Granted Patent B2

US 12,649,959 · App. 17/530,765 · Granted Jun 9, 2026

Inventors: James A Mennell (Brighton, UT); Daren Daugaard (Newburg, MO); Dustin Slack (Gwinn, MI)

Assignee: Carbon Technology Holdings, LLC

C22B5/12B01D53/0462B01D53/047B01D53/229C01B3/12C01B3/323C01B3/503C01B3/506C01B3/56C01B32/324C01B32/336C10B53/02C21B13/00F23G5/0273B01D53/02B01D2256/16C01B2203/0233C01B2203/0255C01B2203/0283C01B2203/0405C01B2203/042C01B2203/046C01B2203/06C01B2203/0811F23G2201/302F25J3/0252

Abstract

Claims (26)

1 . A process for producing a metal product, the process comprising:

(a) providing a biomass feedstock;

(b) pyrolyzing the biomass feedstock, thereby generating a biogenic reagent, wherein the biogenic reagent comprises carbon, and a pyrolysis off-gas;

(c) optionally, oxidizing the pyrolysis off-gas, thereby generating heat;

(d) reacting the biogenic reagent with a selected reactant, thereby generating a reducing gas, wherein the reducing gas comprises at least about 10 mol % hydrogen;

(e) chemically reducing a selected metal oxide in the presence of the reducing gas from step (d), wherein the reducing is achieved utilizing the hydrogen, thereby generating a reduced form of the selected metal oxide;

(f) recovering a metal product comprising the reduced form of the selected metal oxide; and

(g) recovering the biogenic reagent continuously or periodically during step (d), or ultimately after step (d), thereby generating a recovered biogenic reagent, wherein the recovered biogenic reagent is an activated carbon,

wherein the process further comprises increasing hydrogen content of the reducing gas via the water-gas shift reaction.

2 . The process of claim 1 , wherein step (e) is conducted at a reduction temperature of at least about 500° C. to at most about 2000° C.

3 . The process of claim 1 , wherein the reduction temperature of at least about 700° C. to at most about 1800° C.

4 . The process of claim 1 , wherein step (e) is conducted for a reduction time of at least about 30 minutes to at most about 48 hours.

5 . The process of claim 1 , wherein the selected metal oxide comprises iron oxide, copper oxide, nickel oxide, magnesium oxide, manganese oxide, aluminum oxide, tin oxide, zinc oxide, cobalt oxide, chromium oxide, tungsten oxide, molybdenum oxide, or a combination thereof.

6 . The process of claim 1 , wherein the selected metal oxide is iron ore.

7 . The process of claim 6 , wherein the iron ore is selected from hematite, magnetite, limonite, taconite, or a combination thereof.

8 . The process of claim 1 , wherein the reduced form of the selected metal oxide is a fully reduced metal.

9 . The process of claim 1 , wherein the reduced form of the selected metal oxide is a second metal oxide having a lower oxidation state than the selected metal oxide.

10 . The process of claim 1 , wherein the selected reactant in step (d) is water.

11 . The process of claim 1 , wherein the selected reactant in step (d) is oxygen, and wherein the oxygen is comprised within air, pure oxygen, enriched oxygen, ozone, or a combination thereof.

12 . The process of claim 1 , wherein the selected reactant in step (d) comprises a combination of water and oxygen.

13 . The process of claim 1 , wherein the reducing gas comprises at least about 25 mol % hydrogen.

14 . The process of claim 1 , wherein the reducing gas comprises at least about 10 mol % carbon monoxide.

15 . The process of claim 1 , wherein the reducing gas comprises at least about 25 mol % carbon monoxide.

16 . The process of claim 1 , wherein the process further comprises partially oxidizing the pyrolysis off-gas, thereby generating a second reducing gas and heat.

17 . The process of claim 16 , wherein step (e) further comprises chemically reducing the selected metal oxide in the presence of the additional reducing gas.

18 . The process of claim 1 , wherein the metal product comprises iron, copper, nickel, magnesium, manganese, aluminum, tin, zinc, cobalt, chromium, tungsten, molybdenum, or a combination thereof.

Assignments (4)

Continuity (3)

References Cited (400)