Source: https://patents.justia.com/patent/9493367
Timestamp: 2019-08-24 05:13:14
Document Index: 446296918

Matched Legal Cases: ['Application No. 61', 'Application No. 61', 'Application No. 61', 'Application No. 61', 'Application No. 61', 'Application No. 61', 'Application No. 61']

US Patent for Systems and methods for removing finely dispersed particulate matter from a fluid stream Patent (Patent # 9,493,367 issued November 15, 2016) - Justia Patents Search
Justia Patents Including Organic AgentUS Patent for Systems and methods for removing finely dispersed particulate matter from a fluid stream Patent (Patent # 9,493,367)
Dec 6, 2012 - Soane Mining, LLC
This application is a continuation of U.S. application Ser. No. 12/792,181, filed Jun. 2, 2010, which is a continuation-in-part of U.S. application Ser. No. 12/363,369, filed Jan. 30, 2009, which claims the benefit of U.S. Provisional Application No. 61/028,717, filed on Feb. 14, 2008, U.S. Provisional Application No. 61/117,757, filed on Nov. 25, 2008 and U.S. Provisional Application No. 61/140,525 filed on Dec. 23, 2008; U.S. application Ser. No. 12/792,181 also claims the benefit of U.S. Provisional Application No. 61/183,331 filed Jun. 2, 2009, U.S. Provisional Application No. 61/246,585 filed Sep. 29, 2009, U.S. Provisional Application No. 61/253,332 filed Oct. 20, 2009 and U.S. Provisional Application No. 61/346,702 filed May 20, 2010. The entire teachings of the above applications are incorporated herein by reference.
In a further aspect, the invention is directed to a system for removing coal fines from a fluid, comprising: a fluid containing a population of suspended coal fines; an activator polymer added to the fluid to complex with the suspended coal fines to form activated coal fines, the activated coal fines residing within the fluid volume; an anchor particle complexed with a tethering agent to form tether-bearing anchor particles, the tether-bearing anchor particles being mixed with the fluid volume to contact the activated coal fines, the tether-bearing anchor particles being capable of complexing with the activated coal fines to form complexes removable from the fluid,
wherein the complexes removable from the fluid comprise a composite material comprising complexed coal fines and anchor particles. In some embodiments, the anchor particle comprises coal. In additional embodiments, the anchor particle comprises a non-combustible material. In yet additional aspects, the anchor particle comprises a mineral.
Particles suitable for modification, or activation, can include organic or inorganic particles, or mixtures thereof. Inorganic particles can include one or more materials such as calcium carbonate, dolomite, calcium sulfate, kaolin, talc, titanium dioxide, sand, diatomaceous earth, aluminum hydroxide, silica, other metal oxides and the like. Sand or other fine fractions of the solids, such as sand recovered from the mining process itself, is preferred. Organic particles can include one or more materials such as starch, modified starch, polymeric spheres (both solid and hollow), and the like. Particle sizes can range from a few nanometers to few hundred microns. In certain embodiments, macroscopic particles in the millimeter range may be suitable.
In embodiments, plastic materials may be used as particles. Both thermoset and thermoplastic resins may be used to form plastic particles. Plastic particles may be shaped as solid bodies, hollow bodies or fibers, or any other suitable shape. Plastic particles can be formed from a variety of polymers. A polymer useful as a plastic particle may be a homopolymer or a copolymer. Copolymers can include block copolymers, graft copolymers, and interpolymers. In embodiments, suitable plastics may include, for example, addition polymers (e.g., polymers of ethylenically unsaturated monomers), polyesters, polyurethanes, aramid resins, acetal resins, formaldehyde resins, and the like. Additional polymers can include, for example, polyolefins, polystyrene, and vinyl polymers. Polyolefins can include, in embodiments, polymers prepared from C2-C10 olefin monomers, e.g., ethylene, propylene, butylene, dicyclopentadiene, and the like. In embodiments, poly(vinyl chloride) polymers, acrylonitrile polymers, and the like can be used. In embodiments, useful polymers for the formation of particles may be formed by condensation reaction of a polyhydric compound (e.g., an alkylene glycol, a polyether alcohol, or the like) with one or more polycarboxylic acids. Polyethylene terephthalate is an example of a suitable polyester resin. Polyurethane resins can include polyether polyurethanes and polyester polyurethanes. Plastics may also be obtained for these uses from waste plastic, such as post-consumer waste including plastic bags, containers, bottles made of high density polyethylene, polyethylene grocery store bags, and the like.
The “activation” step may be performed using flocculants or other polymeric substances. Preferably, the polymers or flocculants can be charged, including anionic or cationic polymers. In embodiments, anionic polymers can be used, including, for example, olefinic polymers, such as polymers made from polyacrylate, polymethacrylate, partially hydrolyzed polyacrylamide, and salts, esters and copolymers thereof (such as (sodium acrylate/acrylamide) copolymers)polyacrylic acid, polymethacrylic acid, sulfonated polymers, such as sulfonated polystyrene, and salts, esters and copolymers thereof, and the like. Suitable polycations include: polyvinylamines, polyallylamines, polydiallyldimethylammoniums (e.g., thepolydiallyldimethylammonium chloride, branched or linear polyethyleneimine, crosslinked amines (including epichlorohydrin/dimethylamine, and epichlorohydrin/alkylenediamines), quaternary ammonium substituted polymers, such as (acrylamide/dimethylaminoethylacrylate methyl chloride quat) copolymers and trimethylammoniummethylene-substituted polystyrene, polyvinylamine, and the like. Nonionic polymers suitable for hydrogen bonding interactions can include polyethylene oxide, polypropylene oxide, polyhydroxyethylacrylate, polyhydroxyethylmethacrylate, and the like. In embodiments, an activator such as polyethylene oxide can be used as an activator with a cationic tethering material in accordance with the description of tethering materials below. In embodiments, activator polymers with hydrophobic modifications can be used. Flocculants such as those sold under the trademark MAGNAFLOC® by Ciba Specialty Chemicals can be used.
In embodiments, polymers such as linear or branched polyethyleneimine can be used as tethering materials. It would be understood that other anionic or cationic polymers could be used as tethering agents, for example polydiallyldimethylammonium chloride (poly(DADMAC)). In other embodiments, cationic tethering agents such as epichlorohydrin dimethylamine (epi/DMA), styrene maleic anhydride imide (SMAI), polyethylene imide (PEI), polyvinylamine, polyallylamine, amine-aldehyde condensates, poly(dimethylaminoethyl acrylate methyl chloride quaternary) polymers and the like can be used. Advantageously, cationic polymers useful as tethering agents can include quaternary ammonium or phosphonium groups. Advantageously, polymers with quaternary ammonium groups such as poly(DADMAC) or epi/DMA can be used as tethering agents. In other embodiments, polyvalent metal salts (e.g., calcium, magnesium, aluminum, iron salts, and the like) can be used as tethering agents. In other embodiments cationic surfactants such as dimethyldialkyl(C8-C22)ammonium halides, alkyl(C8-C22)trimethylammonium halides, alkyl(C8-C22)dimethylbenzylammonium halides, cetyl pyridinium chloride, fatty amines, protonated or quaternized fatty amines, fatty amides and alkyl phosphonium compounds can be used as tethering agents. In embodiments, polymers having hydrophobic modifications can be used as tethering agents.
In addition to coal fines waste, an enormous amount of biomass waste is generated annually. Wood waste is produced by lumber mills, for example, with wasted wood accounting for about ten percent of processed lumber. Wood waste can also be found in forests as deadwood, living biomass, or residua from timber harvesting. Lignocellulosic waste is produced by agriculture (e.g., corn stalks, wheat, hays, grasses, sugar cane bagasse, soybeans) and by processing (e.g., cotton gins). Feathers remaining from poultry farming require disposal as waste. Waste from animal husbandry includes organic material such as manure, feedstock and bedding. Additional organic waste is produced by cattle, hog, chicken, turkey and fish farming. Industrial products such as carpeting and automobile tires end up as waste that must be disposed of
As another example, iron is produced from an ore called taconite that contains magnetite, an amalgam of iron oxides with about 25-30% iron. To extract the iron from the ore, the ore is crushed into fine particles so that the iron can be removed from the non-ferromagnetic material in the ore by a magnetic separator. The iron recovered by the magnetic separator is then processed into “pellets” containing about 65% iron that can be used for industrial purposes like steel-making. Ore material not picked up by the magnetic separator is considered waste material, or gangue, and is discarded. Gangue typically includes non-ferrous rocks, low-grade ore, waste material, sand, rock and other impurities that surround the iron in the ore. For every ton of pellets produced, about 2.7 tons of gangue is also produced. The waste is removed from the beneficiation site as a slurry of suspended fine particles, termed tailings. About ⅔ of the tailings are classified as “fine tailings,” composed of extremely fine rock particles more than 90% of which are smaller than 75 microns, or −200 mesh); typically, the fine tailings they have little practical use at the mines, and end up sequestered in containment areas such as tailings ponds.
As another example, the systems and methods disclosed herein can be applied to waste produced during the beneficiation of iron, for example, iron produced from taconite. As iron is produced from the ore, waste material called gangue is generated. The gangue is removed from the beneficiation site as a slurry of suspended fine particles, termed tailings. About ⅔ of the tailings are classified as “fine tailings,” a waste material suitable for treatment by the systems and methods disclosed herein. In embodiments, the fluid stream containing the fine tailings can be treated with an activator in accordance with these systems and methods, and can be contacted with tether-bearing anchor particles. As a result of this treatment, the fines in the fluid stream can be sequestered as solids and separated from the fluid itself. In embodiments, the sequestered solids can be consolidated into a mass that can be used for a variety of beneficial applications. In embodiments, anchor particles can be used that are indigenous to the mining area, or that are economically introduced into the mining area for use with these processes.
Polyvinyl Amine—Lupamin 1595, Lupamin 9095, BASF, Ludwigshafen, Germany
Coal mine samples of filter cake and coal processing refuse.
TABLE 1 Filtration Filtrate Dry Solids Anchor:Fines Time Turbidity Dry Solids Dabbed Sample (g:g) (s) (NTU) (%) (%)
Clay fines slurry, BASF montmorillonite (F-100).
adding an activating material to the waste tailing fluid comprising the particulate matter, wherein the activating material affixes to the particulate matter to form an activated particle, and wherein the activating material is an anionic partially hydrolyzed polyacrylamide;
attaching a tethering material to an anchor particle to form a tether-bearing anchor particle, wherein the tethering material is a cationic polymer;
adding the tether-bearing anchor particle to the fluid comprising the activated particle, wherein the tethering material attaches to the activated particle to form a removable complex in the fluid, wherein the removable complex comprises the particulate matter and the anchor particle;
removing the removable complex from the fluid, thereby removing the particulate matter from the waste tailing fluid;
wherein the fluid is a waste tailing fluid derived from energy production or a mining process.
7. The method of claim 1, wherein the particulate matter has a mass mean diameter less than about 50 microns.
8. The method of claim 1, wherein the fluid is selected from the group consisting of red mud fluid stream, gangue, slurry containing fine particulate kaolin, tailings from trona mining and slurry produced by phosphate beneficiation.
9. The method of claim 1, wherein the removable complex is removed by a process selected from the group consisting of filtration, centrifugation or gravitational settling.
10. The method of claim 1, wherein the anchor particle comprises sand.
11. The method of claim 1, wherein the tethering material is selected from the group consisting of chitosan, lupamin, branched polyethyleneimine (BPEI), and polydimethyldiallylammonium chloride (PDAC).
12. The method of claim 1, wherein the particulate matter comprises quartz, clay fines or a combination thereof.
13. The method of claim 1, wherein the anchor particle comprises a material indigenous to a mining process.
14. The method of claim 1, wherein the tethering material is a polymer with quaternary ammonium groups.
15. The method of claim 1, wherein the tethering material is selected from the group consisting of epichlorohydrin dimethylamine (epi/DMA), styrene maleic anhydride imide (SMAI), polyethylene imide (PEI), polyvinylamine, polyallylamine, amine-aldehyde condensates, poly(dimethylaminoethyl acrylate methyl chloride quaternary) polymers and polydimethyldiallylammonium chloride (PDAC).
16. The method of claim 1, wherein the anchor particle has a larger diameter than that of the particulate matter.
17. The method of claim 16, wherein the anchor particle has a mass mean diameter of greater than 70 microns.
18. The method of claim 1, wherein the anchor particle is made from recycled materials or waste.
19. The method of claim 1, wherein the anchor particle comprises a material selected from the group consisting of calcium carbonate, dolomite, calcium sulfate, kaolin, talc, titanium dioxide, sand, diatomaceous earth, aluminum hydroxide, silica, and metal oxides.
20. A method for removing coal fines from a fluid, comprising:
adding an activator polymer to a population of coal fines suspended in a fluid to form activated coal fines, wherein the activator polymer is an anionic partially hydrolyzed polyacrylamide;
complexing an anchor particle with a tethering agent thereby forming tether-bearing anchor particles, wherein the tethering agent is a cationic polymer;
mixing the tether-bearing anchor particles with the activated coal fines, wherein the tethering material attaches to the activated coal fines to form a complex removable from the fluid, and further wherein the complex comprises a composite material comprising the coal fines and the anchor particles; and
removing the composite material from the fluid.
21. The method of claim 20, wherein the anchor particle comprises coal.
22. The method of claim 20, wherein the anchor particle is combustible or comprises a non-combustible material.
23. The method of claim 20, wherein the tethering material is polydiallyldimethylammonium chloride (pDADMAC).
5449464 September 12, 1995 El Shall
5624570 April 29, 1997 Hassick
5670435 September 23, 1997 Kajita
6126837 October 3, 2000 Miknevich
6184302 February 6, 2001 Eyrisch
6426383 July 30, 2002 Fong
8894863 November 25, 2014 Soane et al.
8945394 February 3, 2015 Kincaid et al.
20080314840 December 25, 2008 Jaeger et al.
20110094970 April 28, 2011 Kincaid et al.
20120067824 March 22, 2012 Berg et al.
20130336877 December 19, 2013 Soane et al.
20140377166 December 25, 2014 Soane et al.
00/71471 November 2000 WO
2004060819 July 2004 WO
Co-pending U.S. Appl. No. 13/788,936, filed Mar. 7, 2013 by Soane, et al.
Patent Publication Number: 20130193078
Inventors: David S. Soane (Chestnut Hill, MA), William Ware, Jr. (Hanover, NH), Robert P. Mahoney (Newbury, MA), Nathan Ashcraft (Somerville, MA)
Application Number: 13/706,586
International Classification: C02F 1/38 (20060101); C02F 1/52 (20060101); C02F 1/56 (20060101); B01D 21/01 (20060101); C02F 1/40 (20060101); C02F 1/00 (20060101); C02F 1/68 (20060101); C02F 103/10 (20060101);