Patents Assigned to Colorado School of Mines
  • Patent number: 11975098
    Abstract: Aqueous nanosuspensions of cannabidiol (CBD) having improved stability, shelf life, and/or CBD content are provided, as are methods of making such nanosuspensions. The nanosuspensions include ethyl maltol as an emulsifying agent and may be manufactured by either a melt emulsification process or a solvent evaporation process. The nanosuspensions may also have an improved taste and are thus suitable for use as, e.g., beverage additives.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: May 24, 2021
    Date of Patent: May 7, 2024
    Assignee: Colorado School of Mines
    Inventor: Anuj Chauhan
  • Patent number: 11959666
    Abstract: A system and method of harvesting geothermal energy in a subterranean formation includes providing an injection wellbore that extends into the subterranean formation, positioning a plurality of selectively opening sleeves in the injection wellbore spaced apart the subterranean formation, providing at least one producing wellbore that extends into the subterranean formation in a predetermined location proximate to the injection wellbore, and fracturing the subterranean formation in a plurality of locations proximate to the plurality of selectively opening sleeves to enhance a fluid pathway between the injection wellbore and the at least one producing wellbore. Fluid is injected down the injection wellbore at a first temperature, and the fluid is produced from the at least one producing wellbore at a second temperature higher than said first temperature.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: August 26, 2022
    Date of Patent: April 16, 2024
    Assignee: Colorado School of Mines
    Inventor: William W. Fleckenstein
  • Patent number: 11952271
    Abstract: Described herein are compositions and methods for the storage and release of hydrogen gas using covalent organic frameworks (COFs). Advantageously, the compositions and methods described herein may be used for the facile and rapid release of hydrogen gas at near ambient temperatures. The described COFs allow for photoactivation, where the release of gas is initiated or the rate of release is increased with the COF is exposed to electromagnetic radiation, for example, UV light.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: August 4, 2021
    Date of Patent: April 9, 2024
    Assignees: Alliance for Sustainable Energy, LLC, Colorado School of Mines
    Inventors: Derek Richard Vardon, Wade A. Braunecker, Justin Carter Johnson, Thomas Gennett, Rachel Elizabeth Mow, Kurt Michael Van Allsburg, Gabriella Lahti
  • Patent number: 11931805
    Abstract: A process is provided to remove a selective amount of material from a metal part fabricated by additive manufacturing in a self-terminating manner. The process can be used to remove support structures and trapped powder from a metal part as well as to smooth surfaces of a 3D printed metal part. In one embodiment, selected surfaces of the metal part are treated to make the selected surfaces at least one of mechanically and chemically unstable. The unstable portion of the metal support can then be removed chemically, electrochemically, with a pressure differential, and/or through vapor-phase etching. In one embodiment, the metal part may comprise one or more of an aluminum alloy, a titanium alloy, and a copper alloy. The process can be used to modify any fluid or vapor-accessible regions and surfaces of a 3D printed metal part.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 7, 2020
    Date of Patent: March 19, 2024
    Assignee: Colorado School of Mines
    Inventors: Owen J. Hildreth, Subbarao Raikar
  • Patent number: 11925921
    Abstract: The present invention relates to catalysts, methods of making catalysts, and methods of using catalysts, where the catalysts include: at least one of a transition metal and a transition metal oxide supported by yttria-stabilized zirconia (YSZ), where the transition metal is promoted by at least one of an alkali metal and an alkaline-earth metal.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: August 14, 2020
    Date of Patent: March 12, 2024
    Assignee: COLORADO SCHOOL OF MINES
    Inventors: James Douglas Way, Colin A. Wolden, Zhenyu Zhang
  • Patent number: 11905833
    Abstract: A system and method of extracting frozen water from soil or a regolith and capturing the water is provided. More specifically, the present disclosure relates to a water collection system to extract and collect water from regolith. The system is configured to heat the regolith in situ to a temperature at which frozen water in the regolith will vaporize. The water vapor is then captured and collected. In one embodiment, the system includes a power system to provide energy to the regolith to heat the regolith, an enclosure to trap the water vapor released from the heated regolith, and a container operably interconnected to the enclosure to collect the water vapor. In one embodiment, the system can be positioned at a production facility on the Earth, the Moon, Mars, or an asteroid.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 1, 2019
    Date of Patent: February 20, 2024
    Assignee: COLORADO SCHOOL OF MINES
    Inventors: George F. Sowers, Jr., Christopher B. Dreyer
  • Patent number: 11887418
    Abstract: Methods and systems of providing enhanced security to an access-controlled area are disclosed herein. In one implementation a user device generates a signal from which features are extracted to generate a device fingerprint. The features of the signal may be rare, or in some cases unique, to a particular user device such that the use of user device with a known device fingerprint may thwart a relay attack on the access-controlled area. The features of the signal may be related to manufacturing variations between user devices, even devices of the same model. The variations may be related to variations in an electro-mechanical structure of a motion sensor between two user devices. The variations in the electro-mechanical structure may cause variations in a capacitance sensed by the motion sensor. Features of the signal may be analyzed in the frequency or time domains to generate the device fingerprint.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: October 11, 2021
    Date of Patent: January 30, 2024
    Assignee: COLORADO SCHOOL OF MINES
    Inventor: Dejun Yang
  • Patent number: 11827965
    Abstract: A metallic glass coating material is composed of an alloy of Fe, B, and one of the metals Nb, Mo, Zr, or W. The ratios of Fe, B, and the metal are predetermined using machine learning predictions and high-throughput experiments. In one example, the material is an alloy of Fe, Nb, Mo and B, of the form Fex(Nb, Mo)yBz, where x is in the range 18-28, y is in the range 35-45, and z is in the range 32-42. In another example, the material may be the alloy Fe23(Nb, Mo)40B37. The alloy may be doped with Zr and/or W, where the Zr and/or W comprises at most 10% of the alloy.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: July 20, 2022
    Date of Patent: November 28, 2023
    Assignees: The Board of Trustees of the Leland Stanford Junior University, Colorado School of Mines
    Inventors: Apurva Mehta, Suchismita Sarker, Corinne E. Packard, Rachel Schoeppner
  • Patent number: 11807541
    Abstract: The present invention is directed to a method and system for enhancing the production of ammonia from gaseous hydrogen and nitrogen. Advantageously, the method and system does not emit carbon gases during production. The method and system enhances the production of ammonia compared to traditional Haber-Bosch reactions.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 19, 2020
    Date of Patent: November 7, 2023
    Assignees: Starfire Energy, Colorado School of Mines
    Inventors: Joseph Beach, Jon Kintner, Adam Welch, Jason Ganley, Ryan O'Hayre
  • Patent number: 11772979
    Abstract: Catalysts for NH3 cracking and/or synthesis generally include barium calcium aluminum oxide compounds decorated with ruthenium, cobalt, or both. These catalysts can be bonded to a metal structure, which improves thermal conductivity and gas conductance.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: January 31, 2020
    Date of Patent: October 3, 2023
    Assignees: Starfire Energy, Colorado School of Mines
    Inventors: Chris Cadigan, Ryan O′Hayre, Joseph D. Beach, Adam W. Welch, Jonathan D. Kintner
  • Patent number: 11765977
    Abstract: Methods and materials are disclosed for simultaneously optimizing both the piezoelectric and mechanical properties of wurtzite piezoelectric materials based on the AlN wurtzite and alloyed with one or two end-members from the set BN, YN, CrN, and ScN.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: October 12, 2018
    Date of Patent: September 19, 2023
    Assignee: Colorado School of Mines
    Inventors: Sukriti Manna, Geoff Brennecka, Vladan Stevanovic, Cristian V. Ciobanu
  • Patent number: 11745148
    Abstract: The invention relates to membranes, monomers and polymers. The monomers can form polymers, which can be used for membranes. The membranes can be used in alkaline fuel cells, for water purification, for electrolysis, for flow batteries, and for anti-bacterial membranes and materials, as well as membrane electrode assemblies for fuel cells. In addition to the membranes, polymers and monomers and methods of using the membranes, the present invention also relates to methods of making the membranes, monomers and polymers.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: February 19, 2021
    Date of Patent: September 5, 2023
    Assignee: Colorado School of Mines
    Inventors: Daniel M. Knauss, Derek J. Strasser
  • Patent number: 11740025
    Abstract: The present disclosure describes heat exchangers for converting thermal energy stored in solid particles to electricity. Electro-thermal energy storage converts off-peak electricity into heat for thermal energy storage, which may be converted back to electricity, for example during peak-hour power generation. The heat exchanger for converting thermal energy stored in solid particles to electricity enables the conversion of thermal energy into electrical energy for redistribution to the grid. In some embodiments, pressurized fluidized-bed heat exchangers may achieve efficient conversion of thermal energy to electricity by providing direct contact of the solid particles with a gas stream.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: July 15, 2021
    Date of Patent: August 29, 2023
    Assignees: Alliance for Sustainable Energy, LLC, Colorado School of Mines
    Inventors: Zhiwen Ma, Jeffrey Clayton Gifford, Patrick Gordon Davenport, Xingchao Wang
  • Patent number: 11577111
    Abstract: Methods and systems for treating a waste substance containing perfluoro- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) and mineralizing the PFAS, at least partially. The method includes combining the PFAS with a first amendment in a reactor to create a combination, heating and pressurizing the combination to hydrothermal conditions, and holding the combination at hydrothermal conditions for a holding time sufficient to at least partially mineralize the PFAS to create a treated combination.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: November 20, 2019
    Date of Patent: February 14, 2023
    Assignee: COLORADO SCHOOL OF MINES
    Inventors: Timothy James Strathmann, Christopher P. Higgins, Boran Wu, Shilai Hao
  • Patent number: 11577333
    Abstract: A method of connecting two CMC substrates that includes providing two substrates; placing one substrate approximate to the other substrate, such that at least a portion of the two substrates overlap and define a brazing area; placing a brazing material approximate the brazing area; defining a primary raster pattern that encompasses the brazing area and a portion of the two substrates outside the brazing area; defining a secondary raster pattern that encompasses the brazing area; allowing a laser to scan the primary raster pattern to preheat the brazing area to a temperature below the brazing material's melting point; allowing the laser to scan the secondary raster pattern to heat the brazing area to a temperature that is above the brazing material's melting point; melting and allowing the brazing material to flow within the brazing area; and cooling the brazing area to form a brazed joint connecting the two substrates.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: January 16, 2020
    Date of Patent: February 14, 2023
    Assignees: ROLLS-ROYCE CORPORATION, TRUSTEES OF THE COLORADO SCHOOL OF MINES
    Inventors: Scott Nelson, Raymond Xu, Stephen Liu, Juan Carlos Madeni, Brian Paul Rodgers
  • Patent number: 11511375
    Abstract: A multi-material component joined by a high entropy alloy is provided, as well as methods of making a multi-material component by joining dissimilar materials with high entropy alloys.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: February 24, 2021
    Date of Patent: November 29, 2022
    Assignees: HONDA MOTOR CO., LTD., UNIVERSITY OF TENNESSEE RESEARCH FOUNDATION, COLORADO SCHOOL OF MINES
    Inventors: Jianxun Hu, Justin Brown, Peiyong Chen, Chanho Lee, Xuesong Fan, John William Bohling, Carl D. Lundin, Peter Liaw, Zhenzhen Yu, Abdelrahman Abdelmotagaly
  • Patent number: 11470122
    Abstract: An access control system may include a log data parser that receives log data observations in a cloud system and extract user-permission data from the log data observations. The system may also include a clustering unit that uses the user-permission data to generate one or more clusters, each cluster associated with one or more users. Alternatively, and/or additionally, the system may include a feature extractor and a classifier. The feature extractor may extract one or more features from the user-permission data. The classifier may generate predictions of permissions for the one or more users based on the extracted one or more features. The system may also include a policy generator that uses the output of the clustering unit and/or the classifier to generate an access control policy. The policy may be executed in the cloud system to control user's access to one or more services of the system.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: October 11, 2019
    Date of Patent: October 11, 2022
    Assignee: COLORADO SCHOOL OF MINES
    Inventors: Matthew Westin Sanders, Chuan Yue
  • Patent number: 11415716
    Abstract: The present disclosure provides novel systems and methods of locating downhole objects in a wellbore, the condition of casing within the wellbore, and characteristics of a subterranean formation. More specifically, data associated with a hydraulic impulse in fluid in the wellbore is used to determine a location of a downhole object. Data associated with the hydraulic impulse is collected and then processed in the frequency domain to identify the location of the downhole object. The downhole object may be a tool positioned within the wellbore or a fracture network that communicates with the wellbore by a perforation through wellbore casing. The system and method of the present disclosure can also be used to identify locations of unintended holes or perforations in casing and other tubulars.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: October 31, 2018
    Date of Patent: August 16, 2022
    Assignee: Colorado School of Mines
    Inventors: Connor J. Clark, Jennifer L. Miskimins, Dana Gallegos
  • Patent number: 11377526
    Abstract: The present invention relates to a high performance cross-linked triblock cationic functionalized polymer for electrochemical applications, and methods of making and using the same. The invention also relates to a tunable hydrogenated polymer, that can be functionalized with a particular cation for a particular application, and the method of making the hydrogenated polymer and tuning the hydrogenated polymer for the application.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: November 12, 2020
    Date of Patent: July 5, 2022
    Assignees: Colorado School of Mines, University of Massachusetts
    Inventors: Andrew M. Herring, Mei-Chen Kuo, E. Bryan Coughlin, Nora Buggy, Yifeng Du
  • Patent number: 11365463
    Abstract: The disclosure concerns methods for making a composition comprising a light metal and an intermetallic comprising the light metal and a light rare earth element. The composition also may include a plurality of nanoparticles comprising an oxide of the light metal. The method includes directly reducing a light rare earth element precursor compound in a melt of the light metal, thereby forming the light rare earth element and nanoparticles of the light metal oxide.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: February 4, 2020
    Date of Patent: June 21, 2022
    Assignees: UT-Battelle, LLC, University of Tennessee Research Foundation, Eck Industries Incorporated, Iowa State University Research Foundation, Inc., Colorado School of Mines, Lawrence Livermore National Security, LLC
    Inventors: Orlando Rios, Hunter B. Henderson, Michael S. Kesler, Bruce A. Moyer, Zachary Sims, David Weiss, Ryan Ott, Corby Anderson, Hao Cui, Scott McCall