Patents Examined by Tima M. McGuthry-Banks
  • Patent number: 9677157
    Abstract: A process of preparing an aluminum alloy includes the following steps: first adding and completely melting a ZL101 Al-Si ingot and then covering the melt next adding one of modifiers Te and Sb and then performing heat preservation; finally adding one or more of rare earth elements La, Ce, Y and transition metal element Hf and then performing heat preservation. The ZL101 Al-Si alloy melt after the treatments can be casted into an ingot or a part after refining.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 3, 2015
    Date of Patent: June 13, 2017
    Assignee: CITIC DICASTAL Co., LTD
    Inventors: Lisheng Wang, Zhendong Zhang, Chunhai Liu, Yongning Wang, Zhihua Zhu, Changhai Li
  • Patent number: 9670564
    Abstract: Described herein are methods of making metallic or elemental silver. These methods generally include a step of forming a reaction dispersion that includes a silver-containing compound, an organic acid, and a solvent that includes an alcohol, followed by mixing the reaction dispersion for a time and at a temperature effective to form a reaction product that includes metallic silver from a cationic silver species of the silver-containing compound. Also described herein are metallic or elemental silver produced by these methods.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: August 29, 2013
    Date of Patent: June 6, 2017
    Assignee: CORNING INCORPORATED
    Inventors: Benedict Yorke Johnson, Samuel Odei Owusu
  • Patent number: 9670559
    Abstract: An apparatus of adding high vapor pressure magnesium to a steel liquid, includes a magnesium additive device and a tube furnace. The magnesium additive device includes a storage barrel, a conveying pipe, a control valve, and an insertion tube. A method of adding high vapor pressure magnesium to a steel liquid, includes placing the magnesium additive device in the tube furnace, and delivering pure magnesium particles into the storage barrel. When the temperature at the mediate lower position of the conveying pipe is increased to reach a preset value, the control valve is opened to pour the pure magnesium particles into the conveying pipe to form a magnesium vapor, and an argon regulating valve is opened to introduce the argon into the conveying pipe so as to add the magnesium vapor to a steel liquid by carrying of the argon.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: July 6, 2015
    Date of Patent: June 6, 2017
    Assignee: National Cheng Kung University
    Inventors: Weng-Sing Hwang, Jian Zhang, Cheng-Qian Zhang, Hsin-Ying Tseng, Yen-Hao Su, Muh-Jung Lu
  • Patent number: 9663838
    Abstract: After molten metal has been poured from a ladle 6 into a converter, metal 6b adhering to the ladle 6 is dropped into the ladle 6 on-line, and molten metal is poured from an electric furnace into the ladle 6 into which the metal 6b has been dropped. As a result, the metal 6b is melted and is recovered as a material.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: July 25, 2013
    Date of Patent: May 30, 2017
    Assignee: Nisshin Steel Co., Ltd.
    Inventors: Takahiro Yoshino, Masayuki Sugiura, Masakazu Mori, Shintarou Tada
  • Patent number: 9657993
    Abstract: Described are solid agglomerates of fine metal particles and methods for manufacturing same. A liquid oily lubricant is used in the manufacture of the solid agglomerates. The manufacturing comprises blending fine metal particles with the liquid oily lubricant and compacting the oily metallic mixture obtained to desired solid form. Advantageously, the solid agglomerates possess a desirable density, a suitable resistance to crumbling and dusting during handling, and they can resist to high temperature and to humidity. Solid agglomerated metal products, according to the invention, may be useful for different purposes such as quality charge material for steel plants, blast furnaces and foundries.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: February 20, 2015
    Date of Patent: May 23, 2017
    Assignee: GESTION MCMARLAND INC.
    Inventors: Michel Beaudoin, Raymond Bernier, Martin Gagne, Marie-Josee Robichaud
  • Patent number: 9650693
    Abstract: A method for recovering lead from lead-containing discarded electronic waste cathode ray tube glass includes the steps of taking a sample of cathode ray tube lead-containing funnel glass, crushing to obtain CRT glass powder, then uniformly mixing zero-valent iron powder with the CRT glass powder according to the mass ratio of 0.1-1.5:1, performing heat preservation at a temperature of 610-960° C. for 3-180 min, and further cooling to extract the metallic lead from a SiO2 reticular glass structure of the CRT glass. This can be applied to pretreatment of the lead-containing waste CRT glass, and the metallic lead is extracted from the reticular silicate structure of the lead-containing waste CRT glass by adding the zero-valent iron in the thermal treatment process so that disposal rate of electronic wastes is improved and ecological safety is ensured. This method has important environmental, social and economic significance and broad application prospects.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: October 17, 2012
    Date of Patent: May 16, 2017
    Assignee: GUANGDONG INSTITUTE OF ECO-ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY
    Inventors: Chengshuai Liu, Xingwen Lu, Kaimin Shih, Fangbai Li
  • Patent number: 9650694
    Abstract: A process of treating a solid material containing lead and elemental sulphur, by feeding the solid material to a furnace containing a bath of molten slag under conditions such that elemental sulphur burns in the furnace to form sulphur dioxide and lead in the solid material is oxidized and reports to the slag, then removing a gas stream containing sulphur dioxide from the furnace, and finally removing a lead-containing slag from the furnace.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: August 19, 2014
    Date of Patent: May 16, 2017
    Assignee: Glencore Technology Pty Limited
    Inventors: Martin Lluis Olaf Paul Bakker, Alistair Stewart Burrows
  • Patent number: 9650695
    Abstract: The present invention relates to a method of treating lead anode slime having high fluorine and arsenic content, in particular to a method comprising smelting of the lead anode slime and cleaning the produced off gases in a one or more wet gas cleaning stages.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: November 19, 2014
    Date of Patent: May 16, 2017
    Assignee: OUTOTEC (FINLAND) OY
    Inventors: Gunnar Berg, Mikhail Maliarik, Bert Ögren
  • Patent number: 9650688
    Abstract: A method of recovering Fe from steel-making slag is disclosed. The method includes the steps of melting steel-making slag having a higher Fe content than iron-making slag by heating the steel-making slag to a first temperature; cooling the molten slag to a second temperature that is lower than the first temperature and then maintaining the same at the second temperature for a predetermined time to thus precipitate Fe in the molten slag, thereby forming and growing an Fe-rich phase; rapidly cooling the slag to room temperature; and crushing the solidified slag and magnetically separating a magnetically-susceptible portion from a magnetically-unsusceptible portion.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 28, 2014
    Date of Patent: May 16, 2017
    Assignee: INDUSTRY-ACADEMIC COOPERATION FOUNDATION, YONSEI UNIVERSITY
    Inventors: Il Sohn, SungSuk Jung
  • Patent number: 9631253
    Abstract: The present invention refers to an effective method for minimizing the problems of iron ore pellet degradation by weathering during their stockpiling, i.e., by providing an appropriate method for improving the state of the art with regard to iron ore pellet resistance related just to the hydration process of the slag phase. Thus, in order to minimize hydration in the slag phase, stabilizers are introduced into the mixture used to produce iron ore pellets prior to being heat-treated.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 16, 2014
    Date of Patent: April 25, 2017
    Assignee: VALE S.A.
    Inventors: Maria Beatriz Harmendani Vieira, Marcus Eduardo Emrich Botelho
  • Patent number: 9631256
    Abstract: This alkali metal and/or alkali earth metal extraction method is superior in terms of cost and allows repeated use of the aqueous solution that extracts alkali metal and/or alkali earth metal from a solid. This method is for extracting alkali metal and/or alkali earth metal from a solid containing an alkali metal and/or alkali earth metal, and involves an elution step in which the solid is added to an amino acid-containing aqueous solution, and the alkali metal and/or alkali earth metal is eluted into the amino acid-containing aqueous solution.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: July 4, 2013
    Date of Patent: April 25, 2017
    Assignee: AISIN SEIKI KABUSHIKI KAISHA
    Inventor: Yoshiki Wakimoto
  • Patent number: 9624558
    Abstract: A method for producing blast-furnace blowing coal to be blown through a tuyere into the interior of the blast-furnace body of a blast furnace, wherein: the composition and melting point of the ash from the coal are analyzed in advance; the composition of the blast-furnace slag is analyzed in advance; the blast-furnace slag contains more calcium oxide than the coal ash does; and the coal and the blast-furnace slag are mixed, on the basis of the composition and melting point of the coal ash and the composition of the blast-furnace slag, and in a manner such that the amount of calcium oxide contained in a quaternary system phase diagram including silicon dioxide, magnesium oxide, aluminum oxide and calcium oxide, which are the principal components of the coal ash and the blast-furnace slag, causes the melting point of the ash to be 1400° C. or higher.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: April 25, 2013
    Date of Patent: April 18, 2017
    Assignee: MITSUBISHI HEAVY INDUSTRIES, LTD.
    Inventors: Setsuo Omoto, Keiichi Nakagawa, Tsutomu Hamada, Masakazu Sakaguchi
  • Patent number: 9617618
    Abstract: The present invention relates to an apparatus and method for purifying materials using a fractional solidification. Devices and methods shown provide control over a temperature gradient and cooling rate during fractional solidification, which results in a material of higher purity. The apparatus and methods of the present invention can be used to make silicon material for use in solar applications such as solar cells.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: February 1, 2013
    Date of Patent: April 11, 2017
    Assignee: Silicor Materials Inc.
    Inventors: Abdallah Nouri, Chunhui Zhang, Kamel Ounadjela
  • Patent number: 9617619
    Abstract: Provided is a hydrometallurgical process for nickel oxide ore by high pressure acid leach that achieves a high iron oxidation ratio. The carbon grade in ore slurry and the flow rate are measured to determine the amount of carbon to be fed, and then, sulfuric acid is added. The blowing ratio of high pressure air and high pressure oxygen is adjusted so as to attain an oxygen purity of 21% to 60%. While the oxygen purity is maintained, an oxygen blowing amount per weight of carbon contained in the ore slurry and fed in the second step is adjusted to 200 to 600 Nm3, whereby ORP (Ag/AgCl basis) in the leaching treatment is controlled to 400 to 650 mV.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: January 23, 2014
    Date of Patent: April 11, 2017
    Assignee: SUMITOMO METAL MINING CO., LTD.
    Inventors: Yoshiteru Sato, Isao Nishikawa, Hirotaka Higuchi, Izumi Sugita, Osamu Nakano
  • Patent number: 9617609
    Abstract: On the basis of data obtained by means of analyzing coal, a first and second coal type satisfying conditions are selected, the ash melting point of the mixed coal resulting from mixing the first and second coal types is derived on the basis of a four-dimensional state diagram for SiO2—CaO—MgO-20% Al2O3, on the basis of the ash melting point of the mixed coal and the four-dimensional state diagram, an additive causing the ash melting point of the mixed coal to be at least 1400° C. at the lowest quantity when added to the mixed coal is selected from SiO2, MgO, and CaO, the addition quantity of the additive is derived, the first coal type and second coal type are mixed to result in the mixed coal, and the addition quantity of the additive is added to the mixed coal.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: September 19, 2013
    Date of Patent: April 11, 2017
    Assignee: MITSUBISHI HEAVY INDUSTRIES, LTD.
    Inventors: Keiichi Nakagawa, Setsuo Omoto, Masakazu Sakaguchi, Tsutomu Hamada
  • Patent number: 9617620
    Abstract: An alumina- or magnesia-reducing process in which a greenhouse gas or substance harmful to the human body is not emitted, which can achieve improved energy efficiency in comparison with the Hall-Heroult or Pidgeon methods. The process includes: introducing an alumina or magnesia powder with a carrier gas to the upstream side of a throat provided on a reducing unit; pressure-transferring the powder and carrier gas to the throat by an operative gas introduced to the upstream side of the throat; irradiating the throat with a laser beam to convert the alumina or magnesia into a plasma state and dissociate the alumina or magnesia thermally; jetting the thermally dissociated product through a nozzle provided on the downstream side of the throat at a supersonic speed to form a frozen flow; and isolating aluminum or magnesium. Hydrogen may be added to the operative gas to accelerate the reduction of alumina or magnesia.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 8, 2013
    Date of Patent: April 11, 2017
    Inventors: Yoshihiro Arakawa, Masakatsu Nakano, Makoto Matsui, Tetsuya Goto
  • Patent number: 9611520
    Abstract: A method for plasma treatment of wet metal-containing wastes in which a plasma treatment unit comprises an electrically conductive hearth for holding a layer of slag and optionally a layer of metal produced by the plasma treatment. A graphite electrode is arranged above the hearth, so that, in use, a plasma arc is formed between the electrode and the hearth. One or more inlets for the particulate metal-containing waste are arranged adjacent to the electrode and sufficiently close to the electrode so that, in use, the particulate metal-containing waste fed into the plasma treatment unit falls close to the arc formed between the electrode and the hearth and is heated by the plasma arc before contacting the slag layer such that moisture present in the particulate metal-containing waste is completely volatilized in a head space of the furnace.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 12, 2012
    Date of Patent: April 4, 2017
    Assignee: Tetronics (International) Limited
    Inventors: David Deegan, Matthew Slinn
  • Patent number: 9605326
    Abstract: A blast furnace system is used wherein the coke rate is decreased by recycling upgraded top gas from the furnace back into its shaft section (which upgraded top gas is heated in a tubular heater prior to being recycled). The top gas, comprising CO, CO2 and H2, is withdrawn from the upper part of the blast furnace; cooled and cleaned of dust, water, and CO2 for increasing its reduction potential and is heated to a temperature above 850° C. before being recycled thus defining a first gas flow path used during normal operation of the blast furnace. Uniquely, a second gas flow path for continued circulation of top gas selectively through the heater and a cooler during operation interruptions of the blast furnace allows time for gradual controlled cool down of the heater in a manner to avoid heat-shock damage to the tubular heater.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: July 3, 2013
    Date of Patent: March 28, 2017
    Assignee: HYL TECHNOLOGIES, S.A. DE C.V.
    Inventor: Jose Juan Martinez-Contreras
  • Patent number: 9605225
    Abstract: Provided is a method for preparing blast furnace blow-in coal that can, at a low cost, obtain blast furnace blow-in coal that suppresses occlusion by blast furnace blow-in ash or accretion of blast furnace blow-in ash in a pathway leading to a tuyere of a blast furnace main body, while suppressing a decrease in the amount of heat release. The method includes selecting first and second coal types satisfying conditions (S2, S3), on the basis of the CaO content in the ash when the oxides of Al, Si, Ca, and Mg in the ash is 100 wt % and the Al2O3 content in the ash is 20 wt %, deriving the mixing ratio of the first and second coal types that results in the CaO content in the ash of the mixed coal being at least 40 wt % (S4), and mixing the first and second coal types (S5) at the mixing ratio.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: September 13, 2013
    Date of Patent: March 28, 2017
    Assignee: MITSUBISHI HEAVY INDUSTRIES, LTD.
    Inventors: Keiichi Nakagawa, Setsuo Omoto, Masakazu Sakaguchi, Tsutomu Hamada
  • Patent number: 9605332
    Abstract: An apparatus and method are described for effectively priming a non-electrically conductive filter for removal of solid inclusions from liquid metal. In one embodiment, the ceramic filter media is surrounded by a low frequency induction coil (1-60 Hz) with its axis aligned in the direction of the net metal flow. The coil is positioned to enhance the heating of any metal frozen onto, or in the pores of, the filter element. In one embodiment, the coil is positioned in order to generate Lorentz forces, which act to cause heated metal to impinge on the upper surface of the filter element, enhancing the priming action. Once a filter equipped with such a coil has been primed, it can be kept hot or reheated, and subsequently reused during several batch tapping sequences.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: April 25, 2013
    Date of Patent: March 28, 2017
    Assignee: NORWEIGIAN UNIVERSITY OF SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY (NTNU)
    Inventors: Mark William Kennedy, Shahid Akhtar, Robert Fritzsch, Jon Arne Bakken, Ragnhild Elisabeth Aune