IPC Definitions - January 01, 2012
A62D 3/00 - Definition
This main group covers:
Processes for chemically altering harmful chemical substances into safe or less-dangerous substances.
These processes can be chemical, bio-chemical or physico-chemical processes, e.g. use of special chemical reagents for chemical fixing, which result in the decomposition or transformation of the harmful chemical substances into harmless or less harmful substances because of a change in their chemical structure.
These processes can comprise the step of dissolving or dispersing the harmful chemical substances in water for the purpose of treating them, or the step of producing, for treatment, a gaseous product from a non-gaseous harmful chemical substance.
The harmful chemical substance can be one component of a mixture, e.g. a component in contaminated sludge.
Relationship between large subject matter areas
The disposal of solid waste or the reclamation of contaminated soil is classified elsewhere, i.e. in class B09. However, the treatment of a specific harmful chemical substance in solid waste resulting in the change of its chemical constitution to make it harmless or less harmful is covered by A62D.
In the same way, treatment of sludge is not classified here with the exception of the treatment of a specific harmful chemical substance in the sludge, e.g. in residues from industrial processes (excluding contaminants from municipal sewage treatment) resulting in the change of its chemical constitution to make it harmless or less harmful.
Preventive chemical treatments, e.g. to prevent the formation of harmful chemical substances are classified elsewhere, depending on the kind of treatment and/or the context of application.
Processes using enzymes or micro-organisms classified in A62D 3/00 are also classified in subclass C12S.
References relevant to classification in this main group
This main group does not cover:
Detoxification of foods or foodstuffs | A23L 1/015 |
Apparatus for chemical, physical or physico-chemical processes in general | B01 |
Treatment of gases, e.g.: | |
Chemical or biological purification of smoke or fumes, e.g. flue gas | B01D 53/34 |
Purification or modifying the chemical compositions of combustible gases containing carbon monoxide | C10K |
Exhaust or silencing apparatus having means for purifying, rendering innocuous, or otherwise treating exhaust | F01N 3/00 |
Consuming noxious gases by combustion | F23G 7/06 |
Chemical processes resulting in the production of a useful product, e.g.: | |
using untreated contaminated fly ash as raw material in the manufacture of cement | C04B 7/26 |
metals obtained from residues or scrap | C22B |
Treatment of radioactively-contaminated waste | G21F 9/00 |
Treatment of waste water, sewage or sludge | C02F |
Making explosives harmless by detonation | F42D 5/04 |
Attention is drawn to the following places, which may be of interest for search:
Disinfection or sterilizing methods specially adapted for refuse | A61L 11/00 |
Waste or refuse as compounding ingredient for glass, cement, mortar, concrete, artificial stone or ceramics | C03, C04B |
Materials for absorbing liquids to remove pollution, e.g. oil, gasoline, fat | C09K 3/32 |
Destructive distillation of carbonaceous materials | C10B |
Destructive hydrogenation of carbonaceous materials | C10G 1/06 |
Micro-organisms, enzymes or compositions thereof | C12N |
Consuming waste by combustion | F23G |
Removal or treatment of combustion products or combustion residues | F23J |
In this main group, the following terms or expressions are used with the meaning indicated:
Catalyst | Substance which either increases or decreases the speed of a chemical reaction, without itself undergoing a permanent chemical change. |
Catalyst | |
Chalcogen | Also known as chalcogenides, specifically O, S, Se, Te. |
Harmful | Directly toxic to living organisms, with the exception of toxic to plants only. |
Harmful chemical substances | Chemical waste substances which are too hazardous or toxic to be discarded in an ordinary municipal landfill. |
Halogens | The elements F, Cl, Br ,I , At. |
Physico-chemical | Having at least one chemical step and one physical step. |
Sludge | Residue (normally viscous) from an industrial, residential, or agricultural process. |