METHODS AND SYSTEMS FOR DECREASING EMISSIONS OF CARBON DIOXIDE FROM COAL-FIRED POWER PLANTS

Abstract

Methods and systems for reducing carbon dioxide emissions from a coal-fired power plant by using electrical energy from a renewable energy source to increase the energy density in a beneficiated coal are provided. The system includes at least one renewable energy source; a coal processing plant, wherein the renewable energy source is configured to power a coal beneficiation process; and a coal-fired power plant to combust beneficiated coal to produce electricity on demand with decreased emissions. The non-carbon thermal energy source may include solar thermal energy, geothermal energy, waste energy and combinations of the foregoing.

Claims

1. A system for reducing the amount of electricity needed in a coal-fired power plant to beneficiate and reduce the moisture content of coal by using thermal energy from a non-carbon source and increase the energy density of coal prior to combustion comprising: at least one non-carbon thermal energy source; a coal processing plant configured to reduce the moisture content of coal and produce an increased energy density beneficiated coal, wherein said at least one non-carbon thermal energy source is used to reduce an electrical need of the coal processing plant; and a coal-fired power plant configured to combust the increased energy density beneficiated coal thereby producing electricity on demand at an increased efficiency with reduced carbon dioxide emissions from the plant.

2.-29. (canceled)

30. The system of claim 1 wherein the non-carbon thermal energy source is selected from a solar thermal energy source, a geothermal energy source, a biomass energy source and combinations of the foregoing.

31. The system of claim 1 further comprising thermal energy from a fossil fuel combustor integrated with the at least one non-carbon thermal energy source and configured to supplement the at least one non-carbon thermal energy source.

32. The system of claim 1 wherein a location of the coal processing plant is selected from a coal mine, a coal transportation terminal, a coal-fired power plant, a same site as the non-carbon thermal energy source and combinations of the foregoing.

33. The system of claim 32 wherein the coal transportation terminal is selected from terminals providing access to a ship, barge, rail, truck and combinations of the foregoing.

34. The system of claim 1 wherein the coal processing plant is integrated with a coal-fired power plant and shares use of coal handling, coal crushing and coal conveying equipment.

35. The system of claim 1 wherein said increased energy density coal is configured to be stored, transported and later combusted to produce said electricity on demand.

36. The system of claim 1 wherein the at least one non-carbon thermal energy source is configured to be used in conjunction with the mechanical compression of coal during or prior to a beneficiation process.

37. The system of claim 1 in which the at least one non-carbon thermal energy source is configured to be used to convert electrical energy to microwave energy to reduce the moisture content of the coal.

38. The system of claim 1 wherein said non-carbon thermal energy source is configured to preheat the coal prior to processing.

39. The system of claim 1 further comprising a working fluid configured to transport thermal energy from the non-carbon source of thermal energy to the coal processing plant.

40. The system of claim 39 further comprising a heat exchanger to recover thermal energy from the working fluid for use in the coal processing plant.

41. A system to store thermal energy from a non-carbon source by using the thermal energy in a coal processing plant to decrease the moisture content of coal resulting in an increased energy density beneficiated coal that can be subsequently combusted to produce electricity on demand comprising: at least one non-carbon thermal energy source; a coal preparation plant for beneficiating the coal, wherein energy from the at least one non-carbon thermal energy source is stored in a beneficiated increased energy density coal, and a coal-fired power plant configured to recover the stored energy by combusting the beneficiated coal to produce electricity on demand at an increased efficiency.

42. The system of claim 41 wherein the at least one non-carbon thermal energy source is selected from a solar thermal energy source, a geothermal energy source, a biomass energy source and combinations of the foregoing.

43. The system of claim 41 wherein a location of the coal preparation plant is selected from a coal mine, a coal transportation terminal, a coal-fired power plant, a same site as the non-carbon thermal energy source and combinations of the foregoing.

44. The system of claim 43 wherein the coal transportation terminal is selected from terminals providing access to a ship, barge, rail, truck and combinations of the foregoing.

45. The system of claim 41 wherein the coal processing plant is integrated with a coal-fired power plant and shares use of coal handling, coal crushing and coal conveying equipment.

46. The system of claim 41 wherein said increased energy density coal is configured to be stored, transported and subsequently combusted to produce said electricity on demand.

47. The system of claim 41 wherein said at least one non-carbon thermal energy source is configured to preheat the coal prior to processing.

48. The system of claim 41 further comprising a working fluid configured to transport thermal energy from the at least one non-carbon source of thermal energy to the coal processing plant.

49. The system of claim 48 further comprising a heat exchanger configured to recover thermal energy from the working fluid for use in the coal processing plant.

50. The system of claim 41 further comprising a thermal storage system configured to store energy from the at least one non-carbon source of thermal energy for later use in the coal processing plant.

51. A system to convert low quality thermal energy from non-carbon energy sources to electricity on demand by using the low-quality thermal energy from non-carbon sources in a coal processing plant to reduce the moisture content of coal resulting in an increased energy density beneficiated coal that can be later combusted to produce electricity on demand comprising: at least one non-carbon thermal energy source; a coal preparation plant for beneficiating the coal, wherein the at least one non-carbon thermal energy source is configured to support the reduction of moisture content in the coal thereby producing the increased energy density beneficiated coal that stores the at least one non-carbon thermal energy source; and a coal-fired power plant configured to convert the stored thermal energy in the coal to electricity on demand by combusting the increased energy density beneficiated coal at an increased efficiency.

52. The system of claim 51 wherein the non-carbon thermal energy source is selected from a solar thermal energy source, a geothermal energy source, a biomass energy source and combinations of the foregoing.

53. The system of claim 51 wherein a location of the coal preparation plant is selected from a coal mine, a coal transportation terminal, a coal-fired power plant, a same site as the non-carbon thermal energy source and combinations of the foregoing.

54. The system of claim 51 wherein the coal transportation terminal is selected from terminals providing access to a ship, barge, rail, truck and combinations of the foregoing.

55. The system of claim 51 wherein the coal processing plant is integrated with a coal-fired power plant and shares use of coal handling, coal crushing and coal conveying equipment.

56. The system of claim 51 wherein the at least one non-carbon thermal energy source is configured to preheat the coal prior to processing.

57. The system of claim 51 further comprising a working fluid configured to transport thermal energy from the at least one non-carbon thermal energy source to the coal processing plant.

58. The system of claim 57 further comprising a heat exchanger configured to recover thermal energy from the working fluid for use in the coal processing plant.

Description

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0041] FIG. 1 is an illustration of one configuration of the invention.

[0042] FIG. 2 is an illustration of an alternate configuration of the invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0043] There are a number of known coal beneficiation processes in the art, e.g. those as described in U.S. Pat. No. 3,999,958; U.S. Pat. No. 4,252,639; U.S. Pat. No. 4,397,248; U.S. Pat. No. 4,412,842; U.S. Pat. No. 4,632,750; U.S. Pat. No. 4,702,824; U.S. Pat. No. 6,632,258; U.S. Pat. No. 7,901,473; U.S. Pat. No. 8,585,788; U.S. Pat. No. 8,579,998; U.S. Pat. No. 8,647,400; and U.S. Pat. No. 8,925,729 the disclosure of each of which is incorporated by reference in their entirety. However, each of these processes has inherent limitations in that the coal beneficiation processes described therein are not supplemented with a non-carbon thermal energy source so that the net overall environmental impact of such coal beneficiation processes is limited, principally that those coal beneficiation processes require an enormous amount of energy from carbon-generating sources. Thus, even if the end result is a more energy-dense coal product, the net benefit on environmental impact is not reduced or minimized in many circumstances.

[0044] The present invention solves this technical problem by integrating non-carbon thermal energy sources to reduce the use of fossil-fuel fired energy sources in the coal beneficiation processes, which reduces the overall environmental impact and provides a consistent energy source in the form of beneficiated coal. Integrating non-carbon thermal energy sources with coal beneficiation processes has a number of distinct potential advantages over the prior art, including advantages over standalone non-carbon thermal energy sources and other stored energy systems.

Some of the advantages are as follows. Integrating non-carbon thermal energy sources with coal beneficiation processes allows for large-scale storage of thermal energy with subsequent generation of energy on demand. In many circumstances, non-carbon energy sources as standalone sources of energy provide insufficient power output for urban cities and other major population centers, especially in the developed and developing world. Beneficiated coal is capable of being produced in an amount to produce hundreds to thousands of megawatts (MWs) of electrical power. For example, beneficiated coal may be produced in an amount sufficient to power a 5 MW rated plant, a 10 MW rated plant, a 25 MW rated plant, a 50 MW rated plant, a 75 MW rated plant, a 100 MW rated plant, a 125 MW rated plant, a 150 MW rated plant, a 175 MW rated plant, a 200 MW rated plant, a 225 MW rated plant, a 250 MW rated plant, a 275 MW rated plant, a 300 MW rated plant, a 325 MW rated plant, a 350 MW rated plant, a 375 MW rated plant, a 400 MW rated plant, a 425 MW rated plant, a 450 MW rated plant, a 475 MW rated plant, a 500 MW rated plant, a 525 MW rated plant, a 550 MW rated plant, a 575 MW rated plant, a 600 MW rated plant, a 625 MW rated plant, a 650 MW rated plant, a 675 MW rated plant, a 700 MW rated plant, a 725 MW rated plant, a 750 MW rated plant, a 775 MW rated plant, a 800 MW rated plant, a 825 MW rated plant, a 825 MW rated plant, a 875 MW rated plant, a 900 MW rated plant, a 925 MW rated plant, a 950 MW rated plant, a 975 MW rated plant, a 1,000 MW rated plant, or plants rated above 1,000 MW, and any intervening ranges therein.

Example I

[0045] Assume a base case of a 500 MW coal-fired power plant with a heat rate of 10,500 BTU/kWh burning 2.2 MT/yr of subbituminous coal from the Powder River Basin with a moisture content of 26% and an energy content of 8900 BTU/lb. A coal beneficiating plant treats all of the 2.2 MT/yr of the coal prior to combustion, in the power plant, reducing the moisture content to 13% and thereby increasing the energy content of the treated coal to 9,900 BTU/lb. In this example, all of the electricity needed to dry the coal, 220,000 MW-hr/yr, is produced by the coal-fired power plant. When the coal is burned in the power plant to make electricity on demand, the combination of synergistic effects and increased generation efficiency results in reducing the emissions of carbon dioxide from the plant. However, the reduction in emissions is offset somewhat by an increase in carbon dioxide emissions associated with electricity used in the coal drying process.

Example II

[0046] Using the system in accordance with the invention, supplemental thermal energy produced by non-carbon sources rated at 30 MBTU/hr is used in the processing plant to enhance the drying of the coal. The supplemental thermal energy reduces the amount of electricity needed to dry the coal by 58,000 MW-hr per year. Because the thermal energy comes from a non-carbon source, this results in a reduction of 70,000 tons of emissions of carbon dioxide per year.

[0047] Another benefit of the approach in Example II is that the thermal energy from the non-carbon source is stored in the increased energy density coal and is converted into a form that can then be used to generate electricity on demand. In a conventional system to convert thermal energy to electricity, the thermal energy would have to be in the form of high pressure steam, and a steam turbine would be required to convert the thermal energy electricity. In the system in accordance with the invention set forth in Example II, 61,000 MW-hrs of low quality thermal energy in the form of a high temperature working fluid, is used to increase the energy density of coal, which is converted to 58,000 MW-hrs of electricity on demand in an existing coal fired boiler. It should be noted here that the conversion of thermal energy to electricity in conventional systems results in losses of greater than 50% of the energy. In the case described in Example II, the conversion occurs with minimal loss of energy.

[0048] Coal beneficiated with thermal energy produced by non-carbon sources is also capable of storing that thermal energy for a significant period of time, for several months up to a year or longer, as opposed to many other storage devices. For example, beneficiated coal may have a shelf life of at least 1 month, at least 2 months, at least 3 months, at least 4 months, at least 5 months, at least 6 months, at least 7 months, at least 8 months, at least 9 months, at least 10 months, at least 11 months, at least 12 months, at least 13 months, at least 14 months, at least 15 months, at least 16 months, at least 17 months, at least 18 months, at least 19 months, at least 20 months, at least 21 months, at least 22 months, at least 23 months, at least 24 months, or greater than 24 months, and any intervening ranges therein.

[0049] Integrating non-carbon thermal energy sources with coal beneficiation processes disconnects the timing of the energy stored in the coal during beneficiation from the timing of the use of the stored energy to satisfy customer demand. This is especially relevant in the case of non-carbon energy sources such as solar thermal, which is reliant on natural conditions beyond human intervention. The storage of thermal energy in beneficiated coal is highly efficient because most of the thermal energy stored from the non-carbon sources is recovered when the coal is burned to produce power. This is the case no matter which beneficiating process is used or which energy sources provide the energy including ones that use electricity generated from fossil fuels or renewable energy sources, waste energy, and/or thermal energy from any source, including fossil fuels and non-carbon energy sources. Furthermore, it allows the beneficiation facility to be located at the source of non-carbon thermal energy generation and the beneficiated coal can be used at another location without the need for transmission lines that are expensive and difficult to permit across private property, state and national borders.

[0050] In addition, the beneficiated coal can be shipped across oceans to other countries that are not possible to reach by transmission lines because of cost and practical limitations. The beneficiated coal represents stored energy that can be transported by truck, rail, barge, or ship across a continent, or around the world, to meet consumer demand for power.

[0051] Beneficiation of coal with heat from solar thermal, geothermal, and biomass combustion processes with or without further beneficiation can occur at the site where the non-carbon energy source is produced, where the coal is mined, at power plants where the coal is converted into energy or at transportation terminals that feed into multiple different plants. Alternatively, the coal beneficiation process can occur at all of the foregoing sites with or without further beneficiation of the coal. This means that at least the following combinations are possible. The coal beneficiation process, the coal power plant, and the coal mining can be at three different sites. The coal beneficiation process, the coal power plant, and the coal mining can be all at the same site. The coal beneficiation process and the coal mining can all be at the same site, with the coal power plant at a different site. The coal beneficiation process can be at one site, and the power plant and the coal mining at a different site or sites. Those of skill in the art will appreciate that further beneficiation of the coal after beneficiation may occur at any one of the sites listed above. These combinations may be further expanded to one or more additional sites.

[0052] In those embodiments where the coal beneficiation process is integrated with the operation of a coal power plant, i.e. located at the same site as the coal power plant, the coal beneficiation process can be integrated into the operation of the coal power plant in order to further increase the operational efficiency of the coal power plant. For example, waste heat generated from the combustion of coal at a power plant may be used to further supplement the thermal energy necessary to beneficiate coal to remove water therefrom. Interfacing the coal beneficiation process between the coal crusher and the pulverizer can save additional energy. This eliminates the need for separate coal crushing in the beneficiation process as well as eliminating the need for briquetting the beneficiated coal.

[0053] Integrating non-carbon thermal energy sources with the beneficiation of coal is compatible and complementary to the other means of reducing carbon emissions from coal-fired power plants including ultra- and supercritical plants and CCS technologies. In those embodiments where the beneficiation occurs at a coal mine (as discussed supra), such methods will reduce the amount of coal needed to be transported resulting in even further decreases in carbon emissions. Additionally, reducing the amount of moisture in the coal by beneficiating with heat will reduce the amount of coal being burned which will improve the operation of several plant systems resulting in reducing the parasitic power needed to run the plant. For example, it will lower the amount of pollutants and the volume of flue gas to be treated by air pollution control (APC) equipment. The reduced amount of coal will reduce the electrical power required to pulverize the coal. The resulting lower volume of combustion gases will also reduce the power required by the fans to move the gases. This will have an added benefit of reducing the pressure difference between the inside of the duct and the outside air resulting in lower in-leakage of air, which reduces the efficiency of the plants. All of these reductions in parasitic energy result in a decrease in the amount of CO.sub.2 produced per unit of net electrical power generated by the plant. An additional benefit may be the generation of greater amounts of electricity at a plant that was originally designed for a higher heat content coal. This will allow the power company to optimize how much power is generated from a lower CO.sub.2 emitting plant. The coal which is subject to coal beneficiation with supplemental thermal energy from non-carbon sources may be any type of coal, including peat coal, lignite coal, sub-bituminous coal, bituminous coal, and anthracite, although one of ordinary skill in the art will recognize that coal with higher water content such as sub-bituminous coal will benefit more from beneficiation than lower water content coal such as bituminous coal.

[0054] Referring now to FIG. 1 raw coal (21) is delivered to the coal processing plant (22) which dries and beneficiates the coal with a higher energy content (24) which is then taken to a power plant by a unit of transportation (25) where it is burned to make electricity. The coal drying/beneficiation plant (22) requires both electrical power from an external source (23) and thermal energy or heat. In this configuration, the thermal energy is provided by a solar thermal system in which water or a working fluid is exposed to the sun in panels (27), which heats the fluid. The heated fluid is then stored in an insulated vessel (30) to store the thermal energy. The heated working fluid is then sent to a heat exchanger (29), which heats air, liquid, or steam, which is then used in the coal processing plant. A gas-fired boiler (26) is used to produce steam or heated working fluid to supplement the thermal energy from the solar thermal system. The temperatures, pressures, and flow rates from all of the components are measured electronically and sent to an automatic controller (28), which balances the system and insures that the proper quantity and quality of thermal energy is delivered to the coal processing plant.

[0055] Referring now to FIG. 2 an alternate configuration of the invention is illustrated, wherein a biomass combustor is used to provide the necessary thermal energy required to process and dry the coal. Raw coal (31) is delivered to the coal processing plant (32) which dries and beneficiates the coal with a higher energy content (34) which is then taken to a power plant by a unit of transportation (35) where it is burned to make electricity. The coal drying/beneficiation plant (32) requires both electrical power from an external source (33) and thermal energy or heat. In this configuration, the thermal energy is provided by the combustion of biomass (36). The biomass is conveyed to the combustor (37), which burns the biomass to produce heat which is used to increase the temperature of either a working fluid or steam which is then stored in insulated vessel (40). The heated working fluid is then sent to a heat exchanger (39), which heats air, liquid, or steam, which is then used in the coal processing plant. The temperatures, pressures, and flow rates from all of the components are measured electronically and sent to an automatic controller (38), which balances the system and insures that the proper quantity and quality of thermal energy is delivered to the coal processing plant.

[0056] Thus, in some embodiments, the non-carbon energy source comprises a solar thermal energy source. Solar thermal energy has several distinct advantages and drawbacks. Solar thermal energy is totally non-carbon, and under certain conditions, such as those found in the American Southwest, is capable of generating high quantities of heat for the beneficiation of coal. One key advantage of solar thermal energy is that it is less expensive and more efficient than directly converting solar energy to electricity and then converting the electricity to thermal energy to burn coal. However, solar thermal energy systems are diurnal and only capable of generating heat when exposed to sunlight, thus their efficiency is limited. Thus, integrating solar thermal energy enhances coal beneficiation and allows for systems where any energy may be used to power the coal beneficiation process to provide a product that is capable of long-term storage and provide consistent output. In another embodiment concentrated solar power provides thermal energy to heat the coal during beneficiation. This simplifies the concentrated solar power system because it eliminates the need for the steam turbine, and also allows the system to operate at lower temperatures than steam conditions.

[0057] The non-carbon thermal energy sources reduce the need to combust fossil fuels to produce thermal energy to remove moisture thereby reducing carbon dioxide emissions associated with beneficiation thereby reducing the carbon footprint of the coal treatment plant.

[0058] The coal beneficiation process typically comprises reduction of the total water content of coal. Water is contained in coal in a number of different forms such as free water, bound water, and non-freezing water which are all included in the total water content of the coal. In this invention, the reduction of coal moisture is not bound by which type of moisture is impacted, only that overall reduction of any water is reduced. The water content reduction can be less than about 1%, about 1%, about 2%, about 3%, about 4%, about 5%, about 6%, about 7%, about 8%, about 9%, about 10%, about 11%, about 12%, about 13%, about 14%, about 15%, about 16%, about 17%, about 18%, about 19%, about 20%, about 25%, about 30%, about 35%, about 40%, about 45%, about 50%, about 55%, about 60%, about 65%, about 70%, about 75%, about 80%, about 85%, about 90%, about 95%, about 98%, about 99%, or greater than about 99%, and any intervening ranges therein. As defined herein, the water content reduction as measured by percent (%) water reduction is measured relative to the total water content of coal before and after beneficiation.

[0059] The coal beneficiation process increases the stored energy content of the coal, typically corresponding to reduction of the total water content of the coal. The stored energy content is typically, although not necessarily, measured in BTUs. The stored energy content may be increased by about 10%, about 20%, about 30%, about 40%, about 50%, about 60%, about 70%, about 80%, about 90%, about 100%, about 110%, about 120%, about 130%, about 140%, about 150%, about 160%, about 170%, about 180%, about 190%, about 200%, or greater than about 200%, and any intervening ranges therein.

[0060] The coal beneficiation process may follow the following methods, although variations on such methods are within one of ordinary skill in the art and are expressly considered embodied by the present disclosure. Typically, the coal is crushed into macerals, optionally washed, compacted, dried, and then briquetted although the crushing and washing stage may occur in different order. The crushing can occur by a number of means known in the art, including, but not limited to, through mechanical force, shredding, tearing, or through sonication/vibrations. At this stage, the coal is typically (but not necessarily) low ranking coal, such as lignite coal. Before or, ideally, after being pulverized or crushed into macerals, the macerals are optionally subjected to a washing step, i.e. coal washing. Coal washing is a process known in the art by which the coal is separated based on difference in specific gravity and impurities such as shale or sand, such that the impurities are washed out and what is left behind is purer coal with a higher calorific value. The coal washing can occur via a jig or some other gravity separation method, such as a dense medium bath or a dense medium cyclone. A number of dense medium baths exist including but not limited to teska bath, daniels bath, leebar bath, drewboy bath, barvoys bath, chance cone, wemco drums, tromp shallow bath, and combinations thereof. After the optional washing, the macerals are typically compacted, although not necessarily.

[0061] The coal product may then be subjected to beneficiation using the supplemental thermal energy from non-carbon sources to reduce the amount of moisture in the coal. When coupled with further beneficiation such as electricity from fossil fuels, renewable energy sources, waste energy, thermal energy from any source, non-carbon energy, and combinations of the foregoing, the total stored energy content of the coal as measured in the total energy content of the coal (e.g. in BTUs) per unit mass (e.g. gram or kilogram) of the coal is increased. The water reduction produced by the zero-carbon thermal energy may occur via a number of means, but particularly by solar thermal, geothermal, biomass combustion and combinations of the foregoing. Typically, a source of heat is applied to the coal in order to evaporate and drive the water off.

[0062] The coal beneficiation process may occur at temperatures below a temperature at which coal and/or coal dust will spontaneously ignite. For example, the coal beneficiation process keeps the coal temperature below about 500 C., below about 475 C., below about 400 C., below about 375 C., below about 350 C., below about 325 C., below about 300 C., below about 275 C., below about 250 C., below about 225 C., below about 200 C., below about 225 C., below about 200 C., below about 175 C., below about 150 C., below about 125 C., below about 100 C., below about 95 C., below about 90 C., below about 85 C., below about 80 C., and any intervening ranges therein. Furthermore, in such embodiments, there is little to no oxidation or volatilization of the coal, thus leaving little to no harmful gasses or emissions from the beneficiation process, minimizing environmental impact.

[0063] As used herein and in the appended claims, the singular forms a, and and the include plural references unless the context clearly dictates otherwise.

[0064] Where a value of ranges is provided, it is understood that each intervening value, to the tenth of the unit of the lower limit unless the context clearly dictates otherwise, between the upper and lower limit of that range and any other stated or intervening value in that stated range is encompassed within the invention. The upper and lower limits of these smaller ranges which may independently be included in the smaller ranges is also encompassed within the invention, subject to any specifically excluded limit in the stated range. Where the stated range includes one or both of the limits, ranges excluding either both of those included limits are also included in the invention.

[0065] The term about refers to a range of values which would not be considered by a person of ordinary skill in the art as substantially different from the baseline values. For example, the term about may refer to a value that is within 20%, 15%, 10%, 9%, 8%, 7%, 6%, 5%, 4%, 3%, 2%, 1%, 0.5%, 0.1%, 0.05%, or 0.01% of the stated value, as well as values intervening such stated values.

[0066] Publications disclosed herein are provided solely for their disclosure prior to the filing date of the present invention. Nothing herein is to be construed as an admission that the present invention is not entitled to antedate such publication by virtue of prior invention. Further, the dates of publication provided may be different from the actual publication dates which may need to be independently confirmed.

[0067] Each of the applications and patents cited in this text, as well as each document or reference, patent or non-patent literature, cited in each of the applications and patents (including during the prosecution of each issued patent; application cited documents), and each of the PCT and foreign applications or patents corresponding to and/or claiming priority from any of these applications and patents, and each of the documents cited or referenced in each of the application cited documents, are hereby expressly incorporated herein by reference in their entirety. More generally, documents or references are cited in this text, either in a Reference List before the claims; or in the text itself; and, each of these documents or references (herein-cited references), as well as each document or reference cited in each of the herein-cited references (including any manufacturer's specifications, instructions, etc.), is hereby expressly incorporated herein by reference.