply both the reaction isotope (U335) and the absorption isotope (9433 ), will contain two different fissionable isotopes after the reaction has been started. Certain presently known uranium graphite reactors have been found to have a conversion factor of. 78, U to 9423 . 

To obtain a more complete conversion of one fissionable isotope to another it is preferred to utilize a substantially pure fissionable isotope for the neutronic reaction, and then form the new fissionable isotope separately, from a substantially pure non-fissionable isotope which in turn can be substantially completely converted to a fissionable isotope fully recoverable in high purity and concentration. 

An object of the present invention is to provide a means and method of converting an element into a fissionable isotope that can be recovered substantially completely and in high purity and concentration by means of a neutronic reaction in which the fissionable isotope supporting the reaction can be substantially completely converted. 

The plutonium produced by neutronic reactors using natural uranium to support the reaction is useful for many 

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A fuel cell is equivalent to a generator it converts a fuel s chemical energy directly into electricity. The main difference between these energy conversion devices is that the fuel cell acccomplishes this directly, "without the two additional intermediate steps, heat release and mechanical motion. 

Many of these steps include CVD, and CVD is now a major process in the fabrication of monolithic integrated circuits (IC), custom and semi-custom ASIC s, active discrete devices, transistors, diodes, passive devices and networks, hybrid IC s, opto-elec-tronic devices, energy-conversion devices, and microwave devices. 

The materials and processes used in the manufacture of photoelectric energy conversion devices are almost identical to those used in manufacturing microelectronic devices and integrated circuits. 

GaAs, CuInS2, CuInSe2- Semiconductor electrodes have received increasing attention as a consequence of their potential application in photoelectrochemical energy conversion devices. In order to achieve optimum efficiency, the knowledge of the surface composition plays a crucial role. Surface modifications may occur during operation of the photo electrode, or may be the result of a chemical or electrochemical treatment process prior to operation. 

Electrochemical Instrumentation. For the Ru complexes, a 1 cm diameter platinum disk brazed onto a brass holder was used as a working electrode. It was masked with ChemGrip (a teflon based epoxy) except for the upper face. Prior to use, it was polished with 1 micron diamond paste (Buehler) and rinsed with water, acetone and methanol. The working electrode for each Os complex was the uppermost platinum layer of a platinum/carbon layered synthetic microstructure (LSM) (Energy Conversion Devices). The LSM consisted of 200 layer pairs of carbon and platinum whose thicknesses were 24.4 and 17.0 A, respectively and where platinum was the outermost layer. The LSM was placed in 1.0 M H2SO4 and cleaned... 

Proton Exchange Membrane Fuel Cells (PEMFCs) are being considered as a potential alternative energy conversion device for mobile power applications. Since the electrolyte of a PEM fuel cell can function at low temperatures (typically at 80 °C), PEMFCs are unique from the other commercially viable types of fuel cells. Moreover, the electrolyte membrane and other cell components can be manufactured very thin, allowing for high power production to be achieved within a small volume of space. Thus, the combination of small size and fast start-up makes PEMFCs an excellent candidate for use in mobile power applications, such as laptop computers, cell phones, and automobiles. 

Energy Conversion Devices (ECD) of Troy, Michigan has announced a potential breakthrough in solid hydrogen storage. ECD is one of the parent companies of GM Ovonics, patent holder for the nickel metal hydride battery. A hydride, by definition, is a solid material that stores hydrogen. 

NiMH batteries can power an electric vehicle for over 100 miles, but are still several times more expensive than lead-acid. NiMH batteries from Energy Conversion Devices were installed in GM s EVj and S-10 electric pickup truck, doubling the range of each. Chrysler has also used... 

For road transport, fuel cells are the most efficient conversion devices for using hydrogen. For the average drive cycle, which is dominated by a power demand that is only a fraction of the maximum available power, hybrid fuel cell systems offer a clear advantage over internal combustion engines, hybridized or not, when energy use, CO2 emissions and non-greenhouse pollutants are considered. 

Shi, Z., et al., Free-standing single-walled carbon nanotube-CdSe quantum dots hybrid ultrathin films for flexible optoelectronic conversion devices. Nanoscale, 2012. 4(15) p. 4515-4521. 

The thermal efficiency of an energy conversion device is defined as the amount of useful energy produced relative to the change in stored chemical energy (commonly referred to as thermal energy) that is released when a fuel is reacted with an oxidant. 

Indirect conversion devices have been reported with comparable spatial resolution 13 based on a thin fluorescent screen in the form of a microscope objective lens. This again has a small field of view and poor efficiency owing to the low stopping power of the phosphor screen. Commercial devices based on a charmel plate intensifier coupled to a CCD camera usually give a spatial resolution of about 25 /an, which is adeqrrate for many industrial applications where screening of substrates is reqrrired. However, only slow progress has been... 

A fuel cell is an electrochemical conversion device. It produces electricity from fuel and an oxidant, which react in the presence of an electrolyte. The reactants flow into the cell, and the reaction products flow out of it, while the electrolyte remains within it. Fuel cells are different from electrochemical cell batteries in that they consume reactant, which must be replenished, whereas batteries store electrical energy chemically in a closed system. The chemical energy of the fuel is released in the form of an electrical energy instead of heat when the fuel is oxidized in an ideal electrochemical cell. Energy conversion by a fuel cell depends largely... 

Hydrogen may be the only link between physical energy from renewable sources and chemical energy. It is also the ideal fuel for modem clean energy conversion devices like fuel cells or even hydrogen engines. 

S.R. Ovshinsky, K. Sapru, K. Dec, K. Hong, US Patent 4,431,561 Hydrogen storage materials and method of making same. Energy Conversion Devices, Troy, MI (1984). 

A fuel cell is an electrochemical conversion device that has a continuous supply of fuel such as hydrogen, natural gas, or methanol and an oxidant such as oxygen, air, or hydrogen peroxide. It can have auxiliary parts to feed the device with reactants as well as a battery to supply energy for start-up. 

As for the other electrochemical storage/conversion devices, the fuel cell electrolyte must be a pure ionic conductor to prevent an internal short circuit of the cell. It may have an inert matrix that serves to physically separate the two electrodes. Fuel cells may contain all kinds of electrolytes including liquid, polymer, molten salt, or ceramic. 

Electrochemical energy conversion devices are pervasive in our daily lives. Batteries, fuel cells and supercapacitors belong to the same family of energy conversion devices. They are all based on the fundamentals of electrochemical thermodynamics and kinetics. All three are needed to service the wide energy requirements of various devices and systems. Neither... 

The first issue can be addressed in two ways a primary ET species which has a large optical absorption cross-section can be chosen or arrays of molecules with large optical absorption cross-sections can be used as "antennas" that will efficiently collect and transport the electronic excitation energy to the primary ET species, in direct analogy to photosynthetic systems. While in the latter case it should be possible to develop systems with more efficient solar photon collection, the number of primary ET species will have to be reduced due to the spatial limitations, which will also reduce the potential electric current that can be produced by the system. Thus, questions related to the detailed molecular architecture of biomimetic solar energy conversion devices will have to address this issue, and it is quite likely that a number of compromises will have to be made before optimal design characteristics are obtained. 

Thus, it appears that several systems have been developed which hold promise as prototypes of biomimetic solar energy conversion devices. And in conjunction with the advances being made in experimental and theoretical methods for investigating molecular excited-state processes, prospects for the development of practical biomimetic devices are now substantially better than they were only a decade ago. 

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