All The Claims

1. A method of controlling an automatic transmission of a machine, comprising:
identifying an upcoming gear ratio change from a current gear ratio to a proposed gear ratio;
determining an estimated power output value based on the proposed gear ratio and a current engine speed;
adjusting the estimated power output value based on a derated operating condition;
setting a gear evaluation identifier to a first value if the estimated power output value is greater than or equal to a current power output value; and
setting the gear evaluation identifier to a second value if the estimated power output value is less than the current power output value.
2. The method of claim 1, further including:
changing the current gear ratio to the proposed gear ratio if the gear evaluation identifier is the first value; and
maintaining the current gear ratio if the gear evaluation identifier is the second value.
3. The method of claim 1, wherein the identifying step includes identifying an upcoming upshift from a lower gear ratio to a higher gear ratio.
4. The method of claim 1, wherein the determining step includes communicating a request for the estimated power output value from a transmission electronic controller to an engine electronic controller.
5. The method of claim 4, wherein the determining step further includes selecting the estimated power output value corresponding to the proposed gear ratio and the current engine speed from a lug curve stored in a memory.
6. The method of claim 4, wherein the adjusting step includes adjusting the estimated power output value by a value corresponding to the derated operating condition.
7. The method of claim 6, wherein the adjusting step further includes adjusting the estimated power output value based on at least one parasitic load.
8. The method of claim 6, further including communicating the estimated power output value from the engine electronic controller to the transmission electronic controller after the adjusting step.
9. The method of claim 1, wherein the determining, adjusting, and setting steps are performed only if the derated operating condition is detected.
10. A machine, comprising:
an electronically controlled automatic transmission having at least two gear ratios;
an internal combustion engine coupled to the electronically controlled automatic transmission; and
at least one electronic controller in communication with the electronically controlled automatic transmission and the internal combustion engine, wherein the at least one electronic controller is configured to identify an upcoming gear ratio change from a current gear ratio to a proposed gear ratio; determine an estimated power output value based on the proposed gear ratio and a current engine speed; adjust the estimated power output value based on a derated operating condition; change the current gear ratio to the proposed gear ratio if the estimated power output value is greater than or equal to a current power output value; and maintain the current gear ratio if the estimated power output value is less than the current power output value.
11. The machine of claim 10, wherein the upcoming gear ratio change includes an upshift from a lower gear ratio to a higher gear ratio.
12. The machine of claim 11, further including an engine electronic controller and a transmission electronic controller, wherein the transmission electronic controller is configured to communicate a request for the estimated power output value to the engine electronic controller.
13. The machine of claim 12, wherein the engine electronic controller is configured to select the estimated power output value corresponding to the proposed gear ratio and the current engine speed from a lug curve stored in a memory.
14. The machine of claim 12, wherein the engine electronic controller is configured to adjust the estimated power output value by a value corresponding to the derated operating condition.
15. The machine of claim 14, wherein the engine electronic controller is further configured to adjust the estimated power output value based on at least one parasitic load corresponding to the current engine speed.
16. The machine of claim 14, wherein the engine electronic controller is further configured to communicate the estimated power output value to the transmission electronic controller.
17. The machine of claim 16, wherein the transmission electronic controller is further configured to delay the upshift if the estimated power output value is less than the current power output value.
18. A method of reducing an occurrence of a gear hunting event in an automatic transmission of a machine, comprising:
identifying an upcoming gear ratio change from a current gear ratio to a proposed gear ratio based on a predetermined shift point;
determining an estimated power output value based on the proposed gear ratio and a current engine speed;
adjusting the estimated power output value based on a derated operating condition;
changing the current gear ratio to the proposed gear ratio if the estimated power output value is greater than or equal to a current power output value; and
adjusting the predetermined shift point if the estimated power output value is less than the current power output value.
19. The method of claim 18, wherein the step of adjusting the predetermined shift point includes maintaining the current gear ratio.
20. The method of claim 19, further including delaying the upcoming gear ratio change until the estimated power output value is greater than or equal to the current power output value.

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 method to detect harmful packets on a computer network including:
a) providing at least one algorithm that scans received packets; and
b) identifying packets having a predefined format including a single Source Address, (SA), N Destination Addresses (DAs) and M Destination Ports (DPs).
2. The method of claim 1 wherein N>(greater than) M.
3. The method of claim 2 wherein N>8 and M=1.
4. The method of claim 1 further including reporting said packets to a central administrative authority.
5. The method of claim 4 wherein the central administrative authority takes decisive actions to limit harmful effects of said packets.
6. The method of claim 5 wherein the decisive actions include adding Destination Port, DP, of said packets to a list of Permissive DPs.
7. The method of claim 5 wherein the decisive action includes dropping all subsequent packets having the same SA, DA and DP as the identified packets.
8. The method of claim 5 wherein the decisive action includes rate limiting the set of all subsequent packets with the same SA.
9. The method of claim 1 further including providing a list of Permissible DPs;
comparing a DP in an identified packet with the list of Permissible DPs; and
discarding the identified packet having a matching DP.
10. A system to detect packets containing harmful code in a computer network comprising:
a Network Processor including memory and at least one processing element;
a data structure including at least one Patricia Tree arrangement storing at least one rule with bit pattern similar to that of a packet carrying harmful code located within said memory;
a computer program deployed on said at least one processing element and if executed causing said processing element to generate keys from predefined fields in predefined packets correlates the key with the rule to identify packets having a single SA (Source Address), a single DP (Destination Port) and many DAs (Destination Addresses).
11. The system of claim 10 wherein the SA, DP and many DAs are stored in a leaf of the Patricia Tree arrangement.
12. The system of claim 10 wherein the Patricia Tree arrangement includes a Direct Table.
13. The system of claim 12 wherein the processing element uses a hashed of SA and DP of a predefined packet to index into a slot of said Direct Table.
14. The system of claim 13 wherein if the slot has no entry the processor executes a second program to insert a pointer in said slot.
15. The system of claim 13 wherein if the slot contains information pointing to a single leaf comparing leaf SA, DP with SA, DP in predefined packet and if a match occurs on SA, DP, then the DA in the leaf is compared with the DA in the packet and the packet DA is added to the list of DAs in the leaf if no match occurs.
16. The method of claim 1 wherein the at least one algorithm is executed on a system operatively coupled to said computer network.

1. A gas-separation assembly, comprising:
(a) a plurality of tubes each having a longitudinal tube wall and an interior containing gas separation membranes;
(b) a housing containing the tubes, the housing comprising a feed end, a permeate end and a central portion between the ends;
(c) a feed-end tube sheet mounted in the housing towards the feed end;
(d) a permeate-end tube sheet mounted in the housing towards the permeate end;
the tube sheets dividing the interior of the housing into three separate gas-tight spaces: (i) a feed gas space at the feed end, (ii) a permeate gas space at the permeate end, and (iii) a residue gas space in the central portion between the feed and permeate spaces, and in which the tubes are mounted in spaced-apart relationship with each other;
the feed-end tube sheet having a plurality of feed openings that provide gas-transferring communication between the interior and the feed gas space; and
the permeate-end tube sheet having a plurality of permeate openings that provide gas-transferring relationship between the membranes and the permeate end space;
(e) a feed gas port at the feed end;
(f) a permeate gas port at the permeate end;
(g) a residue gas port in the central portion;
(h) at least one aperture in each longitudinal tube wall enabling residue gas to flow from the interior of the tube to the residue gas space.
2. The assembly of claim 1, wherein the membranes are packaged into membrane elements.
3. The assembly of claim 1, wherein the membranes are flat-sheet membranes packaged into spiral-wound modules.
4. The assembly of claim 1, wherein the membranes are hollow fibers potted into hollow-fiber modules.
5. The assembly of claim 1, wherein the membranes are packaged into membrane elements, and wherein each tube contains multiple membrane elements arranged in series.
6. The assembly of claim 1, wherein the housing is made of steel.
7. The assembly of claim 1, wherein the housing is code-stamped for at least 500 psi and the tubes are not code-stamped.
8. The assembly of claim 1, wherein the housing is code-stamped for at least 1,000 psi and the tubes are not code-stamped.
9. The assembly of claim 1, further comprising, for each tube:
(I) at least one permeate collection pipe in gas-transferring relationship with the gas-separation membranes;
(II) a permeate extension pipe, connected to the permeate collection pipe by a connector, the connected pipes protruding longitudinally out of the tube;
(III) an opening in the permeate-end tube sheet of a diameter approximately the same as the connector, and large enough to permit the permeate extension pipe and the connector to slide through the opening.
10. The assembly of claim 1, wherein the feed end comprises a reversibly removable head.
11. The assembly of claim 1, wherein the permeate end comprises a reversibly removable head.
12. The assembly of claim 1, wherein the central portion comprises a shell and the feed end and the permeate end comprise reversibly removable heads.
13. The assembly of claim 12, wherein the heads are bolted to the shell portion.
14. The assembly of claim 12, wherein the heads are screwed to the shell portion.
15. The assembly of claim 1, wherein the plurality of tubes is 7 tubes.
16. The assembly of claim 1, wherein the plurality of tubes is 19 tubes.
17. A gas-separation assembly, comprising:
(a) a plurality of tubes, each having a longitudinal tube wall and an interior containing at least one spiral-wound membrane module, the module having a protruding permeate pipe;
(b) a housing containing the tubes, the housing comprising a removable feed head, a removable permeate head and a shell between the heads;
(c) a feed-end tube sheet mounted in the housing towards the feed head, the feed-end tube sheet containing a feed opening for each tube of a first diameter approximately the same as the tube, the tubes being aligned over the feed openings and attached to the feed-end tube sheet so as to provide a gas-tight seal between the tubes and the feed-end tube sheet;
(d) a permeate extension pipe, connected to the permeate pipe by a connector, the connected pipes protruding longitudinally out of the tube;
(e) a permeate-end tube sheet mounted in the housing towards the permeate head, the permeate-end tube sheet containing a permeate opening for each permeate extension pipe of a second diameter approximately the same as the connector, and large enough to permit the connector and the permeate extension pipe to slide through the permeate opening;
(f) an end plate attached to the permeate extension pipe and reversibly sealed to the permeate-end tube sheet in gas-tight manner around the permeate openings;
the tube sheets dividing the interior of the housing into three separate gas-tight spaces: (I) a feed gas space adjacent to the feed head, (II) a permeate gas space adjacent to the permeate head, and (III) a residue gas space inside the shell between the feed and permeate spaces and containing the tubes;
(g) a feed gas port in the feed head;
(h) a permeate gas port in the permeate head;
(i) a residue gas port in the shell;
(j) at least one aperture in each longitudinal tube wall enabling residue gas to flow from the interior of the tube to the residue gas space.
18. The assembly of claim 17, wherein each tube contains at least two membrane modules arranged in series, with the permeate pipe of the first module connected to the permeate pipe of the second module so that permeate gas may flow from the first permeate pipe into the second permeate pipe.
19. The assembly of claim 17, wherein the housing is made of steel.
20. The assembly of claim 17, wherein the heads are bolted to the shell.
21. The assembly of claim 17, wherein the heads are screwed to the shell.
22. The assembly of claim 17, wherein the membranes are polymeric membranes having a rubbery selective layer.
23. The assembly of claim 17, wherein the membranes are polymeric membranes having a glassy selective layer.
24. The assembly of claim 17, wherein the plurality of tubes is 7 tubes.
25. A gas-separation assembly, comprising:
(a) a vessel having an outer wall and an interior space divided into three gas-tight spaces: a first end space, a second end space and a middle space between the end spaces;
(b) a plurality of tubes, each having an interior containing at least one membrane module, the tubes being mounted in the middle space;
(c) three ports in the outer wall, one for each space, that enable gas to flow between an environment outside the vessel and the space;
(d) first means to allow gas flow between the first space and the tubes;
(e) second means to collect a permeate gas from a permeate region of the membrane modules and allow gas flow between the permeate region and the second end space;
(f) third means to allow gas to flow between the interior of the tubes and the middle space.
26. The assembly of claim 25, wherein the first means comprises a first tube sheet dividing the first end space from the middle space and having a plurality of openings aligned with the tubes, and wherein the first tube sheet is sealed to the tubes in gas-tight manner around the openings.
27. The assembly of claim 25, wherein the second means comprises:
(i) for each tube, a permeate collection pipe protruding from the membrane module;
(ii) for each tube, a permeate extension pipe connected to the permeate collection pipe by a connector, the connected pipes protruding longitudinally out of the tube;
(iii) a second tube sheet having, for each tube, an opening of a diameter approximately the same as the connector, and large enough to permit the permeate extension pipe and connector to slide through the opening;
and wherein each permeate extension pipe is sealed to the second tube sheet in gas-tight manner around each opening.
28. The assembly of claim 25, wherein the tubes each have a longitudinal tube wall and the third means comprises an aperture in the tube wall.
29. The assembly of claim 25, wherein, wherein the vessel is code-stamped for at least 500 psi and the tubes are not code-stamped.
30. The assembly of claim 1, wherein the vessel is code-stamped for at least 1,000 psi and the tubes are not code-stamped.
31. A gas-separation process using the assembly of claim 25, and comprising:
(a) introducing a feed gas mixture into the port in the first end space and allowing the feed gas mixture to flow into the membrane module and along a gas separation membrane having a feed side and a permeate side that is contained within the module;
(b) providing a driving force to induce permeation of a first portion of the feed gas mixture from the feed side to the permeate side;
(c) withdrawing from the port in the second end space a permeate gas mixture comprising the first portion;
(d) withdrawing from the port in the middle space as a residue gas stream a second portion of the feed gas mixture that has not permeated the membrane.
32. The process of claim 31, wherein the feed gas mixture is natural gas.
33. A gas-separation process using the assembly of claim 25, and comprising:
(a) introducing a feed gas mixture into the port in the middle space and allowing the feed gas mixture to flow into the membrane module and along a gas separation membrane having a feed side and a permeate side that is contained within the module;
(b) providing a driving force to induce permeation of a first portion of the feed gas mixture from the feed side to the permeate side;
(c) withdrawing from the port in the second end space a permeate gas mixture comprising the first portion;
(d) withdrawing from the port in the first end space as a residue gas stream a second portion of the feed gas mixture that has not permeated the membrane.
34. The process of claim 33, wherein the feed gas mixture is natural gas.

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 plant, comprising:
a boiler unit that produces steam;
a power generation unit comprising at least one power generation turbine that receives the steam from the boiler unit;
a gas recovery unit comprising two or more regenerator columns; and
a secondary source of steam providing steam to each of the two or more regenerators columns at different rates.
2. The plant of claim 1, wherein the gas recovery unit comprises an amine based scrubbing process.
3. The plant of claim 1, wherein the secondary source of steam comprises an auxiliary turbine.
4. The plant of claim 1, wherein the secondary source of steam comprises a flow control device.
5. The plant of claim 1, wherein the power generation unit comprises a high pressure turbine and high pressure steam is provided to the secondary source of steam from a high pressure steam feed to the high pressure turbine.
6. The plant of claim 1, wherein the power generation unit comprises a high pressure turbine and an intermediate pressure turbine, and steam is provided to the secondary source of steam from any one of the high pressure steam feed to the high pressure turbine, and the intermediate pressure steam feed to the intermediate pressure turbine.
7. The plant of claim 1, wherein the power generation unit comprises a high pressure turbine, an intermediate pressure turbine, and a low pressure turbine, and steam is provided to the secondary source of steam from any one of the high pressure steam feed to the high pressure turbine, the intermediate pressure steam feed to the intermediate pressure turbine, the low pressure steam feed to the low pressure turbine, and any combination thereof.
8. The plant of claim 1, wherein the secondary source of steam comprises an auxiliary boiler and an auxiliary turbine.
9. The plant of claim 1, wherein the secondary source of steam comprises a steam saturator, and wherein the steam saturator receives steam from any one of a high pressure feed line, an intermediate pressure feed line, a low pressure feed line, a secondary feed line from the boiler unit, and any combination thereof.
10. The plant of claim 1, wherein the secondary source of steam comprises an auxiliary turbine and a second auxiliary turbine.
11. The plant of claim 10, wherein the second auxiliary turbine receives steam from the steam discharge of the auxiliary turbine.
12. A method for providing steam to a gas recovery unit, comprising:
providing steam to a secondary source of steam from either a boiler unit or a power generation unit;
discharging steam from the secondary source of steam; and
providing steam discharged from the secondary source of steam to two or more regenerator columns of a gas recovery unit at different rates.
13. The method of claim 12, wherein steam is provided to the secondary source of steam from the boiler unit.
14. The method of claim 12, wherein steam is provided to the secondary source of steam from the power generation unit.
15. The method of claim 12, wherein the secondary source of steam comprises at least one auxiliary turbine.
16. The method of claim 12, wherein the secondary source of steam comprises a steam saturator.
17. The method of claim 12, further comprising:
providing steam to a power generation unit to generate electricity.
18. The method of claim 12, wherein the gas recovery unit separates an acid gas from a gas steam.
19. The method of claim 12, wherein the gas recovery unit is a CO2 recovery unit.
20. The method of claim 12, wherein the gas recovery unit comprises two or more reboilers.
21. The method of claim 12, wherein a flow steam provided to the gas recovery unit is varied in response to changes in power generated by the power generation unit.