Described herein is an improved conversion of nitrous oxide (N.sub.2O) present as a by-product in a chemical process to NO.sub.x which can be further converted to a useful compound or material, such as nitric acid.

Described herein is an improved conversion of nitrous oxide (N.sub.2O) present as a by-product in a chemical process to NO.sub.x which can be further converted to a useful compound or material, such as nitric acid.

The principles and embodiments of the present invention relate to methods and systems for safely providing NO to a recipient for inhalation therapy. There are many potential safety issues that may arise from using a reactor cartridge that converts NO.sub.2 to NO, including exhaustion of consumable reactants of the cartridge reactor. Accordingly, various embodiments of the present invention provide systems and methods of determining the remaining useful life of a NO2-to-NO reactor cartridge and/or a break-through of NO.sub.2, and providing an indication of the remaining useful life and/or break-through.

The principles and embodiments of the present invention relate to methods and systems for safely providing NO to a recipient for inhalation therapy. There are many potential safety issues that may arise from using a reactor cartridge that converts NO.sub.2 to NO, including exhaustion of consumable reactants of the cartridge reactor. Accordingly, various embodiments of the present invention provide systems and methods of determining the remaining useful life of a NO2-to-NO reactor cartridge and/or a break-through of NO.sub.2, and providing an indication of the remaining useful life and/or break-through.

The present invention relates to a nitric oxide water generating system including: a nitric oxide generating part for generating nitric oxide steam from water and air supplied to a reaction chamber through arc discharge; a refining part connected to the nitric oxide generating part to refine the nitric oxide steam generated from the nitric oxide generating part into high purity nitric oxide steam through an adsorbent filtration material; a condensing part connected to the refining part to condense the nitric oxide steam refined by the refining part into nitric oxide water in liquid phase through a water-cooling chiller and an air-cooling chiller; and a purifying part connected to the nitric oxide generating part and, if the water in the reaction chamber becomes turbid, for automatically purifying the turbid water in accordance with a signal sensed from a sensor for sensing a pre-set electric current value of a discharge power source.

The present invention relates to a nitric oxide water generating system including: a nitric oxide generating part for generating nitric oxide steam from water and air supplied to a reaction chamber through arc discharge; a refining part connected to the nitric oxide generating part to refine the nitric oxide steam generated from the nitric oxide generating part into high purity nitric oxide steam through an adsorbent filtration material; a condensing part connected to the refining part to condense the nitric oxide steam refined by the refining part into nitric oxide water in liquid phase through a water-cooling chiller and an air-cooling chiller; and a purifying part connected to the nitric oxide generating part and, if the water in the reaction chamber becomes turbid, for automatically purifying the turbid water in accordance with a signal sensed from a sensor for sensing a pre-set electric current value of a discharge power source.

Various systems, devices, NO.sub.2 absorbents, NO.sub.2 scavengers and NO.sub.2 recuperator for generating nitric oxide are disclosed herein. According to one embodiment, an apparatus for converting nitrogen dioxide to nitric oxide can include a receptacle including an inlet, an outlet, a surface-active material coated with an aqueous solution of ascorbic acid and an absorbent wherein the inlet is configured to receive a gas flow and fluidly communicate the gas flow to the outlet through the surface-active material and the absorbent such that nitrogen dioxide in the gas flow is converted to nitric oxide.

Various systems, devices, NO.sub.2 absorbents, NO.sub.2 scavengers and NO.sub.2 recuperator for generating nitric oxide are disclosed herein. According to one embodiment, an apparatus for converting nitrogen dioxide to nitric oxide can include a receptacle including an inlet, an outlet, a surface-active material coated with an aqueous solution of ascorbic acid and an absorbent wherein the inlet is configured to receive a gas flow and fluidly communicate the gas flow to the outlet through the surface-active material and the absorbent such that nitrogen dioxide in the gas flow is converted to nitric oxide.

A device and method for forming NO-containing gas flow to treat a biological object is disclosed. The device may include an anode, a cathode, an interelectrode area between the cathode and the anode, an NO-containing gas flow outlet channel leading from the interelectrode area to a nozzle for directing and releasing the NO-containing gas flow from the device and a mechanism to adjust a relative position between the anode and the cathode to produce varying concentrations of NO. In addition, the device may include one or more features for interconnecting the various components to ensure proper and consistent assembly of the device.

A device and method for forming NO-containing gas flow to treat a biological object is disclosed. The device may include an anode, a cathode, an interelectrode area between the cathode and the anode, an NO-containing gas flow outlet channel leading from the interelectrode area to a nozzle for directing and releasing the NO-containing gas flow from the device and a mechanism to adjust a relative position between the anode and the cathode to produce varying concentrations of NO. In addition, the device may include one or more features for interconnecting the various components to ensure proper and consistent assembly of the device.