The present invention provides microfabricated substrates and methods of conducting reactions within these substrates. The reactions occur in plugs transported in the flow of a carrier-fluid.

The present invention provides microfabricated substrates and methods of conducting reactions within these substrates. The reactions occur in plugs transported in the flow of a carrier-fluid.

This in-line active and reverse calculating mass balance blending system can maintain a chemical at desired control points, such as with respect to concentration, temperature, and/or pressure, while the output flow rate is changing dynamically to a point of use. A blending unit is configured to receive and blend at least two species and deliver a mixture at selected concentrations to points of use. A controller can be configured to determine a mass balance to maintain the concentrations in the mixture using information from metrology systems and a flow in an output to the at least one point of use. The controller also can be configured to maintain a concentration in the mixture within a concentration range by controlling flow rates to the blending unit.

Methods and systems for processing polynucleotides (e.g., DNA) are disclosed. A processing region includes one or more surfaces (e.g., particle surfaces) modified with ligands that retain polynucleotides under a first set of conditions (e.g., temperature and pH) and release the polynucleotides under a second set of conditions (e.g., higher temperature and/or more basic pH). The processing region can be used to, for example, concentrate polynucleotides of a sample and/or separate inhibitors of amplification reactions from the polynucleotides. Microfluidic devices with a processing region are disclosed.

Methods and systems for processing polynucleotides (e.g., DNA) are disclosed. A processing region includes one or more surfaces (e.g., particle surfaces) modified with ligands that retain polynucleotides under a first set of conditions (e.g., temperature and pH) and release the polynucleotides under a second set of conditions (e.g., higher temperature and/or more basic pH). The processing region can be used to, for example, concentrate polynucleotides of a sample and/or separate inhibitors of amplification reactions from the polynucleotides. Microfluidic devices with a processing region are disclosed.

A system and method for introducing a slurry mixture for making gypsum board is disclosed. The system includes, for example, a mixer, a foam injector, and a canister for mixing and moving a slurry mixture of foam and gypsum slurry. Also included in the system is an apparatus having a funnel body constructed and arranged to further mix the slurry mixture. The funnel body includes a number of baffles projecting from its inner wall towards a center and that are spaced around the inner wall. The baffles induce turbulence into the slurry mixture as the slurry mixture moves towards its outlet, thus further mixing the mixture and reducing the flow rate of the slurry mixture before its exits from the outlet for forming the gypsum board.

Material flow amplifiers as disclosed herein overcome drawbacks associated with known adverse flow conditions (e.g., surface erosion and head losses) that arise from flow of certain types of materials (e.g., fluids, slurries, particulates, flowable aggregate, and the like) through a material flow conduit. Such material flow amplifiers provide for flow of flowable material within a flow passage of a material flow conduit (e.g., a portion of a pipeline, tubing or the like) to have a cyclonic flow (i.e., vortex or swirling) profile. Advantageously, the cyclonic flow profile centralizes flow toward the central portion of the flow passage, thereby reducing magnitude of laminar flow. Such cyclonic flow profile provides a variety of other advantages as compared to a parabolic flow profile (e.g., increased flow rate, reduce inner pipeline wear, more uniform inner pipe wear, reduction in energy consumption, reduced or eliminated slugging and the like).

The present invention relates to multi-bed catalytic reactor with a cylindrical shape comprising a mixing device mounted between two catalyst beds in the reactor, said mixing device comprises connected pipe segments forming mixing section and discharging section.

A system includes a high-pressure static mixer. The system also includes a clean fluid system that provides clean fluid to the first high-pressure static mixer at a first fluid velocity and a proppant fluid system that provides a proppant concentrate to the first high-pressure static mixer at a second fluid velocity. Additionally, the system includes a wellhead in fluid communication with the first high-pressure static mixer. The wellhead receives a mixed fluid including the clean fluid and the proppant concentrate from the first high-pressure static mixer.

Various aspects of the present invention relate to the control and manipulation of fluidic species, for example, in microfluidic systems. In one aspect, the invention relates to systems and methods for making droplets of fluid surrounded by a liquid, using, for example, electric fields, mechanical alterations, the addition of an intervening fluid, etc. In some cases, the droplets may each have a substantially uniform number of entities therein. For example, 95% or more of the droplets may each contain the same number of entities of a particular species. In another aspect, the invention relates to systems and methods for dividing a fluidic droplet into two droplets, for example, through charge and/or dipole interactions with an electric field. The invention also relates to systems and methods for fusing droplets according to another aspect of the invention, for example, through charge and/or dipole interactions. In some cases, the fusion of the droplets may initiate or determine a reaction. In a related aspect of the invention, systems and methods for allowing fluid mixing within droplets to occur are also provided. In still another aspect, the invention relates to systems and methods for sorting droplets, e.g., by causing droplets to move to certain regions within a fluidic system. Examples include using electrical interactions (e.g., charges, dipoles, etc.) or mechanical systems (e.g., fluid displacement) to sort the droplets. In some cases, the fluidic droplets can be sorted at relatively high rates, e.g., at about 10 droplets per second or more. Another aspect of the invention provides the ability to determine droplets, or a component thereof, for example, using fluorescence and/or other optical techniques (e.g., microscopy), or electric sensing techniques such as dielectric sensing.