PATENT CLAIM ANALYSIS

Application Number: 16397441
Application Type: Utility
Filing Date: 2019-04
Publication Date: 2019-08
Patent Classification: ["075", "631000"]

Abstract:
A low-flux converting process for PGM collector alloy. The process includes feed introduction into a molten alloy pool, oxygen injection into the pool, tapping the slag, and tapping the PGM-enriched alloy. The collector alloy contains no less than 0.5 wt % PGM, 40 wt % iron, and 0.5 wt % nickel. If added flux material contains more than 10 wt % silica and 10 wt % CaO/MgO, the feed contains no more than 20 parts by weight added flux per hundred collector alloy. The process can also include using a refractory protectant in the converter; melting partially pre-oxidized collector alloy to form the initial molten alloy pool; magnetic separation of slag; recycling part of the slag to the converter; smelting catalyst material in a primary furnace to produce the collector alloy; and/or smelting the converter slag in a secondary furnace with slag from the primary furnace.

Claim (Index 25):
The process of  claim 1 , further comprising the steps of:\n (1) prior to steps (a) to (e), beginning a converter operation cycle by melting a partially pre-oxidized collector alloy in the pot to form the alloy pool for step (a); (2) then, prior to step (e), repeating a sequence of steps (a), (b), (c), and (d) a plurality of times, wherein step (d) in each sequence follows steps (b) and (c); (3) for the tapping(s) of the low-density layer in step (d) in each sequence of step (2) preceding a final tapping of the low-density layer in step (d) in a final sequence of step (2), allowing alloy entrained in the low-density layer to substantially settle into the alloy pool before the tapping of the respective low-density layer(s), preferably for a period of no less than 5 minutes, following termination of the oxygen-containing gas injection in the respective step (b) of the respective sequence of step (2); (4) for the final tapping of the low-density layer in the step (d) of the final sequence of step (2), starting the final tapping of the low-density layer in step (d) within a period of no more than 5 minutes following termination of the oxygen-containing gas injection in step (b) of the final sequence of step (2), optionally entraining alloy in the low-density layer of the final tapping in step (d) of the final sequence of step (2); and (5) after the final tapping of the low-density layer in step (d) in the last one of the sequences of step (2), tapping the alloy pool in step (e).

Metadata:
- Claim Count in Document: 69.0
- Percentile: 100.0
- Lexical Diversity: 2.07692
- Patent Class: 75.0
- Transitional Phrase Type: open
- Component Type: 1
- Foreign Priority: False
- Related Applications: ['12208954', '15197102', '15355971', '13711305', '13130886']

Analysis Scores:
- 35 USC 101 Eligibility (BERT): 0.7316665208904592
- 35 USC 102 Novelty (BERT): 0.5051326732013077
- Combined Prediction Score: 0.709013136121544
- Mean Citation Score: 264.781014
- Max Citation Score: 292.5087
- Similarity Product: 201.0237500553489

Labels:
- Claim Label 101: 1
- Claim Label 102: 1
- Claim Label 103: 1
- Claim Label 112: 0
- Combined Label: 1
- Label 101 Adjusted: 1

Dataset: test