Methods and apparatus are disclosed for producing diamond masses and products thereof using diamond unit cell forming reactions in vapor phase and solid phase. The present invention enables the fabrication of diamond products having a purity and morphology previously unattainable.

The present invention relates to a method for generating nitric oxide, which comprises the steps of: providing a precursor solution comprising a nitric oxide precursor in a first reservoir (12), guiding the precursor solution through a reaction chamber (16), thereby subjecting the precursor solution to radiation to generate nitric oxide, guiding the generated nitric oxide out of the reaction chamber (16) by a stream of carrier gas, and guiding the reacted solution into a second reservoir (14). The method according to the invention provides a method of generating nitric oxide, or a flow of nitric oxide comprising gas, in which the concentration of the nitric oxide may be kept especially constant. Also claimed is an apparatus for generating nitric oxide comprising reservoirs for the precursor solution and the reacted solution and a reaction chamber.

A system for the integral chlorine dioxide production with relatively independent sodium chlorate electrolytic production and chlorine dioxide production is provided. The system may feed electrolyte solution into a solid-liquid filter, filtering out the crystal and eliminating sodium chloride and sodium dichromate. The sodium chlorate crystal may be fed into a chlorine dioxide generator after dissolving, while sodium chloride and sodium dichromate solution separately return to electrolyzer for electrolysis process. Sodium chloride may be constantly formed as a by-product in the chlorine dioxide production unit, and solution containing the sodium chloride is withdrawn from the generator and, after filtration, washing and dissolution, recycled back to sodium chlorate production unit. This way, there is no need of sodium chloride make-up.

A method of photooxygenating furfural in a photooxygenating system, whereby a liquid mixture comprising furfural, a photosensitizer, and a reaction solvent is passed through a reaction section of the photooxygenating system, wherein the liquid mixture is exposed to solar radiation, while a portion of the furfural is oxidized in presence of the photosensitizer and a furanone compound is produced. Various embodiments of the photocatalytic water splitting reactor, and the water splitting system are also provided.

A ballast water treatment device includes a filtration device and an irradiation device that irradiates, with ultraviolet rays, filtered water that has been filtered. The filtration device is a device that removes 99.999% or more of L-size organisms having a minimum part size of 50 μm or more, and 90% or more of S-size organisms having a minimum part size of 10 μm or more and less than 50 μm. The irradiation device is capable of sterilizing the filtered water at a flow rate of 250 m.sup.3/h and a power consumption of 13 kW to eliminate 90% of S-size organisms immediately after a sterilization treatment.

An aqueous solution of alkali hexahydroxo platinate is produced. As a alkali hexahydroxo platinate, sodium hexahydroxoplatinate or potassium hexahydroxoplatinate is used. The aqueous solution of alkali hexahydroxo platinate is passed through a hydrogen form cation exchange resin layer in a cation exchange resin tower. The aqueous solution of alkali hexahydroxo platinate makes contact with the hydrogen form cation exchange resin of the hydrogen form cation exchange resin layer, thus a suspension of hexahydroxo platinic is generated. If gamma rays are irradiated to the suspension, a platinum oxide colloidal solution in which colloidal particles including a platinum dioxide, a platinum monoxide, and a platinum hydroxide exist is generated. In a platinum oxide colloidal solution, the content of impurities is little and a noble metal compound is dispersed stably in water.

Provided are a three-phase AC/DC converter disposed between a three-phase AC power supply and a light emitting diode group, the converter including a three-phase full bridge circuit in which pairs of switching elements are connected in parallel between DC buses for the three phases of the three-phase AC power supply; reactors connecting connection portions between the switching elements and corresponding phases of the three-phase AC power supply; a smoothing capacitor on the output side of the three-phase full bridge circuit; a DC voltage detection means; a power supply voltage phase detection means; and a pulse width modulation means for outputting pulse width modulation signals of the switching elements, wherein the pulse width modulation means outputs the pulse width modulation signals based on a power supply voltage phase and an output voltage between the DC buses.

Ultrasonic horns having improved longevity and simplified manufacturing approaches that can be more easily adapted to ultrasonic reactor chambers or batch processing containers. The ultrasonic horn designs increase the uniformity and intensity of acoustic energy radiated into a liquid medium and thus better correspond to the requirements of a particular sonochemical or sonomechanical process. The ultrasonic horns do not require a specific number of cylindrical sections and allow for various lengths and profiles of variable-diameter sections. The ultrasonic horns also reduce stress in the material of the ultrasonic horns and therefore extend longevity.

An improved photocatalytic reactor stator having a first surface and an opposing second surface, and at least one channel extending between the first surface and the second surface to allow fluid flow through the stator. The at least one channel may be configured to redirect the fluid flow in a direction substantially parallel to the first and/or second surface. This improved photocatalytic reactor stator improves the performance of a photocatalytic reactor by increasing the mobility of the photocatalyst and thereby increasing the surface area of the catalyst that is exposed to the reactant and the UV light source.

A photocatalyst powder is provided. The photocatalyst powder includes a plurality of nano crystallite aggregates formed by a plurality of nano crystallites. Each of the nano crystallites exhibits a single crystal structure. The nano crystallites have different compositions, different crystal phases, and different lattice constants from each other. An example of the nano crystallites is represented as the formula of ZnO.sub.1-xS.sub.x with different x values in each of the nano crystallites. In addition, a hydrogen producing system is also provided.