The patent badge is an abbreviated version of the USPTO patent document. The patent badge does contain a link to the full patent document.
The patent badge is an abbreviated version of the USPTO patent document. The patent badge covers the following: Patent number, Date patent was issued, Date patent was filed, Title of the patent, Applicant, Inventor, Assignee, Attorney firm, Primary examiner, Assistant examiner, CPCs, and Abstract. The patent badge does contain a link to the full patent document (in Adobe Acrobat format, aka pdf). To download or print any patent click here.
Patent No.:
Date of Patent:
Dec. 16, 2003
Filed:
Sep. 23, 2002
Applicant:
Inventor:
Joseph L. Katz, Baltimore, MD (US);
Assignee:
Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, MD (US);
Primary Examiner:
Int. Cl.
CPC ...
B03C 3/014 ; B03C 3/016 ;
U.S. Cl.
CPC ...
B03C 3/014 ; B03C 3/016 ;
Abstract
Elemental mercury is removed from emissions of coal-fired utilities by the selective photoionization of mercury atoms using ultraviolet light, followed by electrostatic precipitation of the mercury ions. Mercury is first exposed to light of a wavelength which boosts the mercury to an excited state. Then mercury is ionized using light of a different wavelength. The ionized mercury atoms are exposed to supersaturated water vapor to produce charged droplets which are precipitated, such that the exhaust effluent is substantially devoid of mercury or the mercury level is substantially reduced.