High temperature seals between ceramic separation membranes and super-alloy housing

One of the concepts for oxygen production from Martian atmospheric carbon dioxide involves the use of tubular electrochemical membranes for oxygen separation. The tubular configuration offers the advantage of being able to separate the oxygen at pressures of up to 500 psi, thereby eliminating the need for a pre-liquefaction oxygen compressor. A key technology that has to be developed in order for the electrochemical separator to combine as a compressor is a high temperature static seal between the ceramic separation cell and the nickel-based super-alloy tube. Equipment was designed and fabricated to test the seals. Efforts are under way to develop a finite element model to study the thermal stresses at the joints and on the seal, and the optimal shape of the seal. The choice of seal materials and the technique to be used to fabricate the seals are also being investigated

Selected bibliography of remote sensing

Bibliography of remote sensing techniques for analysis and assimilation of geographic dat

Select Provisions of the Commercial Maritime Code of the Russian Federation

The Commercial Maritime Code of the Russian Federation (RMC) entered into force on April 30, 1999. The RMC is a far-reaching and progressive document that seeks to provide a framework for all commercial maritime activities within Russia. The RMC uses the language of the 1982 United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea, and implements treaties and agreements including those that cover oil pollution, vessel arrest, and competency standards for seafarers. It occupies the field of Russian maritime law, specifically replacing a long list of inherited Soviet laws. It regulates the movement of goods at sea, many common aspects of maritime commerce, and it spells out in detail the process for securing maritime creditor\u27s rights. It strongly recognizes property rights in vessels, but contains whimsical reminders of a socialist past. Like omnibus pieces of U.S. legislation, it provides grants of regulatory authority to agencies. At other junctures, it relies on follow-up legislation to flesh out its provisions. This translation is intended for U.S. readers who wish to acquaint themselves with some of the basic provisions of the RMC. As such, it is not translated in its entirety here. However, its general provisions and those provisions governing the regulation of vessel flag and registry have been translated and are printed below in full text. In addition, this translation provides a list of the remaining RMC provisions governing specific aspects of maritime law

Regional environmental analysis and management: New techniques for current problems

Advances in data acquisition and processing procedures for regional environmental analysis are discussed. Automated and semi-automated techniques employing Earth Resources Technology Satellite data and conventional data sources are presented. Experiences are summarized. The ERTS computer compatible tapes provide a very complete and flexible record of earth resources data and represent a viable medium to enhance regional environmental analysis research

Relating water quality to management practices

Much effort is spent trying to relate water quality to management practices. Successes have been achieved, but it has often been difficult to link a change in water quality to a management practice, or to conclusively document actual water quality improvement. This research developed and attempted to prove a concept. That concept was that a systems approach could be used to develop a set of tools necessary to relate surface water quality to the management practices employed and to the responsiveness of the unit in which they are employed. The operational unit for this research project was a well run dairy farm in Claiborne County, Tennessee. Three indices were developed for each of four contaminants; sediment, phosphorus, nitrogen, and coliform bacteria. Other contaminants could have been selected, but these four were deemed the most important. The indices are the management practice index (MPI), the system response index (SRI), and the standard water index (SWI). The MPI evaluates how well a unit of land is being managed in terms of whether the proper Best Management Practices (BMPs) are being employed and how effectively they are being employed. The risk that may be associated with a BMP failure is also evaluated. In effect the index indicates how good a job the person is doing to keep contaminants out of the surface water. A high MPI indicates a good job is being done. The second index is the SRI. It relates the measured level of a contaminant, the worst case potential loading of the contaminant into a stream, and the MPI. It can probably best be used to indicate the probability that a given level of contaminant will occur for a particular worst case and management scheme, or whether a system is likely to change if the worst case or management practices are altered. It can also be viewed as a responsiveness index which gives an indication of how forgiving a particular situation will be for the implemented management practices and the potential worst case loading. A high SRI indicates a responsive system, while a low index indicates a less responsive system. With a low SRI it makes little difference what management practices or system loading are used, as the system will not easily change. Its inverse can also be viewed as the buffering capacity of the system. The final index is the SWI and is simply a ratio of the measured levels of contaminants to a standard. An SWI greater than one indicates the standard has been exceeded. Overall the dairy farm MPIs indicated a high level of management. On a scale of 0.0 to 1.0, the overall MPIs were 0.91, 0.88, 0.92, and 0.83 for sediment, phosphorus, nitrogen, and coliform bacteria, respectively. The SRIs for subwatershed B were -0.206, 0.0, -0.055, and 0.005 for sediment, phosphorus, nitrogen, and coliform bacteria, respectively. Although the true ranges for these SRI values are yet undetermined, the values appear low, which would indicate a system that is low in responsiveness, or high in buffering capacity. The measured levels of contaminants are reflected in the SWI values of -0.07, 0.0, -0.15, and 0.99 for sediment, phosphorus, nitrogen, and coliform bacteria, respectively. Together the three indices suggest a high level of management and a low system responsiveness. The MPI results for coliform bacteria appear questionable since the SWI was near 1.0 (near the standard) even though the MPI was relatively high at 0.86 for subwatershed B