Patent Publication Number: US-8109362-B2

Title: Passive noise attenuation system

Description:
This application claims priority to and the benefit of U.S. Provisional Application No. 61/054,359, filed on May 19, 2008, and U.S. Provisional Application No. 61/058,812 filed on Jun. 4, 2008, both of which are incorporated in their entirety in this document by reference. 
    
    
     FIELD OF THE INVENTION 
     The field of this invention relates generally to noise attenuation and more particularly to passive noise attenuation at the source in combustion systems. 
     BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
     In recent years, significant efforts to suppress combustion noise and instabilities have been reported in the context of lean premixed gas turbine combustion systems. The effectiveness of an active combustion control system depends upon actuation, sensing, and control algorithms, among other factors. In spite of the significant progress in these areas, complete reliability of active combustion control in turbine engines is still a major concern, since an unexpected event can destroy the engine within a fraction of a second. Thus, passive techniques that do not affect the system volume or weight are desired to mitigate combustion instabilities and associated noise problems in turbine engines. 
     In view of the preceding, there is a need for a passive technique to suppress and/or mitigate combustion noise and/or stability. 
     SUMMARY 
     The invention relates to a passive noise attenuation system and device to suppress combustion noise in a conventional combustion system. A conventional combustion system, such as, for example and without limitation, a gas turbine can comprise a combustion chamber and an injector assembly 
     In one aspect, the passive noise attenuation device can have a reticulated open-cell porous structure configured to act as a passive control device to mitigate combustion noise and instability problems in turbine engines. In this aspect, the porous structure can be placed downstream of a reaction zone of the combustion system and can dissipate noise and/or instability generated upstream in the flame. In another aspect, the porous structure can be placed in the reaction zone of the combustion system. In this aspect, the vortex shedding mechanism of combustion noise and/or instability can be curtailed on source by inserting the porous structure in the reaction zone to constrain recirculation and/or high turbulence intensity regions. In a further aspect, the porous structure can limit and/or disintegrate vortical structures in the flame to produce a homogeneous flow field to facilitate distributed reaction zones. Optionally, combustion sustained within the porous insert can also provide the ignition energy needed to stabilize the flame. 
    
    
     
       DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE FIGURES 
       These and other features of the preferred embodiments of the invention will become more apparent in the detailed description in which reference is made to the appended drawings wherein: 
         FIG. 1  is a schematic view of an experimental setup for testing one embodiment of a passive noise attenuation device. 
         FIG. 2  is a cross-sectional view of a swirler of the experimental setup of  FIG. 1 . 
         FIG. 3  is a partial cross-sectional view showing a porous inert medium disposed therein a combustion chamber at a distance Z from a combustion chamber inlet and downstream of the reaction zone. 
         FIGS. 4A-4F  show graphical data showing frequency spectra with no porous inert media and with a porous inert media at various distances Z from the combustion chamber inlet, according to one aspect (airflow rate Q=350 slpm and Φ=0.65; with and without a 1″ thick porous inert media (SiC) of 10 ppi). 
         FIG. 5  is a graph showing variation of dB level in octave frequency bands, according to one aspect (Φ=0.65; Total dB with no PIM=114; Total dB with 20 ppi PIM at exit=109). 
         FIGS. 6A and 6B  are graphical data showing the effect of pore size on total sound power using a 1″ thick and a 3″ thick porous inert media, according to one aspect. 
         FIGS. 7A and 7B  are graphical data showing the effect of thickness on total sound power using a 20 ppi and a 10 ppi porous inert media, according to one aspect. 
         FIG. 8  is a graph showing the variation of dB level in octave frequency bands, according to one aspect (Φ=0.8; Total dB with no PIM=119; Total dB with 10 ppi PIM at exit=109; Total dB with 10 ppi PIM at Z=4″=110). 
         FIG. 9A  is a partial cross-sectional view of one embodiment of the passive noise attenuation device positioned in a portion of a combustion chamber, showing an exemplary configuration A1 in which Z=0. 
         FIG. 9B  is a partial cross-sectional view of one embodiment of the passive noise attenuation device positioned in a portion of a combustion chamber, showing an exemplary configuration A2 in which Z=0. 
         FIG. 9C  is a partial cross-sectional view of one embodiment of the passive noise attenuation device positioned in a portion of a combustion chamber, showing an exemplary configuration A3 in which Z=0. 
         FIGS. 10A-10D  are graphs showing the variation in dB levels for various thicknesses and configurations of at least one porous inert media, according to one embodiments exemplified in  FIGS. 9A-9C  (Φ=0.85). 
         FIGS. 11A-11D  are graphs showing the variation in dB levels for various thicknesses and configurations of at least one porous inert media, according to one embodiments exemplified in  FIGS. 9A-9C  (Φ=0.85). 
     
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION 
     The present invention can be understood more readily by reference to the following detailed description, examples, drawing, and claims, and their previous and following description. However, before the present devices, systems, and/or methods are disclosed and described, it is to be understood that this invention is not limited to the specific devices, systems, and/or methods disclosed unless otherwise specified, as such can, of course, vary. It is also to be understood that the terminology used herein is for the purpose of describing particular aspects only and is not intended to be limiting. 
     The following description of the invention is provided as an enabling teaching of the invention in its best, currently known embodiment. To this end, those skilled in the relevant art will recognize and appreciate that many changes can be made to the various aspects of the invention described herein, while still obtaining the beneficial results of the present invention. It will also be apparent that some of the desired benefits of the present invention can be obtained by selecting some of the features of the present invention without utilizing other features. Accordingly, those who work in the art will recognize that many modifications and adaptations to the present invention are possible and can even be desirable in certain circumstances and are a part of the present invention. Thus, the following description is provided as illustrative of the principles of the present invention and not in limitation thereof. 
     As used throughout, the singular forms “a,” “an” and “the” include plural referents unless the context clearly dictates otherwise. Thus, for example, reference to “a porous structure” can include two or more such structures unless the context indicates otherwise. 
     Ranges can be expressed herein as from “about” one particular value, and/or to “about” another particular value. When such a range is expressed, another aspect includes from the one particular value and/or to the other particular value. Similarly, when values are expressed as approximations, by use of the antecedent “about,” it will be understood that the particular value forms another aspect. It will be further understood that the endpoints of each of the ranges are significant both in relation to the other endpoint, and independently of the other endpoint. 
     As used herein, the terms “optional” or “optionally” mean that the subsequently described event or circumstance may or may not occur, and that the description includes instances where said event or circumstance occurs and instances where it does not. 
     The invention relates to a passive noise attenuation device  10  to suppress combustion noise in a conventional combustion system  25  that comprises a combustion chamber  30  and an injector assembly  32 . A conventional combustion system can be, for example and without limitation, a gas turbine. In one aspect, the combustion system can have a reaction zone  34  in which a combustible material is burned, which creates combustion noise. 
     In one aspect, the passive noise attenuation device  10  can comprise at least one reticulated open-cell porous inert medium  20  that is configured as a passive control device to mitigate combustion noise and instability problems in combustion systems such as, for example and without limitation, turbine engines. In this aspect, the at least one porous inert medium can be placed downstream of the reaction zone of the combustion system and can dissipate noise and/or instability generated upstream in the combustion system. In another aspect of the passive noise attenuation device, the at least one porous inert medium  20  can be placed in the reaction zone  34  of the combustion system  25  and the vortex shedding mechanism of combustion noise and/or instability can be curtailed at its source. In this aspect, the at least one porous inert medium can constrain recirculation and/or high turbulence intensity regions in the reaction zone. 
     One aspect of the at least one porous inert medium can limit and/or disintegrate vortical structures in the flame in order to produce a more homogeneous flow field to facilitate distributed reaction zones. In another aspect of the passive noise attenuation device  10 , combustion sustained within the at least one porous medium  20  can also provide the ignition energy needed to stabilize a flame of the combustion system  25 . 
     In one aspect, the at least one porous inert medium (“PIM”) of the passive noise attenuation device  10  can be reticulated open-cell foam coated in silicon carbide (SiC), lanthanum aluminate (LaAlO 3 ), hafnium carbide (HfC), or the like. In another aspect, the at least one PIM can be reticulated open-cell foam coated in a combination of the above components, or a combination of other components. In another aspect, the at least one PIM can be substantially disk-shaped or substantially ring-shaped, though other shapes such as substantially oval are contemplated. It is also contemplated that the shape of the at least one PIM  20  can be varied to conform to or follow a shape of a combustion chamber  30  into which the at least one PIM can be placed, as will be described more fully below. 
     In another aspect, the at least one porous inert medium can have a predetermined thickness. In one aspect, the predetermined thickness of the at least one PIM can range from between about 0.1 inches to about 12 inches. In another aspect, the predetermined thickness can range from between about 0.25 inches to about 3 inches. In still another aspect, the predetermined thickness can range from between about 0.5 inches to about 2 inches; however it is contemplated that the thickness can be varied depending upon the application. In another aspect, the at least one PIM  20  can be provided in sections having a thickness less than a desired thickness and can be stacked together to achieve the desired thickness. 
     In a further aspect, the at least one PIM can have a predetermined porosity. In one aspect, the predetermined porosity of the at least one PIM can range from between about 0.1 pores per inch (“ppi”) to about 1,000 ppi. In another aspect, the predetermined porosity can range from between about 1.0 ppi to about 100 ppi. In still another aspect, the predetermined porosity can range from between about 9 ppi to about 10 ppi; however it is contemplated that the porosity can vary depending upon the application. 
     In one aspect, the at least one porous inert medium  20  can be placed in a combustion chamber  30  of a combustion system  25 . In another aspect, the at least one PIM can be positioned downstream of the combustion chamber such that any noise and/or instability generated in the reaction zone  34  and/or the upstream combustion zone can at least be partially dissipated by the at least one PIM. In another aspect, the at least one PIM  20  can be placed in the reaction zone of the combustion chamber. 
     In one aspect, the at least one PIM can be positioned in the combustion chamber  30  of the combustion system such that a longitudinal axis of the at least one PIM can be substantially co-axially aligned with a longitudinal axis of the combustion chamber. In another aspect, however, it is contemplated that the at least one PIM  20  can be positioned in the combustion chamber of the combustion system  25  such that the longitudinal axis of the at least one PIM is not substantially co-axially aligned with respect to the longitudinal axis of the combustion chamber  30 . 
     In another aspect, the at least one PIM can be positioned at a predetermined distance “Z” away from the combustion chamber inlet  36 . In one aspect, the predetermined distance from the at least one porous medium to the combustion chamber inlet can be in the range from between about 0.0 inches to about 100 inches. In another aspect, the predetermined distance can range from between about 1.0 inch to about 30 inches. In still another aspect, the predetermined distance can range from between about 10 inches to about 12 inches; however it is contemplated that the distance from the at least one PIM  20  to the combustion chamber inlet  36  can vary depending upon the application. It is also contemplated that the distance Z from the at least one PIM to the combustion chamber inlet can be varied based on conditions within the combustion system  25 . As can be appreciated, when the predetermined distance from the at least one PIM to the combustion chamber inlet  36  is zero inches, the at least one PIM  20  is positioned within the reaction zone  34 . 
     In still another aspect, the at least one PIM can comprise a plurality of porous inert media. In this aspect, the plurality of porous inert media can be similarly shaped or they can be differently shaped. For example, and without limitation, a first PIM of the plurality of porous inert media can be substantially circular in shape and a second PIM  20  of the plurality of porous inert media can be substantially ring-shaped. In this aspect, it is contemplated that the plurality of porous inert media can be configured to cooperate with each other to improve the noise attenuation of the device  10 . 
     In another aspect, the at least one PIM comprises a plurality of layers of porous inert media. For example, in one aspect, there can be three layers of porous inert media. In this aspect, the first, second, and third layers of porous inert media can be in stacked relationship with the third layer having a top portion exposed to the atmosphere. In another aspect, the first and third layers can have the same density. In yet another aspect, the second layer can have a density higher than that of the first and third layers. In this aspect, the higher density of the second layer can help prevent flash back, where the flame propagates upstream of the combustion chamber  30 . 
     EXPERIMENTAL 
     In one example, and as exemplarily shown in  FIG. 1 , a swirl-stabilized combustion system  25  was developed to test the various aspects of passive noise attenuation device  10 . Although it is contemplated that the conventional combustion system can operate on gaseous or liquid fuels, the initial experiments were conducted using gaseous methane. 
     Extensive cold flow experiments were conducted to minimize background noise, to select a micro-phone based sound measurement system, to determine microphone location with respect to the combustion system, to test a Labview based data acquisition system, and to develop data analysis procedures using fast Fourier transform techniques. The assembly configured to position the porous structure within the combustion system  25  was tested in cold flow experiments, which also ascertained the viability of the primary aspect in suppressing the noise. 
     In one embodiment, combustion experiments were performed with the at least one PIM  20  located downstream of the flame of the combustion system. For different equivalence ratios, sound measurements were obtained by varying the distance z between the combustion chamber inlet  36  and the porous inert medium, the relative thickness of the porous inert medium, and the relative pore size of the porous inert medium. These experiments revealed a significant reduction in combustion noise by the use of the PIM. 
     A portion of the experiments were conducted at flame temperature of about 1,400° C. (or equivalence ratio (Φ) of 0.65) using SiC coated foam. Selected experiments were repeated at flame temperature of about 1,800° C. (or Φ=0.85) using LaAlO 3  coated foam. Increase in temperature increased the total noise level, and, as will be discussed, the porous inert media of the passive noise attenuation device  10  were even more effective in reducing the noise levels. Within the range of the experiments, the PIM  20  distance from the combustion chamber inlet  36 , PIM thickness, and PIM pore size had relatively small effect on combustion noise. 
     The exemplary combustion system  25  test apparatus shown schematically in  FIG. 1  comprises a combustion chamber  30  and an injector assembly  32 . The primary air entered the combustion system through a plenum  26  filled with marbles  27  to breakdown the large vortical structures. The air passed into a mixing section, where the gaseous methane fuel source was introduced. This resulting fuel-air mixture entered the combustion chamber through a swirler  40 , illustrated in  FIG. 2 . In one aspect, the swirler generated a center recirculation zone and a corner recirculation zone, which stabilized the flame by bringing hot products in continuous contact with the incoming reactants. In this aspect, and without limitation, the swirler had six vanes positioned at about 28° to the horizontal. The theoretical swirl number was 1.5, which assumes that the flow exited substantially tangentially from the swirler vanes. The experimental combustion chamber  30  was a 30.5 cm long quartz tube having an inner diameter of 8.1 cm. In one aspect, the experimental combustion system was back-side cooled by natural convection. 
     The combustion system  25  was designed to operate both on gaseous and liquid fuels. The liquid fuel line can be completely switched off or it can be used to create a pilot flame (with independent control of equivalence ratio) in case of gaseous combustion. In one aspect, this latter feature can be used in conjunction with the porous media in the recirculation zone to improve flame stability. The fuel injector was a conventional air-blast atomizer. In the experiments, the fuel injector was a Delavan Siphon type SNA nozzle. The injector was attached to separate concentric tube inlets to supply fuel and atomization air. The injector system ran through the plenum  26  and the mixing chamber  28 . An O-ring within a sleeve was located at the bottom of the plenum to prevent any leakage. 
     The sound measurements were taken by a 0.5 inch diameter microphone probe (BK Type 4189) calibrated to provide a flat frequency response within 20 to 2,000 Hz range. The microphone probe was mounted 12 inches away from the combustion system  25  at the level of a combustor exit plane. The voltage output from the microphone was amplified ten times and then digitized by LabView based data acquisition system. Data acquired at 2,000 Hz was processed in real time to monitor frequency spectra. For selected test conditions, data taken at 5 second intervals was stored for post-processing. 
     The microphone probe provided a voltage output (“V”) that is proportional to the pressure fluctuations (“P”). The proportionality constant (c=45 mV/Pa) was determined by calibrating the probe against a known standard. The measured data was used to obtain the mean square pressure fluctuation and then the total sound pressure in decibel. Extensive effort was spent to minimize the background noise and to position the microphone probe such that the sound frequency spectra could be accurately measured, without damaging the probe. These experiments also identified the sampling rate (2,000 Hz) and the number of samples (10,000) to ensure that frequency spectra were repeatable. 
     A fast Fourier analysis separated the signal into components at different frequencies. Thus, the frequency spectra curve provides the square amplitude of the pressure fluctuation (or P f   2 ) at each frequency (f). For each frequency component, the sound pressure in decibel is found as: 
               dB   f     =     10   ⁢     log   ⁡     [       P   f   2       P   ref   2       ]               
Where P ref  is taken as the reference pressure of 20×10 −6  Pa and dB f  is the sound pressure in decibels.
 
     The fast Fourier analysis resulted in broadband noise containing sound energy distributed continuously over the frequency range (0-1,000 Hz). These distributions were converted into one-third octave bands since each band pertained to the same auditory significance. The sound pressure was also computed in terms of the A-weighted decibel or dBA. 
       FIG. 3  schematically depicts the set-up of one exemplary embodiment of the experiment set up for the passive noise attenuation device  10 . The PIM was positioned transversely in the combustion chamber  30  downstream at a distance Z from the reaction zone  34 . Initially, experiments using SiC coated foam as the porous medium were conducted for equivalence ratios (φ) of 0.60 and 0.65, although results are presented only for equivalence ratio of 0.65 and airflow rate (“Q”) of 350 standard liters per minute (“slpm”). Without the PIM  20 , the flame within the combustion chamber appeared blue and was confined to about one-third the length of the combustion chamber  30 . The visual flame structure was not affected by the porous medium located at the combustor exit plane. The PIM emitted intense radiation marked by the orange glow because of the heating by combustion products. Thus, heating of combustion system and turbine components by radiation from the PIM were considered when implementing this exemplary embodiment for noise reduction. 
       FIGS. 4A-4F  show sound frequency spectra for the experimental passive noise attenuation device  10  operating without a PIM ( FIG. 4A ) and with a PIM  20  comprised of SiC coated foam having a thickness of about one inch and a porosity of about 10 ppi ( FIGS. 4B-4F ). The sound amplitude in  FIGS. 4A-4F  is given in arbitrary units. The illustrated test results show two main frequency bands without the PIM ( FIG. 4A ); one centered around 125 Hz and the other centered at 500 Hz. In both bands, the sound intensity was dispersed and the high frequency band contained much of the power. The noise originated mainly by the heat release in the flame, since the sound intensity measured in the cold flow experiments (not shown here) was smaller by nearly two orders of magnitudes. The sound pressure amplitude illustrated in  FIG. 4A-4F  was integrated to obtain a relative measure of the total sound power, in arbitrary units. The total sound power for combustion without the porous medium was 0.212. 
       FIGS. 4B-4F  present sound frequency spectra for the experimental passive noise attenuation device  10  operated with a 1 inch thick PIM  20  placed at various axial distances from the combustion chamber inlet  36  plane, where Z represents the axial distance. Thus, Z=12″ means the PIM was placed about 12 inches from the combustion chamber inlet plane. As can be seen, the results show a significant reduction in the noise intensity for the frequency band centered at 500 Hz at each of the various Z distances. The noise intensity in the 125 Hz band also decreased, although the reduction around this low frequency band is smaller. Also, as indicated by the total sound power displayed on each graph (for example, total sound power when Z=8″ is 0.0782), the total sound power is nearly independent of the location of the porous medium in the combustion chamber  30 .  FIGS. 5 and 8  illustrate the reduction in the level of sound with the use of a PIM  20 , and the similarity between the reduction in the level of sound when the NM is positioned 4 inches or 12 inches from the combustion chamber inlet  36  for Φ=0.65 ( FIG. 5 ) and Φ=0.80 ( FIG. 8 ). 
     Measurements with porous inert media of different pore size and thickness produced similar results; i.e., the 550 Hz band was suppressed and the total sound power decreased in the presence of a porous medium, regardless of its axial position from the combustion chamber inlet.  FIGS. 6A and 6B  show the total sound power (in dB) versus axial location (Z) for 1 inch ( FIG. 6A ) and 3 inch ( FIG. 6B ) thick porous structures having a porosity of 10 ppi and 20 ppi. Five sets of 10,000 data points were taken at each test condition to compute the measurement uncertainties. As can be seen, the results show that the porous medium decreases the total sound power, and the level of reduction is about the same for 10 or 20 ppi structures of 1 inch or 3 inch thicknesses. Additionally, the results show that the total sound power is substantially independent of the thickness of the porous structure. Moreover, relatively small error bars indicate that the data are repeatable. Similar data is illustrated in  FIGS. 7A and 7B , wherein  FIG. 7A  shows the total sound power (in dB) versus axial location (Z) for a 20 ppi porous structure and  FIG. 7A  shows the total sound power versus axial location for a 10 ppi porous structure. 
     Combustion experiments were also performed to determine the effectiveness of a second embodiment in reducing noise production. As illustrated in  FIGS. 9A-9C , three configurations of the passive noise attenuation device  10  were tested to modify the flame structure of the combustion system  25 : (1) configuration A1, comprising a substantially disk-shaped PIM  20  substantially co-axially aligned with the longitudinal axis of the combustion chamber  30  to alter the flow field of a center flow recirculation region of the combustion chamber; (2) configuration A2, with a substantially circular ring-shaped PIM used to affect the flow in the corner and near wall region of the combustion chamber; and (3) configuration A3, using a combination of a disk-shaped PIM placed in the center of the combustion chamber  30  and a ring-shaped PIM placed in the lower corner of the combustion chamber. 
     The porous inert media  20  was capable of sustaining the high flame temperatures encountered within the reaction zone  34 . In this experiment, a PIM comprising HfC/SiC coated foam such as that developed and supplied by Ultramet Corporation was used. In one aspect, the at least one PIM was secured in the combustion chamber  30  by securing it to a combustor face plate using, for example and without limitation, molybdenum wire. Although experiments were conducted for a range of flame temperatures, results are presented only for Φ=0.85, which correlates to adiabatic flame temperature of about 1,800° C. 
     As illustrated in  FIG. 10A , the sound level was not substantially affected by the center disk of Configuration A1. However,  FIG. 10B  shows that Configuration A2 was effective in reducing the noise level over a range of frequency bands when the at least one PIM  20  was shaped and positioned as a corner ring.  FIGS. 10C and 10D  show that configurations A2 and A3 were equally effective in reducing the noise level over a range of frequency bands. Results of  FIGS. 10A-10C  are summarized in Table 1 in terms of the total sound power. The combustion system  25  generated 124 dB without the PIM. The noise level was 123 dB with a 1 inch thick center piece (Configuration A1), 119 dB with a 1 inch thick corner piece (Configuration A2), and 119 dB with both center disc and corner ring (Configuration A3). 
     
       
         
           
               
             
               
                 TABLE 1 
               
             
            
               
                   
               
               
                 Total dB and dBA for Embodiment II configurations. 
               
            
           
           
               
               
               
               
               
            
               
                   
                 No PIM00 
                 A1 - 1″ Thick 
                 A2 - 1″ Thick 
                 A3 - 1″ Thick 
               
               
                   
                   
               
            
           
           
               
               
               
               
               
            
               
                 dB (Total) 
                 124 
                 123 
                 119 
                 119 
               
               
                 dBA 
                 121 
                 120 
                 116 
                 116 
               
               
                   
               
            
           
         
       
     
     A final set of experiments were performed using at least one PIM of (HfC/SiC) having a thickness of 1 inch and a porosity of 20 ppi. In this experiment, Configuration A2 produced blue flames with reactions occurring both in the free flame in the central region and in flamelets on the surface of the PIM. As illustrated in  FIGS. 11A-11D , noise reduction with a 2 inch thick corner piece porous media was significantly greater than that for the 1 inch thick corner piece porous media. Results of  FIGS. 11A-11C  are summarized in Table 2 in terms of the total sound power. In this experiment, the combustion system generated 124 dB without the PIM, and the noise level was the same with a 2 inch thick center piece porous media (Configuration A1). However, the 1 inch thick corner piece porous media reduced the noise level to 119 dB and the 2 inch thick corner piece media reduced the noise level to 113 dB, a noise reduction of 11 dB. 
     
       
         
           
               
             
               
                 TABLE 2 
               
             
            
               
                   
               
               
                 Total dB and dBA for Embodiment II configurations 
               
            
           
           
               
               
               
               
               
            
               
                   
                 No PIM 
                 A1 - 2″ Thick 
                 A2 - 1″ Thick 
                 A2 - 2″ Thick 
               
               
                   
                   
               
            
           
           
               
               
               
               
               
            
               
                 dB (Total) 
                 124 
                 124 
                 119 
                 113 
               
               
                 dBA 
                 121 
                 121 
                 116 
                 109 
               
               
                   
               
            
           
         
       
     
     Although several embodiments of the invention have been disclosed in the foregoing specification, it is understood by those skilled in the art that many modifications and other embodiments of the invention will come to mind to which the invention pertains, having the benefit of the teaching presented in the foregoing description and associated drawings. It is thus understood that the invention is not limited to the specific embodiments disclosed hereinabove, and that many modifications and other embodiments are intended to be included within the scope of the appended claims. Moreover, although specific terms are employed herein, as well as in the claims which follow, they are used only in a generic and descriptive sense, and not for the purposes of limiting the described invention, nor the claims which follow.