A gas-particle processing method comprising: introducing gas into a chamber through a gas inlet; flowing the gas through the chamber from the gas inlet to the gas outlet at a first controlled mass flowrate; introducing at least one particle stream into the chamber through one or more particle inlets of the chamber at a second controlled mass flowrate; flowing each particle stream through a respective processing region in the chamber; and controlling the first and/or second mass flowrates, such that the gas-particle mixture porosity in a substantial portion of each processing region is 0.900-0.995.

A gas-particle processing method comprising: introducing gas into a chamber through a gas inlet; flowing the gas through the chamber from the gas inlet to the gas outlet at a first controlled mass flowrate; introducing at least one particle stream into the chamber through one or more particle inlets of the chamber at a second controlled mass flowrate; flowing each particle stream through a respective processing region in the chamber; and controlling the first and/or second mass flowrates, such that the gas-particle mixture porosity in a substantial portion of each processing region is 0.900-0.995.

A heat transfer system and related method of heat transfer is provided. The heat transfer system includes a tubular receiver positioned to receive heat from a heat source, the receiver comprising one or more enclosed tubes configured for gravity-driven flow of a particulate heat transfer fluid therethrough in a dense, unfluidized state having a particle volume fraction of at least about 25%; and at least one storage vessel in fluid communication with the tubular receiver and positioned to receive the heat transfer fluid therefrom, wherein the particulate heat transfer fluid includes a plurality of particles of a metal-containing material having a melting point of greater than 800 C, the heat transfer fluid being substantially free of a liquid component.

A heat transfer system and related method of heat transfer is provided. The heat transfer system includes a tubular receiver positioned to receive heat from a heat source, the receiver comprising one or more enclosed tubes configured for gravity-driven flow of a particulate heat transfer fluid therethrough in a dense, unfluidized state having a particle volume fraction of at least about 25%; and at least one storage vessel in fluid communication with the tubular receiver and positioned to receive the heat transfer fluid therefrom, wherein the particulate heat transfer fluid includes a plurality of particles of a metal-containing material having a melting point of greater than 800 C, the heat transfer fluid being substantially free of a liquid component.

A bottom mount refrigerator is provided including a thermal battery or phase change material positioned within the refrigerator or freezer in order to increase energy efficiency and compartment sizes of the refrigerator. The thermal battery can be used with an ice maker to aid in removing heat from the water in the ice maker to produce ice. Furthermore, the phase change material or thermal battery may be used with a thermoelectric cooler to aid in ice production. The phase change material may be tuned to various temperatures according to the desired use of the phase change material, as well as the location of the thermal battery or phase change material. Other embodiments include positioning the phase change material in the liner of the compartments or in thermal storage units in order to further increase the energy efficiency of the refrigerator.

A high strength ceramic body for use in a regenerative burner media bed, comprising a generally cylindrical portion and a plurality of generally orthorhombic parallelepiped-shaped fin portions extending radially from the generally cylindrical portion The ceramic body has a porosity of less than 1 percent, is greater than 99 weight percent alumina, has a thermal conductivity at 100 C. of about 0.07 cal/sec cm C., and has a heat capacity of about 0.21 cal/gm/ C.

A high strength ceramic body for use in a regenerative burner media bed, comprising a generally cylindrical portion and a plurality of generally orthorhombic parallelepiped-shaped fin portions extending radially from the generally cylindrical portion The ceramic body has a porosity of less than 1 percent, is greater than 99 weight percent alumina, has a thermal conductivity at 100 C. of about 0.07 cal/sec cm C., and has a heat capacity of about 0.21 cal/gm/ C.

A high strength ceramic body for use in a regenerative burner media bed, comprising a generally cylindrical portion and a plurality of generally orthorhombic parallelepiped-shaped fin portions extending radially from the generally cylindrical portion. The ceramic body has a porosity of less than 1 percent, is greater than 99 weight percent alumina, has a thermal conductivity at 100 C. of about 0.07 cal/sec cm C., and has a heat capacity of about 0.21 cal/gm/ C.

A high strength ceramic body for use in a regenerative burner media bed, comprising a generally cylindrical portion and a plurality of generally orthorhombic parallelepiped-shaped fin portions extending radially from the generally cylindrical portion. The ceramic body has a porosity of less than 1 percent, is greater than 99 weight percent alumina, has a thermal conductivity at 100 C. of about 0.07 cal/sec cm C., and has a heat capacity of about 0.21 cal/gm/ C.

A rotating heat regenerator is used to recover heat from the syngas at it exits the reactor vessel of a waste or biomass gasifier. In some embodiments, three or more streams are passed through the heat exchanger. One stream is the dirty syngas, which heats the rotating material. A second stream is a cold stream that is heated as it passes through the material. A third stream is a cleaning stream, which serves to remove particulates that are collected on the rotating material as the dirty syngas passes through it. This apparatus can also be used as an auto-heat exchanger, or it can exchange heat between separate flows in the gasifier process. The apparatus can also be used to reduce the heating requirement for the thermal residence chamber (TRC) used downstream from the gasification system