Method and apparatus for separating a constituent of a compound,such as a metal from an ore,by chemical reaction and physical separation using a plasma in the presence of a magnetic field

Abstract

Abstract 1 PROCESS FOR SEPARATING A CONSTITUENT OF A COMPOUND FROM THE COMPOUND, COMPRISING: CHEMICALLY REACTING THE COMPOUND WITH A REDUCING AGENT TO PRODUCE THE CONSTITUENT AND A PRODUCT OF THE REDUCTION REACTION; AND SEPARATING THE CONSTITUENT FROM THE PRODUCT OF THE REACTION; SAID STEP OF SEPARATING THE CONSTITUENT FROM THE PRODUCT OF THE REDUCTION REACTION INCLUDING PARTLY IONIZING THE CONSTITUENT IN A GASEOUS STATE; FLOWING THE PARTLY IONIZED GASEOUS CONSTITUENT TOGETHER WITH A GASEOUS PRODUCT OF THE REDUCTION REACTION THROUGH A MAGNETIC FIELD B AT A VELOCITY V; SAID MAGNETIC FIELD B BEING CONFIGURATED RELATIVE TO SAID GAS VELOCITY V SUCH THAT AT LEAST THE PARTLY IONIZED CONSTITUENT MOVES AT AN ANGLE RELATIVE TO THE AMAGNETIC FIELD B; PERMITTING THE CURRENT J CREATED BY THE INTERACTION OF THE MOVING ELECTRONS OF THE PARTLY IONIZED CONSTITUENT WITH THE PERPENDICULAR COMPONENT OF THE MAGNETIC FIELD B TO FLOW IN A CLOSED PATH; USING SAID CURRENT J FLOWING IN A CLOSED PATH TO INTERACT WITH THE PARALLEL COM FIELD B TO GENERATE A SEPARATING FORCE ACTING UPON THE PARTLY IONIZED CONSTITUENT; AND COLLECTING THE PARTLY IONIZED CONSTITUENT APART FROM THE GASEOUS PRODUCT; WHEREBY SAID CONSTITUENT IS REMOVED FROM SAID PRODUCT AT CONTAINMENT TEMPERATURE SUBSTANTIALLY LOWER THAN IF SAID CONSTITUENT WERE DIRECTLY REMOVED FROM SAID PRODUCT USING THE SEPARATION PROCESS WITHOUT FIRST REDUCING THE COMPOUND.

Inventors

• 👤 A Smith
• 👤 D Nelson

Bibliographic Details