Michigan Technological University

Timothy C Eisele

Surendra K Kawatra

John J Simmons

Lawrence L Sutter

Surendra Komar Kawatra

There is provided a process for the capture and sequestration of carbon dioxide that would otherwise enter the atmosphere and contribute to global warming and other problems. COcapture is accomplished by reacting carbon dioxide in flue gas with an alkali metal carbonate, or a metal oxide, particularly containing an alkaline earth metal or iron, to form a carbonate salt. A preferred carbonate for COcapture is a dilute aqueous solution of additive-free (NaCO). Other carbonates include (KCO) or other metal ion that can produce both a carbonate and a bicarbonate salt. Examples of suitable metal oxides include several alkaline earths including CaO and MgO. The captured COis preferably sequestered using any available mineral or industrial waste that contains calcium magnesium or iron in non-carbonate forms, or iron in the Feoxidation state.

Capture and sequestration of carbon dioxide in flue gases

To produce metallic iron from iron ore, a composition comprising a mass of material formed from a mixture of iron ore particles and particles of a reductant that is either a biomass material in particulate form or a plastic resinous material in particulate form is used. The reductant can also be a mixture of biomass material and resin in any proportions. The mass of material comprises at least one body having a shape adapted for smelting such as pellets, briquettes, pieces or lumps. The pellets have sufficient cohesion to maintain the shape into which they have been formed. The invention also provides a new method for smelting iron from its ore which comprises subdividing the ore into particles of a selected size, mixing the subdivided ore particles with particles of a biomass material or particles of a plastic resinous material or with mixtures thereof, forming a mass of the mixture into at least one body with a shape that is suited for smelting in a furnace and placing the body in a furnace and exposing it to sufficient heat to bring the iron therein to smelting temperature within the furnace to thereby produce metallic iron directly from the ore.

Production of iron using environmentally-benign renewable or recycled reducing agents

A method for producing powder from polycrystalline inorganic material by contacting polycrystalline inorganic material with the vapor of one or more reduced alkali metals in an environment substantially free of oxygen for a period of time sufficient to cause disintegration of the polycrystalline inorganic material into powder. The polycrystalline inorganic material may consist of one or more oxides, sulfides, or silicates, or combinations thereof. The polycrystalline inorganic material may also comprise a rock or mineral, such as basalt or pyrite.

Method for producing powder from polycrystalline inorganic material

An apparatus for separating by froth flotation hydrophobic and hydrophilic particles contained in an aqueous slurry, the apparatus comprising a generally vertical tubular column having an upper froth zone, an upper separation zone, a lower separation zone, an air inlet zone, and an intermediate feed inlet zone; a feed inlet, air inlet, froth outlet and a tailings outlet; an upper baffle unit comprising a plurality of horizontally extending upper baffle plates, a vertical upper support member including an upper end portion, and first upper apparatus for removably mounting the upper baffle plates on the upper support member at predetermined vertically spaced positions; each of the upper baffle plates comprising a mounting aperture and a plurality of flow apertures; and a second upper apparatus for removably supporting the upper support member in the column with the upper baffle plates in the upper separation zone. The apparatus can include a lower baffle unit. The open area of each baffle plate and the vertical space between adjacent baffle plates can vary between different baffle plates in dependence upon the position of a baffle plate in the column, or in dependence upon one or more of the following: a solids flow rate at the position, a liquid flow rate at the position, and a gas flow rate at the position. The invention also provides a method for improving the operating performance of an unbaffled column.

Flotation column with adjustable supported baffles

Oxygen and metallic iron are produced from an iron oxide-containing mineral, such as ilmenite, by extracting iron from the mineral with hydrochloric acid, separating solid residue from the resulting solution and drying same, electrolyzing the separated, iron chloride-containing solution to produce electrolytic iron and chlorine gas, combining the chlorine gas with water recovered from the drying and/or iron chloride-containing solution electrolysis steps of regenerate hydrochloric acid and recycling the hydrochloric acid to the extraction step. In an alternate embodiment, the chlorine gas is reacted with recovered water in the presence of a catalyst to produce hydrochloric acid which is recycled to the extraction step, thereby eliminating the need for water electrolysis and a separate hydrochloric acid regeneration step. In another alternate embodiment, electrolysis of the iron chloride-containing solution is operated to produce oxygen instead of chlorine gas at the anode and hydrochloric acid is generated concurrently with plating of iron at the cathode. This hydrochloric acid is recycled to the extraction step, thereby eliminating the need for water electrolysis and a separate hydrochloric acid regeneration step.

Process for the extracting oxygen and iron from iron oxide-containing

The ash content of coal suspended in a slurry is determined by bombarding a sample of the slurry flowing past a window of a measuring chamber with radiation from an annular nucleonic source, such as Cm-244, for emitting radiation within the range of about 7 to about 30 KeV and causing the sample to emit both backscattered and iron fluorescent x-rays. These x-rays are detected by a radiation detector which produces first and second electrical signals representative of the intensity of each. The density of the sample flowing from the measuring chamber is measured, such as by a nucelonic density gauge, to produce an electrical signal representative of the density and the ash content is determined from the detected intensities of the backscattered and iron fluorescent x-rays and the sample density.

Growing community of inventors

Houghton, MI, United States of America

Timothy C Eisele