General Electric Company

General Electric Environmental Services, Inc.

Joseph L Weininger

Bang M Kim

Fred F Holub

Roy F Thornton

Gregory C Farrington

Wastewater from metal plating operations is treated to remove heavy metal and other contaminants, including toxic organic materials, chelating agents, and cyanide. The wastewater is passed through the cathode and anode of an electrochemical reactor in which the cathode preferably comprises a felt mass of conductive fibers and the anode comprises porous carbon, carbon fibers or metal oxides. A method and apparatus are disclosed which are particularly useful in removing impurities from plating plant wastewater.

Electrolytic reactor for cleaning wastewater

Nobel metals such as silver and gold are removed from solutions containing them in an electrolytic process in which the cathode of an electrolytic cell comprises a carbon fiber mass. Metal ions are plated out on to the carbon fibers which exhibit a large surface area in the highly porous cathode. Recovery of the metal values is obtained through heating the plated fiber mass to a temperature sufficient to burn off the carbon fibers.

Electrowinning of noble metals

A solid ion-conductive electrolyte is described which comprises a polymer film, a plurality of solid polycrystalline ion-conductive particles embedded therein, and the particles exposed at both opposite surfaces of the film.

Solid ion-conductive electrolyte

A method of producing a sealed electrolyte-limited lead-acid battery is described which includes providing a container having a body portion and a cover with at least one opening therein, providing at least one positive plate, providing at least one negative plate, positioning a separator therebetween, positioning the plates with separator therebetween within the body portion of the container, affixing the cover to the body portion of the container, adding a limited amount of sulfuric acid electrolyte within the body portion containing a metallic sulfate in an amount equivalent to from 0.01 to 2.5 weight percent sodium sulfate, forming charged positive and negative plates therein, and sealing the battery.

Method of producing a sealed electrolyte-limited lead-acid battery

Solid, ultrafine porous polymer articles and processes of producing such polymer articles are described wherein a solid body of a crystalline thermoplastic polymer exhibiting at least 70 percent crystallinity or blends of such crystalline thermoplastic polymers and thermoplastic polymers exhibiting up to 65 percent crystallinity where the latter polymer is present in an amount up to 50 weight percent of the crystalline polymer is heated at a temperature of at least in its melting temperature range, a benzoate salt is incorporated therein forming a composite body, the composite body is shaped at a temperature in the range of the initial heating temperature of the polymer, the shaped composite body is cooled to room temperature forming a solid composite body, and the salt is dissolved from the solid composite body leaving the polymer as an ultrafine porous article.

Growing community of inventors

Schenectady, NY, United States of America

Joseph L Weininger