Methods and systems for the recovery and reuse of conductive additives for flash joule heating
AssigneeWilliam Marsh Rice University
InventorsJames M. TOUR, Bing DENG
Life of this patent
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Abstract
Methods and systems for the recovery and reuse of conductive additives for flash Joule heating. The conductive additives utilized or flash Joule heating for materials such as e-waste, ores, fly ash, soil, and/or bauxite residue can be recovered at high recovery yields greater than 85%, which can then be reused for further flash Joule heating processes. The conductive additives can be separated from the products of the flash Joule heating process, such as by sieving or by centrifugation, filtering, and drying.
Claims32
A method comprising:
- (a) mixing a first material with a conductive additive to form a first mixture;
- (b) performing a flash Joule heating process of the first mixture to form a product, wherein the product comprises a resultant conductive additive in the first mixture, wherein the resultant conductive additive is selected from the group consisting of
- (i) the conductive additive,
- (ii) a different conductive additive, and
- (iii) a combination thereof;
- (c) separating at least some of the resultant conductive additive from the product to obtain recovered conductive additive;
- and
- (d) using the recovered conductive additive in a second flash Joule heating process, wherein
- (i) the recovered conductive material is mixed with a second material for use in the second flash Joule heating process, and
- (ii) the second material is the same or different material as the first material.
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A system comprising:
- (a) a first source of a first mixture of a first material mixed with a conductive additive;
- (b) a flash Joule heating system that comprises
- (i) a cell operably connected to the first source such that the first mixture can be flowed into the cell and held under compression,
- (ii) electrodes operatively connected to pressure cell, and
- (iii) a flash power supply for applying a voltage across the mixture to perform a flash Joule heating process to form a product that comprises at a resultant conductive additive of the first mixture, wherein the resultant conductive additive is selected from the group consisting of
- (A) the conductive additive,
- (B) a different conductive additive, and
- (C) a combination thereof;
- (c) a separator to separate some of the resultant conductive additive from the product to obtain recovered conductive additive;
- (d) a mixer to mix the recovered conductive additive with a second material to form a second mixture, wherein the second material is the same or different material as the first material;
- and
- (e) a second source of the second mixture that is operable connected to the flash Joule heating system for use of the second mixture in the flash Joule heating system.
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Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.