1.-3. (canceled)
4. A method of reducing sulfur in coal, comprising:
providing a sample of coal ore;
reducing a size of the sample to 10 centimeters or less;
determining minimum x-ray absorption of a thickest bed depth of the sample for a range of x-ray energies greater than the K absorption edge of sulfur;
measuring x-ray absorption of pieces of the sample in the range of x-ray energies greater than the K absorption edge of sulfur;
identifying pieces of the sample having x-ray absorption greater than the minimum x-ray absorption of the thickest bed depth;
sorting from the sample the pieces of the sample having x-ray absorption greater than the minimum x-ray absorption of the thickest bed depth.
5. The method of claim 4, wherein sorting the pieces of the sample further comprises:
transporting the sample to an air ejection array; and
energizing at least one air ejector of the air ejection array in order to sort the sample based upon the identifying.
6. The method of claim 4, further comprising using combustion flue gas to reduce fire and explosive hazards.
7. A method of sorting a material from an ore, comprising:
providing a sample, wherein the sample includes an ore and other materials;
irradiating the sample with a plurality of x-ray energies;
detecting x-ray absorption values of the ore and materials at a first x-ray energy and a second x-ray energy;
determining a range of an atomic number for the ore based upon the x-ray absorption values at the first x-ray energy and the second x-ray energy;
determining a range of an atomic number for each of the materials based upon the x-ray absorption values at the first x-ray energy and the second x-ray energy;
determining whether the atomic number of a piece of sample is higher than the atomic number for the ore;
sorting the piece of the sample based upon such determination.
8. The method of claim 7, wherein determining whether the atomic number of the piece of the sample is higher than the atomic number for the ore is determining whether the atomic number of the piece of the sample is greater than the atomic number for the ore by at least 4.
9. The method of claim 7, wherein sorting the pieces of the sample further comprises:
transporting the sample to an air ejection array; and
energizing at least one air ejector of the air ejection array in order to sort the sample based upon the determining.
10. The method of claim 7, wherein detecting x-ray absorption values further comprises transporting the sample between an x-ray source and an x-ray detector.
11. The method of claim 7, wherein the ore is coal.
12. The method of claim 7, wherein the materials are metallic inclusions in the ore.
13. A method of sorting materials, comprising:
providing a calibration bar;
irradiating the calibration bar with x-rays;
calibrating an x-ray sensing device so that detection of an x-ray percent transmission of a sample lower than the x-ray percent transmission of the calibration bar determines that the sample is to be sorted;
analyzing the sample;
sorting the sample.
14. The method of claim 13, further comprising determining a bed depth of the x-ray sensing device.
15. The method of claim 14, further comprising selecting the calibration bar based upon such determination of the bed depth.
16. The method of claim 15, wherein analyzing the sample further comprises:
detecting x-ray absorption values for the pieces of the sample;
determining whether any pieces of the sample have an x-ray percent transmission that is reduced by 20% or more as compared to the x-ray percent transmission of the calibration bar;
identifying the pieces of the sample having x-ray percent transmissions that are reduced by 20% or more as compared to the x-ray percent transmission of the calibration bar so that such pieces of the sample are sorted.
17. The method of claim 13, wherein the calibration bar has atomic mass absorption coefficients in proportion to the distribution of elements of the sample having atomic number of 10 or less.
18. A method of sorting materials, comprising:
providing a sample;
reducing a size of the sample to 10 centimeters or less;
measuring x-ray absorption of pieces of the sample, wherein measuring x-ray absorption is more than one x-ray absorption measurement;
sorting from the sample the pieces of the sample having x-ray absorption greater than an average of x-ray absorption measurements of the sample.
19. The method of claim 18, wherein sorting further comprises:
transporting the sample to an air ejection array; and
energizing at least one air ejector of the air ejection array in order to eject the pieces of the sample having x-ray absorption greater than the average absorption measurements of the sample.
20. The method of claim 18, wherein sorting further comprises:
transporting the sample to an air ejection array; and
energizing at least one air ejector of the air ejection array in order to eject the pieces of the sample having x-ray absorption equal to or less than the average absorption measurements of the sample.
The claims below are in addition to those above.
All refrences to claim(s) which appear below refer to the numbering after this setence.
1. A computerized method comprising:
classifying, by a Lightweight Directory Access Protocol (\u201cLDAP\u201d) server computer system, a plurality of LDAP requests associated with a plurality of LDAP clients into a plurality of classes based, at least in part, on operation types of the plurality of LDAP requests to produce a pool of classified LDAP requests, each of the plurality of classes having LDAP requests requesting performance of operations of a distinct type of the operation types;
maintaining a plurality of threads to execute the plurality of LDAP requests, wherein LDAP requests of a first class are executed by a first group of threads, and LDAP requests of a second class are executed by a second group of threads;
upon receiving a first LDAP request of the first class from a first LDAP client, storing, by the LDAP server computer system, the first LDAP request associated with the first LDAP client in the pool of classified LDAP requests in association with the LDAP requests of the first class;
selecting, by the LDAP server computer system, a second LDAP request of the first class from the pool of classified LDAP requests, the second LDAP request being associated with a second LDAP client;
executing, by the LDAP server computer system, the second LDAP request on a thread of the first group of threads associated with the first class to prepare a corresponding LDAP response for the second LDAP client; and
executing, by the LDAP server computer system, the first LDAP request on the thread of the first group of threads associated with the first class to prepare a corresponding LDAP response for the first LDAP client.
2. The computerized method of claim 1 wherein classifying comprises:
assigning LDAP requests from clients within a predetermined range of network addresses to a single class.
3. The computerized method of claim 1 wherein classifying comprises:
assigning LDAP requests from clients that present predetermined authentication information to a single class.
4. The computerized method of claim 1 wherein classifying comprises:
assigning requests from clients that do not satisfy other classification criteria to a catch-all anonymous class.
5. The computerized method of claim 1 wherein selecting comprises:
selecting a highest-priority LDAP request from the pool of classified LDAP requests.
6. The computerized method of claim 1, wherein classifying comprises:
assigning LDAP requests to a class based on a type of operation of the LDAP request.
7. The computerized method of claim 1, wherein classifying comprises:
assigning LDAP requests to a class based on an LDAP attribute of the LDAP request.
8. The computerized method of claim 1, wherein classifying comprises:
assigning LDAP requests to a class based on a Distinguished Name (\u201cDN\u201d) of the LDAP request.
9. The computerized method of claim 1, wherein classifying comprises:
assigning LDAP requests to a class based on an estimated processing cost to execute the LDAP request.
10. A system comprising:
at least one data storage device to host a Lightweight Directory Access Protocol (\u201cLDAP\u201d) database; and
at least one processor, coupled with the data storage device, to communicate with LDAP clients, to classify a plurality of LDAP requests associated with a plurality of LDAP clients into a plurality of classes based, at least in part, on operation types of the plurality of LDAP requests, each of the plurality of classes having LDAP requests requesting performance of operations of a distinct type of the operation types, to hold a plurality of classified LDAP requests associated with the plurality of LDAP clients in a pool, to maintain a plurality of threads to execute the plurality of LDAP requests, wherein LDAP requests of a first class are executed by a first group of threads, and LDAP requests of a second class are executed by a second group of threads, to store, upon receiving a first LDAP request of a first class from a first LDAP client, the first LDAP request associated with the first LDAP client in the pool of classified LDAP requests in association with LDAP requests of the first class, to select a second LDAP request of the first class from the pool of classified LDAP requests, the second LDAP request being associated with a second LDAP client, to execute the second LDAP request on a thread of the first group of threads associated with the first class to prepare a corresponding LDAP response for the second LDAP client, and to execute the first LDAP request on the thread of the first group of threads associated with the first class to prepare a corresponding LDAP response for the first LDAP client.
11. The system of claim 10 wherein the processor is to classify an LDAP request based on a network address from which the LDAP request was received.
12. The system of claim 10 wherein the processor is to classify an LDAP request based on LDAP authentication information from an LDAP client.
13. The system of claim 10 wherein one of the plurality of classes is a catch-all anonymous class.
14. The system of claim 10 wherein the processor is to classify an LDAP request based on a type of the LDAP request.
15. The system of claim 10 wherein the processor is to estimate a computational complexity of the LDAP request, and to hold the plurality of classified LDAP requests in a prioritized order.
16. A non-transitory machine-readable storage medium containing executable instructions to cause a Lightweight Directory Access Protocol (\u201cLDAP\u201d) server computer system to perform operations comprising:
classifying, by the LDAP server computer system, a plurality of LDAP requests associated with a plurality of LDAP clients into a plurality of classes based, at least in part, on operation types of the plurality of LDAP requests to produce a pool of classified LDAP requests, each of the plurality of classes having LDAP requests requesting performance of operations of a distinct type of the operation types;
maintaining a plurality of threads to execute the plurality of LDAP requests, wherein LDAP requests of a first class are executed by a first group of threads, and LDAP requests of a second class are executed by a second group of threads;
upon receiving a first LDAP request of the first class from a first LDAP client, storing, by the LDAP server computer system, the first LDAP request associated with the first LDAP client in the pool of classified LDAP requests in association with the LDAP requests of the first class;
selecting, by the LDAP server computer system, a second LDAP request of the first class from the pool of classified LDAP requests, the second LDAP request being associated with a second LDAP client;
executing, by the LDAP server computer system, the second LDAP request on a thread of the first group of threads associated with the first class to prepare a corresponding LDAP response for the second LDAP client; and
executing, by the LDAP server computer system, the first LDAP request on the thread of the first group of threads associated with the first class to prepare a corresponding LDAP response for the first LDAP client.
17. The non-transitory machine-readable storage medium of claim 16 wherein classifying comprises:
assigning LDAP requests from clients within a predetermined range of network addresses to a single class.
18. The non-transitory machine-readable storage medium of claim 16 wherein classifying comprises:
assigning LDAP requests from clients that present predetermined authentication information to a single class.
19. The non-transitory machine-readable storage medium of claim 16 wherein classifying comprises:
assigning requests from clients that do not satisfy other classification criteria to a catch-all anonymous class.
20. The non-transitory machine-readable storage medium of claim 16 wherein selecting comprises:
selecting a highest-priority classified LDAP request from the pool of classified LDAP requests.