The Penn State Research Foundation

Elixsys, Inc.

Carbo Ceramics Inc.

Ameritech Holding Corporation

Ameritech Holdings Corporation

Barry E Scheetz

John R Hellmann

Joseph D Preston

Guido Greco

Lucien Papouchado

Ryan P Koseski

Vincent Pernice

Brett A Wilson

Walter G Luscher

Disclosed herein are system and methods for producing a high purity ammonium sulfate product as well as either a lower or a high purity calcium carbonate product by reacting flue gas desulfurization (FGD) gypsum feedstock in batch or continuous mode using synthesized ammonium carbonate from ammonia and carbon dioxide gases. The high purity calcium carbonate is obtained by using a precipitation catalyst, filtering out the impurities, then precipitating a high purity calcium carbonate. Alternatively, the lower purity calcium carbonate may be dissolved in acid, impurities filtered out, then a high purity calcium carbonate is precipitated out using a soluble carbonate salt.

Systems and methods to treat flue gas desulfurization waste to produce ammonium sulfate and calcium carbonate products

Disclosed herein are system and methods to effectively leach coal ash with hydrochloric acid and separate an insoluble silica product and then selectively precipitate, from the leachate, a number to value-added, strategic, marketable products using a hydroxide reagent. The resulting precipitated products include iron, aluminum, magnesium, calcium, and a mixture of rare earth elements and transition metals. These can be separated as hydroxides or converted to oxides or carbonates. Using hydrochloric acid for leaching and converting the chloride to sodium chloride in the final step results in practically no waste for this process. The silica can be further purified using sodium hydroxide fusion or caustic leach methods and some minor streams from this process are recycled to minimize any waste stream. These systems and methods can be applied to a number of other industrial waste products such as red mud from the aluminum process, slag from steel furnaces, mine tailings, and other metal-bearing waste streams.

Systems and methods to chemically treat metal-bearing waste streams to recover value-added materials

A process for producing proppants from waste mineralogical material. The process can include providing the waste mineralogical material in a form such as particles, fines, dust, powders, and the like, and forming a plurality of 'green' pellets from the waste mineralogical material. Thereafter, the plurality of green pellets are fed into a provided flame drop tower that has a combustion flame, a hot zone, and a collection basin located downstream from the hot zone. The plurality of green pellets pass through the hot zone, are melted and subsequently solidified in the shape of a sphere downstream from the hot zone to form vitrified glass spheres. In some instances, the vitrified glass spheres are subjected to a devitrification step.

Proppants from mineralogical material

A process for increasing toughness of glass particulates is provided. The process includes providing an aluminosilicate glass particulate, the glass particulate generally having the form of a sphere, and heating the glass particulate to a temperature greater than 600&#xb0; C. for a predetermined time. Thereafter, the glass particulate can be cooled to ambient temperature and the heating step can alter the failure mechanism of the glass particulate from a high energy failure that produces generally fine powder to a lower energy failure that produces generally large fragments. The glass particulate can be an amorphous glass particulate and may or may not have a nominal composition that corresponds to rhyolite, basalt, tholeiite, olivine and/or andesite.

Treatment of melt quenched aluminosilicate glass spheres for application as proppants via devitrification processes

Disclosed is a method for making a material having a controlled microstructure, the method including providing particles of a ceramic mineral material, the particles having a metal oxide dopant therein. The particles of the ceramic mineral material are consolidated into larger aggregates of a size relevant to the desired application using standard industrial mixing and pelletizing technology. The aggregates are heated under reducing conditions so that at least part of the dopant is reduced to form a transient, metastable liquid phase among the particles. The liquid phase includes at least part of the reduced dopant and promotes sintering of the particles and forms islands of reduced metal within the material and on the surface of the aggregates. Following heating of the aggregates under reducing conditions, the aggregates are heated under oxidizing conditions such that the islands of reduced metal are oxidized and/or go into solid solution within the particles, thereby creating voids within and form a shell thereon the particles.

Material having a controlled microstructure, core-shell macrostructure, and method for its fabrication

Systems and methods of making and using fine particle materials in pigment blends and for using the aforementioned pigment blends in paint, coating, or coloring compositions are provided. This invention further provides systems and methods of enhancing the visual appearance of a variety of substrates by introducing a paint, coating, or coloring composition to the substrate. The fine particle materials of the present invention have a substantially random geometric shape, a particle size less than about 100 microns, and help provide both functional and visual enhancing properties to compositions and substrates containing these fine particle materials.

Growing community of inventors

Lemont, PA, United States of America

Barry E Scheetz