{
  "patent_number": "US 8133298",
  "country": "US",
  "title": "Making Iron More Efficiently and Generating Power with Oxygen",
  "original_title": "Blast furnace iron production with integrated power generation",
  "summary": "This patent describes an integrated system that uses extra oxygen in a blast furnace to make iron more efficiently, while also capturing the furnace's waste gases to generate electricity and reduce carbon dioxide emissions.",
  "what_it_does": "The patent describes a system that combines iron production in a blast furnace with power generation and carbon dioxide capture. It introduces \"super-enriched air\" into the blast furnace, containing about 32% to 70% oxygen (Claim 1), which helps gasify coal more effectively. This process generates a fuel-rich \"top gas\" (Claim 1) that includes carbon monoxide, carbon dioxide, hydrogen, and nitrogen. Instead of just venting this gas, the system recovers it and uses it to generate electricity in a combined cycle power generation system (Claim 12). Before using the top gas for power, carbon dioxide can be removed from it (Claim 4, 7), making the power generation cleaner and allowing for CO2 sequestration. For example, a steel mill could use this system to not only produce iron but also power its own operations or even sell excess electricity, all while reducing its carbon footprint.",
  "what_it_does_not_cover": [
    "Does not cover blast furnace operations using standard air or oxygen enrichment levels below 32 molar percent oxygen.",
    "Does not cover systems where the blast furnace top gas is simply flared or used only for heating without generating power in a combined cycle system.",
    "Does not cover methods of iron production that do not involve the gasification of coal in the blast furnace.",
    "Does not cover power generation systems that do not specifically utilize blast furnace top gas with a calorific value greater than about 110 btu/scf.",
    "Does not cover systems that produce iron without also integrating a carbon dioxide removal system for the top gas."
  ],
  "filed": "2008-12-05",
  "granted": "2012-03-13",
  "expires": "2028-12-05",
  "status": "active",
  "holder": "Air Products and Chemicals",
  "holder_url": "https://patentbrief.org/company/air-products-and-chemicals",
  "inventors": [
    {
      "name": "Joseph Anthony Terrible",
      "url": "https://patentbrief.org/inventor/joseph-anthony-terrible"
    },
    {
      "name": "Michael Dennis Lanyi",
      "url": "https://patentbrief.org/inventor/michael-dennis-lanyi"
    }
  ],
  "times_cited": 62,
  "tags": [
    "heavy_industry",
    "energy",
    "carbon_capture",
    "industrial_gases",
    "power_generation"
  ],
  "abstract": "An integrated system for blast furnace iron making and power production based upon higher levels of oxygen enrichment in the blast gas is disclosed. The integrated system leads to; 1) enhanced productivity in the blast furnace, 2) more efficient power production, and 3) the potential to more economically capture and sequester carbon dioxide. Oxygen enhances the ability of coal to function as a source of carbon and to be gasified within the blast furnace thereby generating an improved fuel-containing top gas.",
  "url": "https://patentbrief.org/patent/us/8133298/blast-furnace-iron-production-with-integrated-power-generation",
  "markdown_url": "https://patentbrief.org/patent/us/8133298/blast-furnace-iron-production-with-integrated-power-generation/md",
  "google_patents_url": "https://patents.google.com/patent/US8133298",
  "relatedPatents": [
    {
      "patentNumber": "12327854",
      "countryCode": "US",
      "title": "Capturing Carbon Dioxide While Making Electricity with Hydrogen and Solar",
      "url": "https://patentbrief.org/patent/us/12327854/apparatuses-and-methods-for-carbon-dioxide-capturing-and-electrical-energy-produ"
    },
    {
      "patentNumber": "20110132770",
      "countryCode": "US",
      "title": "Making Chemicals from Carbon Dioxide and Steam Using Electricity",
      "url": "https://patentbrief.org/patent/us/20110132770/process-for-producing-compounds-of-the-cxhyoz-type-by-reduction-of-carbon-dioxid"
    },
    {
      "patentNumber": "11648507",
      "countryCode": "US",
      "title": "How to Capture Carbon Dioxide from Air or Smoke Using Seawater",
      "url": "https://patentbrief.org/patent/us/11648507/process-and-apparatus-of-ocean-carbon-capture-and-storage"
    },
    {
      "patentNumber": "5346778",
      "countryCode": "US",
      "title": "Boosting Fuel Cell Power for Vehicles Using Oxygen Injection",
      "url": "https://patentbrief.org/patent/us/5346778/electrochemical-load-management-system-for-transportation-applications"
    },
    {
      "patentNumber": "8636880",
      "countryCode": "US",
      "title": "How to Make Hydrogen Gas and Cupric Chloride Using an Electrolysis Cell",
      "url": "https://patentbrief.org/patent/us/8636880/electrolysis-cell-for-the-conversion-of-cuprous-chloride-in-hydrochloric-acid-to"
    }
  ]
}