US 10668430

Here's a concise summary of US Patent 10668430:

Title: Sorbents for the oxidation and removal of mercury

Assignee: Birchtech Corp. (as of November 7, 2024, by reassignment from Midwest Energy Emissions Corp.)

Inventors: Edwin S. Olson, Michael J. Holmes, John H. Pavlish

Filing Date: May 8, 2018

Issue Date: June 2, 2020

Abstract:
A highly reactive, regenerable sorbent for removing mercury from gas streams, particularly flue gas from fossil fuel combustion or product gas from gasification systems, is disclosed. The sorbent is a halogen/halide-promoted activated carbon, specifically a halide-modified carbon form created by the reaction of bromine (or other halogens/halides) with carbon. This promoted sorbent offers high initial reactivity, eliminating the "induction period" seen in conventional activated carbons, and is effective at very short contact times. Optional secondary components and/or alkali materials can be added to further boost reactivity and capacity. The patent also describes methods for preparing and introducing these sorbents, including in-flight preparation within pneumatic transport lines, and emphasizes their regenerability and potential for reuse, leading to reduced costs and waste disposal issues. The sorbents can also be designed with larger particle sizes to facilitate separation from ash for recycling.

Plain-Language Overview of Independent Claims:

• Independent Claim 1: This claim describes a promoted carbon sorbent. It consists of a base activated carbon that has reacted with a promoter, chosen from halogens, halides, or combinations of these. The resulting reaction product is effective at removing mercury from a gas stream.

• Independent Claim 13: This claim outlines a method for preparing a promoted carbon sorbent. The method involves providing granular activated carbon and then reacting it with a promoter, which can be a halogen, a halide, or a combination thereof. The outcome is a promoted carbon sorbent that can effectively remove mercury from a gas stream.

• Independent Claim 17: This claim details a method for reducing mercury in flue gas. It involves providing a sorbent, injecting it into a mercury-containing flue gas stream, and collecting more than 70% by weight of the mercury on the sorbent to produce a cleaned flue gas. The method also includes substantially recovering the sorbent from the cleaned flue gas.

• Independent Claim 21: This claim describes a method for reducing the mercury content in a gas stream that contains both mercury and ash. The method involves injecting particulate activated carbon sorbent (with a mass mean size greater than 40 micrometers) into the gas stream. The mercury is then removed by these sorbent particles. Following this, the sorbent particles are separated from the ash particles based on their size, and then the recovered sorbent particles are re-injected into the gas stream.

Uncertainty Regarding CAFC 2026 Dockets:
Searches for litigation related to US patent 10668430 in CAFC 2026 dockets did not yield specific results identifying this patent number in scheduled cases for April, May, or June 2026. Therefore, I cannot authoritatively confirm any ongoing litigation for this specific patent in the CAFC for the year 2026 based on the provided search snippets.