Patents by Inventor Bruce S. Kang

Bruce S. Kang has filed for patents to protect the following inventions. This listing includes patent applications that are pending as well as patents that have already been granted by the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO).

  • Patent number: 8658311
    Abstract: Instead of CCS technique, a possible approach to mitigate the greenhouse gas (GHG) emission is to decompose it into useful products. This invention shows a high temperature rechargeable battery system for decomposition of oxygen-containing gases (e.g CO2/H2O, NOx, SOx, in particular GHG), oxygen generation, and energy storage by using ODF/La2NiO4-based materials in Li/Ti/Mg—CO2 battery architecture. Different from ionic Lithium conducting electrolyte, the invention has a higher ionic oxygen conducting electrolyte to work efficiently at higher temperature without sacrificing safety. During battery discharge, GHG can be decomposed into syngas (CO+H2) or solid carbon, while renewable energy (e.g. solar/wind power) could be used to charge the battery and generate oxygen. The energy consumption for GHG decomposition is self-sustainable and the byproducts (i.e. carbon/syngas and oxygen) have good market values.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 7, 2012
    Date of Patent: February 25, 2014
    Inventors: Bruce S. Kang, Huang Guo
  • Patent number: 8609187
    Abstract: The disclosure provides a method for the production of composite particles utilizing a mechano chemical bonding process following by high energy ball milling on a powder mixture comprised of coating particles, first host particles, and second host particles. The composite particles formed have a grain size of less than one micron with grains generally characterized by a uniformly dispersed coating material and a mix of first material and second material intermetallics. The method disclosed is particularly useful for the fabrication of oxide dispersion strengthened coatings, for example using a powder mixture comprised of Y2O3, Cr, Ni, and Al. This particular powder mixture may be subjected to the MCB process for a period generally less than one hour following by high energy ball milling for a period as short as 2 hours. After application by cold spraying, the composite particles may be heat treated to generate an oxide-dispersion strengthened coating.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 27, 2011
    Date of Patent: December 17, 2013
    Assignee: U.S. Department of Energy
    Inventors: Bruce S. Kang, Minking K. Chyu, Mary Anne Alvin, Brian M. Gleeson
  • Publication number: 20130122381
    Abstract: This invention shows a high temperature rechargeable battery system for energy storage, oxygen generation, and decomposition of oxygen-containing gases (e.g. CO2/H2O, NOR, SOx, in particular greenhouse gas (GHG)) by using ODF/La2NiO4-based materials in Li/Ti/Mg-CO2 battery architecture. Different from ionic Lithium conducting electrolyte, the invention has a higher ionic oxygen conducting electrolyte to work efficiently at elevated temperature without sacrificing safety. During battery discharge, GHG can be decomposed into syngas (CO+H2) or solid carbon, while renewable energy (e.g. solar or wind power) can be used to charge the battery and generate oxygen. The energy consumption for GHG decomposition is self-sustainable and the byproducts (i.e. carbon/syngas and oxygen) have good market values. The adoption of cost effective materials other than Lithium is significant for scaled-up applications and represents an entirely new approach.
    Type: Application
    Filed: December 7, 2012
    Publication date: May 16, 2013
    Inventors: Bruce S. Kang, Huang Guo
  • Publication number: 20120228150
    Abstract: Oxygen Deficient Ferrites (ODF) electrodes integrated with Yttria Stabilized Zirconia (YSZ) electrolyte, electrochemically decompose carbon dioxide (CO2) into carbon (C)/carbon monoxide (CO) and oxygen (O2) in a continuous process. The ODF electrodes can be kept active by applying a small potential bias across the electrodes. CO2 and water (H2O) can also be electrolyzed simultaneously to produce syngas (H2+CO) and O2 continuously that can be fed back to the oxy-fuel combustion. With this approach, CO2 can be transformed into a valuable fuel source allowing CO2 neutral use of the hydrocarbon fuels.
    Type: Application
    Filed: March 8, 2011
    Publication date: September 13, 2012
    Inventors: Bruce S. Kang, Huang Guo, Gulfam Iqbal