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US 10,035,958 B2Granted
Processing materials
AssigneeXyleco, Inc.
InventorMarshall Medoff
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
Biomass (e.g., plant biomass, animal biomass, and municipal waste biomass) is processed to produce useful products, such as fuels. For example, systems are described that can use feedstock materials, such as cellulosic and/or lignocellulosic materials and/or starchy materials, to produce ethanol and/or butanol, e.g., by fermentation. Hydrocarbon-containing materials are also used as feedstocks.
Claims25
A method of processing a hydrocarbon-containing material, the method comprising:
- irradiating, with an ion beam comprising accelerated charged particles having energies of from 1 to 6000 MeV/atomic unit, a combination formed by combining the hydrocarbon-containing material with an inorganic material, to produce an irradiated combination, wherein the hydrocarbon-containing material is coal and the inorganic material comprises a ceramic.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.