Back to results
US 10,221,465 B2Granted
Material processing systems and methods
AssigneeElwha LLC
InventorsRoderick A. Hyde, Jordin T. Kare, Nathan P. Myhrvold, Clarence T. Tegreene, Charles Whitmer, Lowell L. Wood, Jr.
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
A method of processing material includes positioning a transmitter to engage an ore sample with a sub-millisecond electromagnetic pulse, the ore sample including a conductive mineral particle and a volume of a gangue, specifying a characteristic of the electromagnetic pulse based on a desired energy deposition for the conductive mineral particle using a processing circuit, and selectively depositing energy with the electromagnetic pulse to at least one of melt and vaporize the conductive mineral particle by controlling the transmitter with the processing circuit.
Claims15
A material processing apparatus, comprising:
- a transmitter configured to irradiate an ore sample with a sub-millisecond pulse comprising at least one of a sub-millisecond microwave pulse and a sub-millisecond radiofrequency pulse in response to a command signal, the ore sample including a conductive mineral particle and a volume of a gangue;
- and
- a processing circuit coupled to the transmitter, wherein the processing circuit is configured to:
- specify the command signal for the transmitter, wherein the command signal varies based on a characteristic of the sub-millisecond pulse, wherein the characteristic includes a pulse length of the sub-millisecond pulse, wherein the processing circuit is configured to specify the pulse length based on at least one of (a) a thermal diffusivity of the volume of the gangue and (b) a thermal diffusion rate from the conductive mineral particle into the volume of the gangue;
- and
- provide the command signal to the transmitter such that the sub-millisecond pulse selectively deposits energy to at least one of melt and vaporize the conductive mineral particle of the ore sample.
3 more elements
A material processing apparatus, comprising:
- a transmitter configured to irradiate an ore sample with a sub-millisecond pulse comprising at least one of a sub-millisecond microwave pulse and a sub-millisecond radiofrequency pulse in response to a command signal, the ore sample including a conductive mineral particle and a volume of a gangue;
- and
- a processing circuit coupled to the transmitter, wherein the processing circuit is configured to:
- specify the command signal for the transmitter, wherein the command signal varies based on a characteristic of the sub-millisecond pulse, wherein the characteristic produces an energy deposition from the sub-millisecond pulse into the conductive mineral particle at a rate that is greater than a thermal diffusion rate from the conductive mineral particle into the volume of the gangue;
- and
- provide the command signal to the transmitter such that the sub-millisecond pulse selectively deposits energy to at least one of melt and vaporize the conductive mineral particle of the ore sample.
3 more elements
A material processing apparatus, comprising:
- a transmitter configured to irradiate an ore sample with a sub-millisecond pulse comprising at least one of a sub-millisecond microwave pulse and a sub-millisecond radiofrequency pulse in response to a command signal, the ore sample including a conductive mineral particle and a volume of a gangue;
- a processing circuit coupled to the transmitter, wherein the processing circuit is configured to:
- specify the command signal for the transmitter, wherein the command signal varies based on a characteristic of the sub-millisecond pulse;
- and
- provide the command signal to the transmitter such that the sub-millisecond pulse selectively deposits energy to vaporize the conductive mineral particle of the ore sample to produce a mineral vapor, wherein interaction between the mineral vapor and the ore sample at least partially weakens the volume of the gangue;
- and
- at least one of:
- a recovery system configured to collect at least a portion of the mineral vapor;
- and
- a reducer positioned to decrease the size of the ore sample.
7 more elements
A material processing apparatus, comprising:
- a transporter configured to transfer an ore sample from a first position to a second position through a first zone, wherein the ore sample includes a conductive mineral particle and a volume of a gangue;
- a transmitter positioned to irradiate the first zone with a sub-millisecond electromagnetic pulse in response to a command signal;
- and
- a processing circuit coupled to the transmitter, wherein the processing circuit is configured to:
- specify the command signal for the transmitter, wherein the command signal varies based on a characteristic of the sub-millisecond electromagnetic pulse;
- and
- provide the command signal to the transmitter such that the sub-millisecond electromagnetic pulse selectively deposits energy to at least one of melt and vaporize the conductive mineral particle of the ore sample and produce a treated ore sample;
- a reducer positioned to decrease the size of the treated ore sample within a second zone to produce a reduced treated ore sample.
5 more elements
A material processing apparatus, comprising:
- a transporter configured to transfer an ore sample from a first position to a second position through a first zone, wherein the ore sample includes a conductive mineral particle and a volume of a gangue;
- a transmitter positioned to irradiate the first zone with a sub-millisecond electromagnetic pulse in response to a command signal;
- a processing circuit coupled to the transmitter, wherein the processing circuit is configured to:
- specify the command signal for the transmitter, wherein the command signal varies based on a characteristic of the sub-millisecond electromagnetic pulse;
- and
- provide the command signal to the transmitter such that the sub-millisecond electromagnetic pulse selectively deposits energy to at least one of melt and vaporize the conductive mineral particle of the ore sample;
- and
- a recovery system, wherein the sub-millisecond electromagnetic pulse selectively deposits energy to at least partially vaporize the conductive mineral particle of the ore sample and produce a mineral vapor and a treated ore sample and wherein the recovery system is configured to collect at least a portion of the mineral vapor.
5 more elements
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.