Patents Examined by Melissa Stalder
  • Patent number: 10046977
    Abstract: A process for purifying red mud including reduction of the red mud to reduced material, and traversing the reduced material with an oxygen-containing gas in the presence of a catalyst suitable for iron oxidation.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: July 5, 2013
    Date of Patent: August 14, 2018
    Assignee: Outotec (Finland) Oy
    Inventors: Andrew Adipuri, Edgar Gasafi
  • Patent number: 9548501
    Abstract: A supported catalyst is prepared by a process that includes establishing shell-removal conditions for a supported catalyst intermediate that includes capped nanoparticles of a catalyst material dispersed on a carbon support. The capped nanoparticles each include a platinum alloy core capped in an organic shell. The shell-removal conditions include an elevated temperature and an inert gas atmosphere that is substantially free of oxygen. The organic shell is removed from the platinum alloy core under the shell-removal conditions to limit thermal decomposition of the carbon support and thereby limit agglomeration of the catalyst material such that the supported catalyst includes an electrochemical surface area of at least 30 m2/gPt.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 17, 2009
    Date of Patent: January 17, 2017
    Assignees: The Research Foundation of State University Of New York Research Development Services, Binghamton University, Toyoata Jidosha Kabushiki Kaisha, Audi AG
    Inventors: Chuan-Jian Zhong, Brigid Wanjala, Jin Luo, Peter N. Njoki, Rameshwori Loukrakpam, Minhua Shao, Lesia V. Protsailo, Tetsuo Kawamura
  • Patent number: 8883113
    Abstract: An in-situ method and system of collecting, in a liquid, non-agglomerated fullerenic material from a gaseous suspension is provided. The method and system collects non-agglomerated fullerenic material by contacting a gaseous suspension comprising fullerenic material with a suspension liquid, so as to capture the fullerenic material in the suspension liquid; and collecting the liquid suspension as a suspension liquid containing the fullerenic material. This method and system may be particularly useful for collecting fullerenes or nanotubes and maintaining them in solution in non-agglomerated states.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: August 31, 2007
    Date of Patent: November 11, 2014
    Assignee: Nano-C, Inc.
    Inventors: Henning Richter, Jack B. Howard
  • Patent number: 8883097
    Abstract: A method of treating value bearing material comprising oxidized or surface oxidized mineral values includes the steps of crushing the value bearing material, contacting the crushed material! with a sulfide solution to sulfide the oxidized or surface oxidized mineral values, and adding ions of a selected base metal to the crushed value bearing material. The value bearing material may comprise oxidized or surface oxidized base metal or precious metal minerals. The crushed value bearing material is prepared as a slurry or pulp comprising from 15% to 40% solids and the remainder comprising water. The sulfide solution preferably comprises a soluble sulfidiser such as sodium hydrosulfide and the base-metal ion solution preferably comprises metal salt of base metals like copper or iron.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: November 13, 2007
    Date of Patent: November 11, 2014
    Assignee: University of Cape Town
    Inventors: Deidre Jane Bradshaw, Andrew James Haigh Newell
  • Patent number: 8871017
    Abstract: A modeling compound and methods for making the same are described. The modeling compound, in some embodiments, comprises about 20% to about 40% by weight starch-based binder, and about 0.15% to about 1.2% by weight microspheres dispersed throughout the compound.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: April 13, 2012
    Date of Patent: October 28, 2014
    Assignee: Hasbro, Inc.
    Inventors: Linwood E. Doane, Jr., Lev Tsimberg
  • Patent number: 8871163
    Abstract: Process for purifying vanadium oxide that includes cationic exchange resin and solvent extraction.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 15, 2013
    Date of Patent: October 28, 2014
    Assignee: American Vanadium Corp.
    Inventor: Michael Adam Drozd
  • Patent number: 8852826
    Abstract: A composite product is for an electrode of a fuel cell including a catalyst, an electrically conductive phase which supports such catalyst, a protonically conductive phase, and a porous phase. At least the contact between the catalyst and the electrically and protonically conductive phases, and preferably also the contact of the porous phase with the catalyst and with the electrically and protonically conductive phases, is improved or maximized. Each of the phases is individually continuous, and such phases are continuous with each other.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: May 23, 2008
    Date of Patent: October 7, 2014
    Assignee: STMicroelectronics S.R.L.
    Inventors: Raffaele Vecchione, Salvatore Leonardi, Giuseppe Mensitieri, Anna Borriello
  • Patent number: 8834818
    Abstract: There is provided a hydrometallurgical process of recovering indium and gallium values from mixtures thereof with other metal values for example recycled and scrap solar panel cells which comprises subjecting the mixture to strongly oxidizing acid conditions, preferably via the simultaneous addition of sulfuric acid and hydrogen peroxide to the leach vessel, so as to form indium and gallium salt species of at least the major proportion of the indium and gallium values in the mixture, extracting the indium and gallium values with an organic extractant by adjusting the pH so as to extract individually the indium and gallium values with the organic extractant, stripping indium and gallium values from the extractant using an acid and an alkaline solution respectively and recovering the indium and gallium values.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: November 22, 2011
    Date of Patent: September 16, 2014
    Assignee: Molycorp Minerals Canada ULC
    Inventor: Casare G. Ferron
  • Patent number: 8834816
    Abstract: Gold and other metals in dissolved anionic form are removed from cyanide-derived aqueous mining effluent by passage of the effluent through an array of conduits in series connectivity, each conduit containing a stationary permeable bed of a particulate absorbent having selective affinity for dissolved anionic metal species, the flow of said effluent through said array being adjusted to produce sharply defined absorption zones.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: January 11, 2012
    Date of Patent: September 16, 2014
    Inventor: Norman B. Rainer
  • Patent number: 8822367
    Abstract: Homogeneous water oxidation catalysts (WOCs) for the oxidation of water to produce hydrogen ions and oxygen, and methods of making and using thereof are described herein. In a preferred embodiment, the WOC is a polyoxometalate WOC which is hydrolytically stable, oxidatively stable, and thermally stable. The WOC oxidized waters in the presence of an oxidant. The oxidant can be generated photochemically, using light, such as sunlight, or electrochemically using a positively biased electrode. The hydrogen ions are subsequently reduced to form hydrogen gas, for example, using a hydrogen evolution catalyst (HEC). The hydrogen gas can be used as a fuel in combustion reactions and/or in hydrogen fuel cells. The catalysts described herein exhibit higher turn over numbers, faster turn over frequencies, and/or higher oxygen yields than prior art catalysts.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 17, 2010
    Date of Patent: September 2, 2014
    Assignee: Emory University
    Inventors: Craig L Hill, Yurii V Gueletii, Djamaladdin G. Musaev, Qiushi Yin, Bogdan Botar
  • Patent number: 8815184
    Abstract: A process for treating spent catalyst containing heavy metals, e.g., Group VIB metals and Group VIII metals is provided. In one embodiment after deoiling, the spent catalyst is treated with an ammonia leach solution under conditions sufficient to dissolve the group VIB metal and the Group VIII metal into the leaching solution, forming a leach slurry. After solid-liquid separation to recover a leach solution, chemical precipitation and solids repulping is carried out to obtain an effluent stream containing ammonium sulfate (Amsul), ammonium sulfamate, Group VB, Group VIB and Group VIII metals. Following sulfidation, the Group VIII metal is fully removed and Group VB and Group VI metals are partially removed from the Amsul stream.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 9, 2011
    Date of Patent: August 26, 2014
    Assignee: Chevron U.S.A. Inc.
    Inventors: Rahul Shankar Bhaduri, Louis Joseph Nordrum, Alexander E Kuperman
  • Patent number: 8815186
    Abstract: Nickel compositions for use in manufacturing nickel metal compositions, and specifically to methods of making basic nickel carbonates used to produce nickel metal compositions are disclosed. By varying the molar ratios of carbonates and bicarbonates to nickel salts, the methods provide basic nickel carbonates that produce superior nickel-containing solids that react more effectively with phosphorous-containing ligands. The phosphorous containing ligands can be both monodentate and bidentate phosphorous-containing ligands.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 15, 2010
    Date of Patent: August 26, 2014
    Assignee: INVISTA North America S.a.r.l.
    Inventor: John J. Ostermaier
  • Patent number: 8808660
    Abstract: The present invention relates to a method of precipitation of metal ions. Mineral(s), oxide(s), hydroxide(s) of magnesium and/or calcium are adopted as raw materials, and the raw material(s) is processed through at least one step of calcination, slaking, or carbonization to produce aqueous solution(s) of magnesium bicarbonate and/or calcium bicarbonate, and then the solution(s) is used as precipitant(s) to deposit rare earth, such as nickel, cobalt, iron, aluminum, gallium, indium, manganese, cadmium, zirconium, hafnium, strontium, barium, copper and zinc ions. And at least one of metal carbonates, hydroxides or basic carbonates is obtained, or furthermore the obtained products are calcined to produce metal oxides. The invention takes the cheap calcium and/or magnesium minerals or their oxides, hydroxides with low purity as raw materials to instead common precipitants such as ammonium bicarbonate and sodium carbonate etc.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: February 9, 2010
    Date of Patent: August 19, 2014
    Assignee: Grirem Advanced Materials Co., Ltd.
    Inventors: Xiaowei Huang, Zhiqi Long, Hongwei Li, Dali Cui, Xinlin Peng, Guilin Yang, Yongke Hou, Chunmei Wang, Shunli Zhang
  • Patent number: 8802042
    Abstract: A method for recovering base metal values from oxide ore is provided, where the ore includes a first group metal selected from nickel, cobalt and copper. The method includes reducing ore particle size to suit the latter unit operation, favoring contact for the metal elements, contacting the ore with ferric or ferrous chloride, hydrated or anhydrous, to produce a mix of ore and iron (II or III) chloride subjecting the mixture of the ore and ferric or ferrous chloride to enough energy to decompose the chlorides into hydrochloric acid and a iron oxides from the second group, forming their respective chlorides, selectively dissolve the produced base metal chlorides, leaving the metal as oxides and in the solid state, and recovering the dissolved base metal values from aqueous solution.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: July 14, 2010
    Date of Patent: August 12, 2014
    Assignee: Vale S.A.
    Inventors: Antonio Clareti Pereira, Tiago Valentim Berni
  • Patent number: 8795615
    Abstract: A boundary layer carbonation process for producing sodium bicarbonate crystals having specific surface area in the range 0.4 m2/g to 2.5 m2/g from Trona, wherein in one embodiment the process comprises the steps of: providing Trona particles having a particle size range of ?4 +120 mesh; pre-wetting the Trona particles with water to provide a plurality of pre-wetted Trona particles each having a liquid water solution boundary layer deposited thereon; and carbonating the pre-wetted Trona particles across the water boundary layer to provide a product comprising sodium bicarbonate crystals.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: November 30, 2012
    Date of Patent: August 5, 2014
    Assignee: Church & Dwight Co., Inc.
    Inventors: Dragomir M. Bracilovic, Andrew D. Kurtz, Joseph A. Paluzzi, Zbignew M. Senk
  • Patent number: 8784756
    Abstract: A process for the joint production of sodium carbonate and sodium bicarbonate out of trona, comprising: introducing and dissolving crushed trona ore in a leaching tank containing a solution comprising sodium carbonate and sodium bicarbonate, saturated in sodium bicarbonate, in order to produce solid particles suspended in a production solution comprising sodium carbonate, the solid particles containing insoluble impurities and at least 65% in weight of sodium bicarbonate; separating the solid particles from the production solution containing sodium carbonate; drying and valorizing the separated solid particles; taking at least part of the production solution containing sodium carbonate out of the leaching tank in order to constitute a produced solution which is valorized; and introducing water in the leaching tank.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 22, 2009
    Date of Patent: July 22, 2014
    Assignee: Solvay SA
    Inventors: Jean-Paul Detournay, Francis M. Coustry, Perrine Davoine
  • Patent number: 8778287
    Abstract: The invention relates to a process which makes it possible to separate together all the actinide(III), (IV), (V) and (VI) entities present in a highly acidic aqueous phase from fission products, in particular lanthanides, also present in this phase by using a solvating extractant in a salting-out medium. Applications: reprocessing of irradiated nuclear fuels, in particular for recovering plutonium, neptunium, americium, curium and possibly uranium, present in the form of traces, in a pooled but selective fashion with regard to lanthanides, from a solution for the dissolution of an irradiated nuclear fuel, downstream of a cycle for the extraction of uranium.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: October 22, 2007
    Date of Patent: July 15, 2014
    Assignee: Commissariat a l'Energie Atomique et aux Energies Alternatives
    Inventors: Manuel Miguirditchian, Pascal Baron
  • Patent number: 8778288
    Abstract: A separation method of zirconium and hafnium is described which includes an extraction process of agitating an undiluted aqueous solution containing zirconium, hafnium, and sulfuric acid with a first stirring solution containing an acidic extractant to produce a first extract solution in which the hafnium is extracted by the acidic extractant; and a recovery process of agitating the first extract solution with a second stirring solution containing a citric acid solution to produce a citric acid solution after extraction in which zirconium is reverse-extracted from the first extract solution to the citric acid solution so as to recover zirconium contained in the first extract solution. The method may reduce the amount of extractant while greatly enhancing the separation effect of zirconium and hafnium, and increase zirconium recovery rate by more than 97% through an additional zirconium recovery process while reducing a hafnium content in zirconium by less than 50 ppm.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 28, 2013
    Date of Patent: July 15, 2014
    Assignees: Korea Institute of Science and Technology, Posco M-Tech
    Inventors: Hwa Young Lee, Byung Won Cho, Joong Kee Lee
  • Patent number: 8771619
    Abstract: A method for selectively removing arsenic from a sulphide material containing arsenic by conducting a leaching step that includes contacting the material with a leaching solution that leaches arsenic from the material to form a pregnant liquor containing dissolved arsenic and a solid of a sulphide material of reduced arsenic content, and subsequently separating the solid from the pregnant liquor. The fresh leaching solution that is provided to the leaching step is an alkaline solution having a sulphide-containing compound present in an amount of from 0 to 1.0 times the amount of sulphur containing compound required to react with the arsenic present in the material.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: October 19, 2011
    Date of Patent: July 8, 2014
    Assignee: Xstrata Queensland Limited
    Inventors: David Nakon, David Michael Way
  • Patent number: 8771622
    Abstract: A method for removing impurities from a waste solid to provide at least a portion of a suitable crystallizer feed to a process for making crystalline sodium carbonate, bicarbonate, and/or other derivatives. The method comprises: contacting the waste solid with a leach solution to dissolve at least one impurity and dissolving the resulting leached residue. Leaching may include heap percolation. The leach solution may comprise a crystallizer purge liquor, a process waste effluent, a mine water, or mixtures thereof. The method may further comprise adding a magnesium compound to the resulting leached residue during or after its dissolution to remove another impurity. The waste solid preferably comprises a pond solid containing such impurities. The pond solid may be recovered from a pond receiving crystallizer purge liquor(s) and/or other process waste effluent(s). The pond solid may contain sodium carbonate, any hydrate thereof, sodium bicarbonate, and/or sodium sesquicarbonate.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: May 3, 2011
    Date of Patent: July 8, 2014
    Assignee: Solvay Chemicals, Inc.
    Inventors: Ronald O. Hughes, Jessica A. Mote, Alain Vandendoren, James D. Phillip, David W. Smith