Recovery of group III element component from group III-V waste materials
AssigneeUniversity of Dayton
InventorsJeffrey Allen Sturgill, Joseph Thomas Swartbaugh
Life of this patent
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Abstract
The present invention is directed to an apparatus and method for recovering the group III elemental component of a group III-V material waste material. The method includes heating, under a reduced pressure, solid waste materials which contain group III-V material to cause the group III-V material to separate into a group III element and a group V element vapor; drawing off the group V element vapor; condensing the group V element vapor to produce a condensed group V element solid; and zone refining the group III element to produce a purified group III element. The apparatus is designed to carry out this method in the plant which manufactures the group III-V waste material.
Claims20
A method for the recovery of the components of solid waste materials containing group III and group V material comprising:
- heating, under a reduced pressure in the presence of an inert gas, solid waste materials which contain group III and group V material to cause said group III and group V material to separate into a group III element and a group V element vapor;
- drawing off said group V element vapor;
- condensing said group V element vapor to produce a condensed group V element solid;
- oxidizing said condensed group V element solid;
- and
- zone refining said group III element to produce a purified group III element.
A method for the recovery of a group III element from solid waste materials containing a group III element phosphide, wherein the method comprises:
- heating under a reduced pressure solid waste materials containing group III element phosphide to separate said solid waste materials into a group III element and phosphorus vapor;
- drawing off said phosphorus vapor;
- condensing said phosphorus vapor into solid phosphorus;
- oxidizing said solid phosphorus;
- and
- zone refining said group III element.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.