US PATENT CLASS 502
Class Notes


Current as of: June, 1999
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502 /   HD   CATALYST, SOLID SORBENT, OR SUPPORT THEREFOR: PRODUCT OR PROCESS OF MAKING



DEFINITION

Classification: 502/

This class provides for (1) a mixture of materials intended to catalyze a reaction or to sorb a component of a fluid or (2) certain single materials specifically structured to catalyze a reaction or sorb a component.

In this class, many subclasses are based on the groupings of elements in the periodic chart. Below are listed elements in

the group as used in the class.

Group I metals: Lithium(Li), Sodium(Na), Potassium(K), Rubidium(Rb), Cesium(Ca), Francium(Fr), Copper(Cu), Silver(Ag), and Gold(Au)

Group II metals: Beryllium(Be), Magnesium(Mg), Calcium(Ca), Strontium(Sr), Barium(Ba), Radium(Ra), Zinc(Zn), Cadmium(Cd), and Mercury(Hg)

Group III: Scandium(Sc), Ttrium(Y), Aluminum(Al), Gallium(Ga), Indium(In), and Thallium(Tl)*

Group IV: Titanium(Ti), Zirconium(Zr), Hafnium(Hf), Germanium(Ge), Tin(Sn), and Lead(Pd)

Group V metals: Vanadium(V), Niobium(Nb), Tantalum(Ta), Arsenic(As), Antimony(Sb), and Bismuth(Bi)

Group VI metals: Chromium(Cr), Molybdenum(Mo), Wolfram(W), Tungsten(T), and Polonium(Po) Group VII metals: Manganese(Mn), Technetium(To), and Rhenium(Re)

Group VIII: Iron group metals, Iron(Fe), Cobalt(Co), Nickel(Ni), and the platinum group metals, Ruthenium(Ru), Rhodium(Rh), Palladium(Pd), Osmium(Os), Iridium(In), and Platinum(Pt)

Lanthanides: Elements with atomic numbers 57-71 inclusive, Lanthanum(La), Cerium(Ce), Praseodymium(Pr), Neodymium(Nd), Promethium(Pm), Samarium(Sm), Europium(Eu), Gadolinium(Gd), Terbium(Tb), Dysprosium(Dy), Holmium(Ho), Erbium(Er), Thulium(Th), Ytterbium(Yb), and Lutetium(Lu)

Alkaline earth metals: Calcium(Ca), Strontium(Sr), Barium(Ba), and Radium(Ra)

Alkali metals: Lithium(Li), Sodium(Na), Potassium(K), Rubidium(Rb), Cesium(Cs), and Francium(Fr)

Actinides: Elements with atomic numbers 89 and above inclusive, Actinium(Ac), Thorium(Th), Protactinium(Pa), Uranium(U), Neptunium(Np), Plutonium(Pu), Americium(Am), Curium(Cm), Berkelium(Bk), Californium(Cf), Einsteinium(Es), Fermium(Fm), Mendelevium(Md), Nobelium(No), Lawrencium(Lr)*

Halogens: Fluorine(F), Chlorine(Cl), Bromine(Br) Iodine(I), and Astatine(At)

Lithium(Li), Sodium(Na), Potassium(K), Rubidium(Rb), Cesium(Cs), and Francium(Fr)

Rare earth: Scandium(Sc), Yttrium(Y), and Lanthanide group

* La is grouped with the Lanthanides and Ac with the

Actinides.

NOTES TO THE CLASS DEFINITION (1) Note. Except as indicated in the title and definition, the subclasses in this class provide for both a product and a process of making the product.

LINES WITH OTHER CLASSES

Lines Within This Class

In this schedule some subclasses, namely 6, 8+, 104+ and 151 provide for methods only and a claim to a product must be classified in another subclass, while other subclasses, e.g., 11+, 20+, and 418+ although developed on a process theme, provide also for the products of the process. Except for those situations in which a subclass for a specific process is provided, a method of making a composition of this class is classified with the composition, per se.

Lines With Other Classes

(1) Classes directed to element or compound

Superiority is dependent on comprehensiveness. A patent claiming a new compound and a composition of this class including such compound is placed here as an original and cross referenced to the compound class. A patent claiming a new compound or process of making it, and a composition of this class which is used in making the compound is placed in the compound class as an original and cross-referenced here.

(2) Chemical Composition Placement

The rules for determining Class placement of the Original Reference (OR) for claimed chemical compositions are set forth in the Class Definition of Class 252 in the section LINES WITH OTHER CLASSES AND WITHIN THIS CLASS, subsection COMPOSITION CLASS SUPERIORITY, which includes a hierarchical ORDER OF SUPERIORITY FOR COMPOSITION CLASSES.

References to Other Classes, below, are directed to the following: Classes Providing for Related Matter; or Classes Which May Have Catalytic or Sorbent Functions.

REFERENCES TO OTHER CLASSES

SEE OR SEARCH CLASS 8, Bleaching and Dyeing; Fluid Treatment and Chemical Modification of Textiles and Fibers, for a process of dyeing, bleaching or cleaning a textile which may utilize a catalyst or sorbent. (Class Providing for Related Matter.)

44, Fuel and Related Compositions, for a composition designed to initiate or sustain a flame and which may include a

catalyst or sorbent. (Class Providing for Related Matter.)

73, Measuring and Testing,

23.2+, for gas analysis by use of a sorbent. (Class Which May Have Catalytic or Sorbent Functions.)

95, Gas Separation: Processes,

90+, for processes of gas separation using solid sorbents. Class 95 will take the combination of gas separation using a solid sorbent and regenerating the solid sorbent. (Class Providing for Related Matter.)

96, Gas Separation: Apparatus,

108+, for solid sorbent apparatus for gas separation. Class 502 will take zeolite or other solid sorbent compositions having details of the physical characteristics of the composition itself (e.g., porosity, particle size, etc.). Class 502 will also take zeolite or other solid sorbent compositions that are layered, laminated, or otherwise affixed to another zeolite or other solid sorbent composition or to a support material. Class 96 takes apparatus having (a) an inlet for the fluid mixture to be treated, (b) a means effective to cause separation into constituent parts, and (c) an outlet for at least one constituent separate and distinct from an outlet for another constituent or a single outlet used at different times to remove the separated constituents. The means causing separation into constituent parts confines the zeolite or other solid sorbent composition inside an enclosure that contains the fluid mixture being separated. Class 96 also takes filter elements having zeolite or other solid sorbent compositions held in an open structure or rim that encases, holds, or borders the zeolite or other solid sorbent composition or held on a skeletal structure. (Class Providing for Related Matter.)

119, Animal Husbandry, particularly

171+, for material used for absorbing moisture from an animal waste product, i.e., excrement or urine. (Class Providing for Related Matter.)

127, Sugar, Starch, and Carbohydrates, for a process using a sorbent in refining. (Class Providing for Related Matter.) 149, Explosive and Thermic Compositions or Charges, for a composition of that class which may include a catalyst or sorbent. (Class Providing for Related Matter.)

201, Distillation: Processes Thermolytic, for a process producing char or a carbon residue which may have catalytic or sorbent properties. (Class Providing for Related Matter.)

204, Chemistry: Electrical and Wave Energy, for an electrode of that class which may be catalytic or a process of treating

an electrolyte of that class which may include sorbing. (Class Providing for Related Matter.)

206, Special Receptacles or Package,

0.7, and 204 for a container of that class including a sorbent. (Class Which May Have Catalytic or Sorbent Functions.)

208, Mineral Oils: Processes and Products, for a process which may employ a catalyst or sorbent in treating petroleum. (Class Providing for Related Matter.)

210, Liquid Purification or Separation, for a process which may utilize a catalyst or sorbent in treating water or liquids in general. (Class Providing for Related Matter.)

252, Compositions, for a composition of general or of some specific utilities and the relative position of this class (502) with the various uses and functions provided for in that class. (Class Providing for Related Matter.)

260, Chemistry of Carbon Compounds (or the 520 and 530-570 series of classes incorporated therein) for either an organic compound which may be used as a catalyst or sorbent or a process using a catalyst or sorbent in making or purifying an organic compound. (Class Providing for Related Matter.)

420, Alloys or Metallic Compositions,

900, for an alloy which may sorb hydrogen. (Class Which May Have Catalytic or Sorbent Functions.) 422, Chemical Apparatus and Process Disinfecting, Deodorizing, Preserving, or Sterilizing, particularly

30, 69+, 88+, 122, 177+, 190+, 211+, and 312 for a process using, or apparatus including, a catalyst or sorbent. (Class Which May Have Catalytic or Sorbent Functions.)

423, Chemistry of Inorganic Compounds, Digest 13 and 16 for specific techniques which may be useful in using or regenerating a catalyst or sorbent. (Class Which May Have Catalytic or Sorbent Functions.)

423, Chemistry of Inorganic Compounds, for either an inorganic compound which may be used as a catalyst or sorbent and especially

700+, for a zeolite or a process using a catalyst to make an inorganic compound. (Class Providing for Related Matter.)

426, Food or Edible Material: Processes, Compositions, and Products, for a food which may include a sorbent. (Class Providing for Related Matter.)

430, Radiation Imagery Chemistry: Process, Compositions, or

Product Thereof, for a light sensitive composition which may include a catalyst. (Class Providing for Related Matter.)

435, Chemistry Molecular Biology and Microbiology, for an enzyme or a method using an enzyme. (Class Providing for Related Matter.)

436, Chemistry: Analytical and Immunological Testing, appropriate subclasses for chemical analysis or testing processes involving the use of a sorbent. (Class Which May Have Catalytic or Sorbent Functions.)

518, Chemistry: Fischer-Tropsch Processes; or Purification or Recovery of Products Thereof, for a process of that class using a catalyst and see especially

701, 707, 709, 713, to 721 and subclass 722 for a process using a sorbent. (Class Providing for Related Matter.) 585, Chemistry of Hydrocarbon Compounds, for a process in which a catalyst or sorbent may be used to produce a hydrocarbon. (Class Providing for Related Matter.)

GLOSSARY:

SYNONYMS OF THE ELEMENTS

Alabamine = astatine, Aldebaranium = ytterbium

Argentum = silver, Aurum = gold

Austrium = impure gallium, Cassiopeium = Iutecium

Celtium = lutecium, Columbium = niobium

Demonium = dysprosium, Deuterium = hydrogen

Didymium = neodymium and praseodymium

Dwi-manganese = rheniu, Eka-aluminum = gallium

Eka-boron = scandium, Eka-cesium = virginium

Eka-iodine = alabamine, Eka-manganese = masurium Eka-silicon = germanium, Eka-tantalum= protactinium

Erythronium= vanadium, Ferrum = iron

Florentium = illinium, Glucinum = beryllium

Hydrargyrum = mercury, Illinium = promethium

Kalium = potassium, Masurium = technetium

Natrium = sodium, Neoytterbium = ytterbium

Niobium = Columbium, Niton = radon

Plumbum = lead, Radium emanation = radon

Stannum = tin, Stibium = antimony

Tritiumum = hydrogen, Virginium = francium

Wolfram = tungsten The meaning to be given to the various "art" terms appearing in this class, but which have not been included in the glossary below, is the same as that generally accepted or in common usage. However, certain terms employed in this class, which are included below, have been assigned definitions tailored to meet the needs of this class and therefore those may be more restricted or less limited or even altogether different from those in common usage.

ACTIVATED

The state or condition of a material which has been treated or acted upon to enable it to function as intended. In general a change is effected which is discernible often only in the ability to perform such function. For instance, activated charcoal.

ACTIVE CARBON

Sorbent form compressing carbon with either additive or porous structure enhancing sorbability.

ANIMAL CHARCOAL

See Bone Black

BONE BLACK

Solid residue from chafing bones - ,10%carbon, 80% Ca3(PO4), used particularly in decolorizing sugar solutions.

CATALYST

An agent which affects or effects a chemical reaction by its presence in the reaction mass (other than by dissolving or dispersing the reactants) generally being recoverable from the products as if it did not enter into the reaction and merely provided the impetus for reaction of other materials. While it was originally thought that a catalyst did not enter the reaction and instead provided sites at which the reactants, per se, interacted, it is understood now that at least some transitory intermediates may involve the catalyst. The catalyst, however does not contribute substance to the desired final product even though it may remain inseparable from such product. CATALYZE

Affecting, effecting, promoting, or initiating a reaction by being present-generally by presenting a contact surface and usually recoverable from the product in essentially unchanged form and operating other than by merely acting as a solvent. The strict classical concept of a catalyst is not rigidly adhered to now and the catalyst may disappear, change or be included as an incidental moiety in the final product. A catalyst may inhibit one reaction while promoting or allowing another reaction but an agent strictly preventing or retarding a reaction is a preservative for Class 252 Compositions, subclasses 380+. Examples of these retardants or inhibitors are anti-oxidant and anti-knock compositions. An agent that encourages a reaction by dispersing the reactants such as a more effective solvent is not a catalyst. A catalyst may be gaseous, liquid or solid.

CHAR

Carbonaceous reside from pyrolysis of organic material generally of a hard burned pitch appearance.

CLAY

A naturally occurring hydrated aluminum silicate originally derived from the earth, having physical properties due at least in part to the size and distribution of colloidal particles, and properties including plasticity. Thirty or more percent of the particles are under 0.002 mm in diameter.

(1) Note. The use of the term clay in a document is considered to meet the above definition.

(2) Note. Terms recognized as clay: attapulgite, bentonite, fuller's earth, halloysite, illite kaolin, montmorillonite, mullite.

(3) Note. Some earthy silicon compounds that are not clay or zeolite include Asbestos, Diaspore, Diatomaceous earth, Diatomite, Feldspar, Guhr, Kieselgahr, Mica, Quartz, Sand, and Silica.

METAL

An element that is not designated a nonmetal as listed infra. Nonmetals are H, B, C, Si, N, P, O, S, Se, Te, Halogens (F, Cl, Br, I, At,) and noble gases (He, Ne, Ar, Kr, Xe, Rn). The various types or groups of metals are as set out at the beginning of the schedule.

ORGANIC A compound in which carbon is bonded to (1) a second carbon; (2) at least one atom of hydrogen or halogen; or (3) nitrogen by a single or double bond; except cyanic and (HOCN) cyanogen

(NCCN), cyanamide (H2NCN), cyanogen halide (HalCN), hydrocyanic acid (HCN) isocyanic acid (HNCO) fulminic acid (HCNO) and metal carbides (MeCCMe). See class definition of Class 260.

SORB

The attracting and holding of a constituent of a contacting fluid, on the surface, within pores, or throughout its mass by a material of solid character. The sorbing is often selective, preferentially attracting a component and not attracting another but it may apply to a complete fluid. The sorbent may comprise a solid impregnated with a normally liquid material in which the mixture has a solid property but does not encompass a solution of a solid in a liquid.

SPECIFICALLY STRUCTURED

Having shape or size designed or calculated to increase the catalysis or sorbency of a material, generally by presenting a greater surface area per unit volume or a pore size of critical dimensions. Examples of specifically structured single materials are Raney nickel and activated carbon. Since porosity and specific pore size are inherent in zeolites, critical dimensions of the pores of a Zeolite alone are not considered to constitute specific structure.

ZEOLITE

A hydrous alumino silicate characterized by a three dimensional framework of Si04 and Al04 tetrahedra, cross-linked by the sharing of oxygen atoms being chemically balanced by a cation, usually sodium or calcium and of crystalline structure such that openings or pores allow access to a relatively large absorption area inside the crystal. The cation may be ion exchanged for other metal ions, ammonia, an amine or hydrogen. Zeolites may be activated for sorption by driving off the water of hydration.

(1) Note. Terms Recognized as being Zeolite include Analcite, Cancrinite, Chabazite, Clinotilolite, Cordierite, Edingtonite, Erionite, Faujasite, Ferrierite, Gmelinite, Heulandite, Laumontite, Levynite, Mesolite, Mordenite, Natrolite, Offretite, Paulingite, Phillipsite, Ptilolite, Scolecite, Thomsonite, ZSM, and ZK.

(2) Note. See the list in (3) Note of the definition of Clay, supra, for some silicon compounds not treated as clays or zeolites in this class (502).