US 10933370

Here is a concise summary of US patent 10933370:

US Patent 10,933,370 B2

• Title: Sorbents for the oxidation and removal of mercury
• Assignee (Current): Birchtech Corp
• Inventors: Edwin S. Olson, Michael J. Holmes, John H. Pavlish
• Filing Date: April 12, 2018
• Issue Date: March 2, 2021
• Abstract: The patent describes highly reactive, regenerable sorbents and methods for removing pollutants, especially mercury, from gas streams such as flue gas from fossil fuel combustion or product gas from gasification systems. The sorbents are halogen/halide promoted activated carbon, which capture mercury through surface reactions with very short contact times, exhibiting high initial reactivity without an induction period. The invention also covers methods for preparing, regenerating, and reusing these sorbents, including in-flight preparation and injection, and methods for controlling sorbent injection rates based on continuous mercury emission monitoring.

Plain-Language Overview of Independent Claims:

• Independent Claim 1 (Composition Claim): This claim describes a special material called a "promoted carbon sorbent". It's made by taking a basic activated carbon and reacting it with a "promoter," which can be a halogen (like bromine) or a halide, or a combination of these. The key is that the resulting material is effective at removing mercury from a gas stream.
• Independent Claim 12 (Method of Preparation Claim): This claim outlines a method for creating the promoted carbon sorbent. It involves starting with granular activated carbon and making it react with a promoter (again, a halogen, halide, or a combination) to produce the mercury-removing sorbent.
• Independent Claim 22 (Method of Use Claim): This claim details a method for reducing mercury in flue gas. It involves providing the sorbent, injecting it into the mercury-containing flue gas, ensuring that over 70% of the mercury is captured by the sorbent to clean the gas, and then recovering most of the used sorbent from the cleaned gas.
• Independent Claim 27 (Method of Use/Recovery Claim): This claim describes a method for reducing mercury in gas streams that contain both mercury and ash. The distinct feature is using activated carbon sorbent particles that are larger than 40 micrometers. This specific size allows the sorbent particles to be separated from the smaller ash particles based on their size after mercury is captured, and then the sorbent particles can be reused by re-injecting them into the gas stream.

USPTO and CAFC 2026 Docket Information:

As of April 26, 2026, no specific dockets directly related to US Patent 10933370 have been found in the CAFC 2026 dockets. However, the patent is involved in Patent Trial and Appeal Board (PTAB) proceedings. Specifically, PTAB case IPR2025-00688, titled "Pacificorp et al v. Birchtech Corp. IPR of US10933370B2", was filed on March 24, 2025, and an institution decision was made on February 10, 2026. Other listed litigation includes multiple cases in various US District Courts (Kansas, Missouri Eastern, Wyoming, Wisconsin Western, Arizona, Iowa Southern) and other PTAB cases (IPR2025-00687, IPR2025-01324), as well as general "worldwide family litigation," but these do not explicitly show CAFC 2026 docket entries for this specific patent.