Abstract: An electrically heatable activated carbon body and method of making and using the body. The body is composed of a non-metallic monolithic structure having activated carbon and means for passage of a workstream therethrough; the device is adapted for conducting an electric current therethrough. The body is used in adsorption and desorption applications wherein an electric current is passed through the structure having adsorbed species, to raise the temperature above the desorption temperature of the adsorbed species, to cause desorption of the adsorbed species which then pass out of the structure. The body is preferably an activated carbon coated honeycomb which is fitted with a conducting metal.

Abstract: Free-flowing carbon and method of producing that involves combining in an aqueous medium, a thermosetting resin carbon precursor and optionally additional carbon precursor which can be petroleum and/or coal tar pitch, filler material at least when the resin is a liquid resin, and oil that is non-reactive with the thermosetting resin and the additional carbon precursor and removable during the curing or carbonizing steps, to form an aqueous mixture, followed by curing and carbonizing to produce free-flowing carbon particles or beads. The carbon can be activated to produce free-flowing activated carbon.

Abstract: Cordierite body of CTE at 25-800.degree. C. of .ltoreq.4.times.10.sup.-7 C, at least 85% of porosity having pore diameter of 0.5-5.0.mu.; or >4-6.times.10.sup.-7 C.sup.-1, porosity at least 30 vol %, at least 85% of porosity has pore diameter 0.5-5.0.mu.. Raw materials talc, Al.sub.2 O.sub.3 source, and kaolin, calcined kaolin, and/or silica, and optionally spinel, particle diameter of talc .ltoreq.3.0.mu., of Al.sub.2 O.sub.3 source <2.0.mu., kaolin is <35 wt % of raw materials when particle diameter is <2.0.mu., are blended with vehicle and aids into plastic mixture. Green body is formed, dried, fired at 1370.degree. C.-1435.degree. C. When particle diameter of talc is <2.0.mu., and Al.sub.2 O.sub.3 source is <20 wt % of raw materials, and dispersible high surface area Al.sub.2 O.sub.3 source having particle diameter of <0.3.mu., is <5.0 wt % of raw materials, and particle diameter of kaolin is <2.0.mu., heating rate from 1150.degree. C.-1275.degree. C. is >200.degree. C./hr.

Abstract: Powder mixtures and a method of forming and shaping the mixtures. The method involves compounding the components of powder materials, binder, solvent for the binder, surfactant, and non-solvent with respect to at least the binder, the solvent, and the powder materials. The non-solvent is lower in viscosity than the binder combined with the solvent. The solvent is present in an amount that is less than the amount that would be present otherwise. The components are mixed and plasticized, and shaped to form a green body. The choice of components results in improved wet green strength in the green body. The method is especially useful for extrusion processing of aqueous binder systems such as water and cellulose ethers and hydrophobic non-solvents, to form structures such as honeycombs. In the body, the ratio, upon subsequent firing, of the isostatic strength to the A-axis strength is at least about 20% higher than in bodies made without the mixture composition of the invention.

Abstract: A device for altering a feed stock is made of a structure for passage of a feed stock. The structure can be either an extruded unibody structure, or a nested structure. The structure has an interior and an exterior section, and a longitudinal axis, and walls defining two sets of open-ended passages which extend along the longitudinal axis. The two sets of passages have different cross sectional shapes or dimensions with respect to each other. When the structure is nested, at least one set of channels have a cross section in the shape of truncated arcs. A method for making the unibody structure involves extruding a plasticized raw material mixture through a die, followed by heat-treating. A method of altering a feed stock which involves passing a feed stock into the device through one set of passages to cause an altering of the feed stock, and thereafter passing the output stream into and through the other set of channels to the exterior of the device.

Abstract: Low expansion, low porosity cordierite bodies having a CTE at 25-800.degree. C. of <4.times.10-7C-1 and total porosity of <20%, or CTE of >4.times.10-7C-1 but <9.times.10-7C-1 and total porosity of <12%, or a CTE of >9.times.10-7C-1 but <15.times.10-7C-1 and total porosity of <10%. They are produced by selecting cordierite-forming raw materials in specific combinations of talc, spinel, kaolin, calcined kaolin, Al203-forming material, MgO-forming materials, and silica, in various particle size combinations. The raw materials are intimately blended with an effective amount of vehicle and forming aids and plastically shaped into a green body that is dried and fired at a temperature of about 1370.degree. C. to 1435.degree. C. Firing schedules vary according the raw material combination.

Abstract: A cordierite body is produced by providing cordierite-forming raw materials as talc, calcined talc, MgO-forming component, magnesium aluminate spinel, SiO.sub.2 -forming component, Al.sub.2 O.sub.3 -forming component, kaolin, calcined kaolin, and/or mullite, such that the quantity R is less than about 10.156. R is0.140 (wt. % mullite powder)+0.433 (wt. % SiO.sub.2 powder)+0.0781 (wt. % alpha Al.sub.2 O.sub.3 powder)(mean particle size of alpha Al.sub.2 O.sub.3 powder)+0.0872 (wt. % Al(OH).sub.3 powder)(mean particle size of Al(OH).sub.3 powder)+0.00334 (wt. % SiO.sub.2 powder)(wt. % spinel powder)+2.330 log.sub.10 (1+(wt. % MgO-forming component)(wt. % calcined kaolin))-0.244 (wt. % MgO-forming component)-0.167 (wt. % dispersible high surface area Al.sub.2 O.sub.3 -forming component)+1.1305 (heating time at maximum temperature).sup.-1.

Abstract: A method of making mesoporous carbon involves combining a carbon precursor and a pore former. At least a portion of the pore former dissolves molecularly in the carbon precursor. The pore former has a decomposition or volatilization temperature above the curing temperature and below the carbonization temperature of the carbon precursor. The carbon precursor is cured, carbonized, and optionally activated, and at the same time the pore former is removed.

Abstract: A method for improving the adsorption properties of a hydrocarbon adsorber involves contacting a molecular sieve hydrocarbon adsorber at ambient temperature with an agent for modifying the acid sites of the molecular sieve to impregnate the molecular sieve with the agent. The average pore diameter of the intracrystalline porosity of the molecular sieve is about 3 to 20 angstroms. The agent has an anionic portion which is retained within the structure of the molecular sieve. The modified molecular sieve has the ability to retain adsorbed hydrocarbons at higher temperatures than the unmodified molecular sieve. The acid-modified molecular sieve can be used to remove hydrocarbons from a hydrocarbon-containing stream. The hydrocarbon-containing stream is passed through the modified adsorber at atmospheric pressure at a temperature ranging from room temperature to about 150.degree. C. to cause adsorption and retention of the hydrocarbons.

Abstract: A cordierite body is produced by providing cordierite-forming raw materials as talc, calcined talc, MgO-forming component, magnesium aluminate spinel, SiO.sub.2 -forming component, Al.sub.2 O.sub.3 -forming component, kaolin, calcined kaolin, and/or mullite, such that the quantity R is less than about 1.207. R is0.253 (wt. % mullite powder)+0.278(wt. % SiO.sub.2 powder)+0.00590(wt. % SiO.sub.2 powder)(wt. % spinel powder)-0.0193(wt. % SiO.sub.2 powder)(heating time at maximum temperature)-0.348(heating time at maximum temperature)-0.00237(mean heating rate from 25.degree. C. to 1275.degree. C.)+0.0736(wt. % alpha Al.sub.2 O.sub.3 powder)(mean particle size of alpha Al.sub.2 O.sub.3 powder)+0.0892(wt. % Al(OH).sub.3 powder)(mean particle size of Al(OH).sub.3 powder)-0.215(wt. % dispersible high surface area Al.sub.2 O.sub.3 -forming component)+2.392(log.sub.10 (1+(wt. % MgO-forming component)(wt. % calcined kaolin))).

Abstract: A method for improving the adsorption properties of a hydrocarbon adsorber which involves contacting a molecular sieve hydrocarbon adsorber with an agent for modifying the acid sites of the molecular sieve to impregnate the molecular sieve with the agent. The resulting acid-modified molecular sieve has the ability to retain adsorbed hydrocarbons at higher temperatures than the molecular sieve in the un-modified state. The acid-modified molecular sieve can be used to remove hydrocarbons from a workstream. The workstream is passed through the modified adsorber at atmospheric pressure at a temperature ranging from room temperature to about 150.degree. C. to cause adsorption and retention of the hydrocarbons. The adsorbed hydrocarbons can then be desorbed at a higher temperature than would otherwise occur with an unmodified adsorber.

Abstract: A method for making an activated carbon-supported catalyst involves providing an inorganic support having a continuous coating of activated carbon, activated carbon being derived from a synthetic carbon precursor, introducing a catalyst precursor into the pore structure of the activated carbon, and thermally treating the catalyst precursor to form an activated carbon-supported catalyst.

Abstract: A method for extruding a stiffer powder mixture at lower extrusion pressure involves providing an aqueous mixture of inorganic powder that can be metal, ceramic, glass, glass ceramic, molecular sieve, and/or carbon, fatty acid the main chain of which has at least 12 carbon atoms, thermally gellable cellulose ether binder, and wax that can be paraffin and/or propylene glycol hydroxystearate, wherein the powder is coated with the fatty acid component. If clay is included in the mixture, it is provided as either calcined or hydrous. The mixture is passed through an extruder and through an extrusion die to produce a green extrudate at an extrusion pressure that is equal to or lower than it would be absent the combination of the fatty acid, the cellulose ether binder, and the wax. The mixture in the extruder and the extrudate are stiffer than without this combination.

Abstract: A method of making a shaped article involves forming an aqueous mixture comprising inorganic powder material, supercritical fluid, organic binder component a portion of which is essentially insoluble in water, and aqueous vehicle, and extruding the mixture into a shaped article.

Abstract: A method of fabricating a monolithic honeycomb structure product involves shaping a first mixture of raw materials and a binder into a green honeycomb, extruding a second mixture of raw materials and a binder into one or more green members that each define an opening extending longitudinally therethrough. The raw materials of the second mixture are compatible with the raw materials of the first mixture. The green honeycomb and member(s) are dried. The binders of the green honeycomb and member(s) are softened at the surfaces that are to be bonded. The green member(s) is inserted into the honeycomb and bonded to the honeycomb to form an assembly thereof, which is then dried and fired to form a unified monolithic honeycomb structure. The insertion is best carried out by mounting a member in the shape of a tube on a mandrel, and inserting the mandrel into the honeycomb opening to bond the tube to the honeycomb.

Abstract: A method of producing a formable mixture involves combining a powder material, and a plurality of gel-forming polymers, wherein at least one gel-forming polymer is a proton donor, and at least one gel forming polymer is a proton acceptor. A method of making a monolithic structure involves producing a formable mixture of powder material which can be ceramic, metal, glass, glass ceramic, molecular sieve and combinations thereof, a plurality of gel-forming polymers as described above, extruding the mixture to form a green monolithic structure, and drying and firing the green structure.

Abstract: A compound having the general formula AM.sub.1+y.sup.3+ M.sub.2-2y.sup.4+ M.sub.y.sup.5+ Si.sub.2 P.sub.6 O.sub.25, wherein A can be K, Rb, or Cs, M.sup.3+ can be Al, Ga, Cr, Fe, Sc, In, Y, lanthanide series elements, or combinations of these, M.sup.4+ can be Si, Ge, Ti, Ir, Ru, Sn, Hf, Zr, or combinations of these, M.sup.5+ can be V, Nb, Ta, or combinations of these, 0.ltoreq.y.ltoreq.1, the mean ionic radius of the M.sup.3+ cations and the mean ionic radius of the M.sup.5+ cations are each about 0.4 to 1.00 .ANG. when coordinated by six oxygen anions, and the mean ionic radii of the M.sup.4+ cations and the M.sup.5+ cations are each no greater than about 0.53+(0.30.times.the mean ionic radius of the M.sup.3+ cations). The compound can be made by a dry powder method that involves providing a homogeneous powder mixture of raw materials to form the compound, shaping the mixture into a preform, and firing the preform at a sufficient temperature and for a sufficient time to form the product compound.

Abstract: A membrane-coated substrate and method for forming the membrane coating on the substrate that involves providing a porous inorganic monolithic substrate having one or more through channels having inner surfaces, providing solid polymeric film fusible to the substrate, and joining the film to the substrate by applying the film in a softened state to those inner surfaces and applying pressure thereto, so that the film fuses to and coats the inner surfaces of the channels. A workstream is modified by passing it through the membrane-coated substrate to cause modification of the workstream by the membrane coating.

Abstract: A shaped article and method for making the article is disclosed. The method involves forming a raw material mixture of a thermosetting resin which can be either solid resin or liquid resin, hydrophilic filler, which can be carbonizable and/or inorganic, temporary organic binder, and optionally an effective amount of extrusion aids. The mixture is extruded into a shaped article, dried, and the resin is cured. The cured article can be further carbonized and activated. The activated carbon, especially a honeycomb is used for adsorbing components from a workstream.