Air-Pollution Control Patents: Top Companies & Filing Trends 2026
- 38.6% concentration at the top. The five leading assignees account for 165 of the 428 records in scope, but a long tail of single- and few-filing entrants fills out the remaining ranked field.
- Filing is up 60% since 2021. Annual filings rose from 10 in 2021 to 16 in 2024 — the last year the data can be treated as complete before publication lag thins out 2025-2026.
- Separation and drilling dominate the IPC mix. B01D (separation processes) and E21B (well and drilling technology) each cover roughly a quarter of all records, well ahead of combustion-residue and incinerator classes.
Filing growth compares 2021 (10 records) with 2024 (16) — a three-year span. 2024 is the most recent year we treat as complete: publication lags filing by roughly 18 months, so 2025 onwards are still filling in and any growth rate that ends there would understate the field. Top-5 share is the combined record count of the five largest assignees divided by all 428 records in scope (CR5), not by the ranked leaders only.
What this landscape covers
This dataset spans 428 published records filed or published between 2015 and mid-2026, drawn from a search string that pairs air-pollution control terms — flue gas treatment, air emission control — with the mechanisms used to sense and remove pollutants: filtration media, sampling sensors, disinfection processes and environmental condition monitoring. The result mixes core emissions-control hardware with a substantial share of oilfield and drilling-adjacent filings, a signal that the search terms surface both stationary-source air treatment and downhole or produced-fluid applications that use similar separation chemistry.
Filing activity is concentrated in a handful of assignees but the ranked field runs 100 companies deep, and receiving-office data shows the United States drawing the largest share of filings, with China, WIPO/PCT, Europe, Australia and the United Kingdom following at meaningfully smaller volumes.
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Filing trend and technology composition
The two views below cover different denominators: the trend chart counts records by publication year, and the IPC breakdown counts how many of the 428 records touch each subclass — a single record can carry several classes, so those shares add to more than 100%.
A rising but recent trend
Annual filings climbed from a single record in 2017 to a peak of 22 in 2020, then settled into a steadier climb — 10 in 2021 up to 16 in 2024, a 60% increase over that three-year span. 2025 and 2026 figures will keep revising upward as publication catches up with filing, roughly an 18-month lag, so treat the most recent two years as undercounted rather than as a slowdown.
Where the claims sit
Separation processes (B01D, 28.5% of records) and earth/rock drilling technology (E21B, 26.4%) are the two largest classes by a wide margin, followed by material analysis and testing (G01N, 8.2%) and flue/combustion-residue handling (F23J, 7.7%). Incinerators (F23G), coke and destructive distillation (C10B), water treatment (C02F) and exhaust treatment (F01N) each sit in the mid-single digits — none of them saturated, but none of them empty either.
Shares are the percentage of the 428 records in scope. A patent can carry several IPC classes, so the shares add up to more than 100%.
Go deeper on Air-Pollution Control Patent Landscape with Eureka
This page is one run against one query. Ask Eureka your own question about air-pollution control patent landscape and every answer comes back with the patent numbers behind it.
Try EurekaA representative filing
Integrated boiler and air pollution control systems (US20110076215A1)
An air pollution control system includes an emission treatment system configured to receive flue gas, reduce at least one pollutant, and output treated flue gas. A first air heater exchanges heat to raise forced air above a base temperature, cooling the treated flue gas to a stack discharge temperature. A second air heater receives the heated forced air and raises it further to a preheat temperature used for combustion in a boiler — chaining pollutant removal directly into the plant's thermal recovery loop.Filed by Babcock Power Environmental Inc., published 2011-03-31.
| # | Publication no. | Patent title | Citations |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | US20080128134A1 | Producing drive fluid in situ in tar sands formations | 261 |
| 2 | US20050239182A1 | Synthetic and biologically-derived products produced using biomass produced by photobioreactors configured fo… | 260 |
| 3 | US20080174115A1 | Power systems utilizing the heat of produced formation fluid | 258 |
| 4 | US20050260553A1 | Photobioreactor and process for biomass production and mitigation of pollutants in flue gases | 255 |
| 5 | US20050064577A1 | Hydrogen production with photosynthetic organisms and from biomass derived therefrom | 233 |
| 6 | US7635023B2 | Time sequenced heating of multiple layers in a hydrocarbon containing formation | 231 |
| 7 | US7549470B2 | Solution mining and heating by oxidation for treating hydrocarbon containing formations | 230 |
| 8 | US7562707B2 | Heating hydrocarbon containing formations in a line drive staged process | 224 |
| 9 | US7533719B2 | Wellhead with non-ferromagnetic materials | 219 |
| 10 | US6684648B2 | Apparatus for the production of freshwater from extremely hot and humid air | 215 |
Citation counts reflect influence within this searched corpus and skew toward older filings — read them as a marker of prior-art density, not of current commercial relevance.
Each row carries its publication number; clicking a row searches Eureka by that number.
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Three patterns stand out once the ranking, the trend and the IPC mix are read together.
The top of the field is settled, the rest is open
Five assignees hold 165 of the 428 records in scope. That leaves a long tail across the other ranked entrants, most holding only a handful of filings — a sign that core system-level claims are staked out while component and process-level variations remain contestable.
Growth is real but recent
Filings rose from 10 to 16 across the three years the data can be treated as complete. That is meaningful growth off a modest base, not a mature or saturated field — 2025-2026 figures will rise further as publication lag closes.
Separation and drilling lead, combustion residue trails
B01D (separation processes) and E21B (drilling) each anchor roughly a quarter of records, well ahead of F23J flue and combustion-residue handling at 7.7%. That gap suggests filtration-medium and downhole-adjacent claims are the densest ground, while flue-gas residue handling has comparatively more room.
Filing is US-centred with a secondary China channel
The United States receives more than four times the filings of the next-largest office, China, with WIPO/PCT, Europe, Australia and the UK trailing further behind. A filing strategy built only around US priority will miss the growing but still modest China channel.
Eureka can read the same corpus for gaps instead of for coverage: under-claimed branches adjacent to air-pollution control patent landscape, with the prior art for and against each one.
The assignee landscape
The ranking spans 100 companies counted by record; five hold the top tier, and momentum data for the leading names shows no filings in the latest year — consistent with the broader publication lag rather than a pullback.
One filer well ahead of the field
The leading assignee's 91 records dwarf the fifth-place total of 12 and the tenth-place total of 7, meaning the drop-off after first place is steep rather than gradual.
A moderate second tier, then a long tail
Between fifth and tenth place the gap narrows to a handful of records apiece, and beyond tenth place the ranking thins into single- and double-digit filers — typical of a field with one dominant incumbent and many opportunistic entrants.
Filing partnerships cluster around one group
The strongest co-assignee pairs in the dataset repeat the same corporate family paired with different named inventors, suggesting internal R&D teams rather than cross-company joint ventures drive the densest collaboration signal here.
| Assignee | Recent year | YoY |
|---|---|---|
| Shell Oil Company | 0 | — |
| Shell Internationale Research Maatschappij B.V. | 0 | — |
| General Electric Company | 0 | — |
| Babcock Power Environmental Inc. | 0 | — |
| Manufacturing and Technology Conversion International, Inc. | 0 | — |
| Ahlstrom Oyj | 0 | — |
| VINEGAR HAROLD J | 0 | — |
| GreenFuel Technologies Corp. | 0 | — |
Where to take this analysis
The figures above describe the field as it stands in the data; turning them into a filing or freedom-to-operate decision means drilling into specific claims and specific assignees.
Map claim scope against the leader's portfolio
With one assignee holding 91 records, understanding exactly which claim elements it has locked down — versus which are implementation detail — determines whether a new filing needs to route around a real barrier or just a broad but shallow one.
Explore assignee portfolios in EurekaWatch the under-claimed IPC branches
F23J, C10B and C02F all sit in the mid-single digits of record share. That is room to file, but only if the specific mechanism has not already been claimed by a filing outside this exact search string.
Run a deeper IPC query in EurekaTrack the next 12-18 months of publication
Because 2025-2026 filings are still publishing, the real trend for those years will only be visible with continued monitoring rather than reading the current dip as a slowdown.
Set up filing alerts in EurekaCommon questions about this landscape
One assignee leads the ranked field with 91 records, well ahead of the fifth-place holder at 12 and the tenth-place holder at 7. The top five assignees combined account for 165 of the 428 records in scope, or 38.6% of the field. Beyond the top ten, filing thins into a long tail of companies holding only a handful of records each, so most of the ranked field is made up of smaller, more contestable positions rather than dominant blocking portfolios.
Filing grew from 10 records in 2021 to 16 in 2024, a 60% increase over that three-year span, and 2024 is the most recent year the data can treat as essentially complete. 2025 and 2026 show lower counts, but that reflects the roughly 18-month lag between filing and publication, not an actual pullback. Anyone reading the raw yearly chart should expect the final two years to revise upward as more records publish.
Separation processes under IPC class B01D cover 28.5% of the 428 records, and earth and rock drilling technology under E21B covers 26.4% — the two largest classes by a clear margin. Material analysis and testing (G01N, 8.2%) and flue and combustion-residue handling (F23J, 7.7%) follow well behind. Because a single record can carry multiple IPC classes, these shares add up to more than 100% and should not be read as mutually exclusive categories.
Classes like F23G (incinerators), C10B (coke and destructive distillation), C02F (water and wastewater treatment) and F01N (exhaust treatment) each sit in the mid-single-digit share of records, notably lower than the dominant separation and drilling classes. That does not guarantee open claim space in every sub-branch, but it does mean the filing density is lighter there relative to B01D and E21B, making them worth a targeted prior-art search before assuming the ground is taken. Flue-gas residue valorisation and photobioreactor-based mitigation are examples of narrower mechanisms within these lighter classes.
The United States receives the largest share of filings at 211 records, more than four times the next-largest office, China, at 53. WIPO/PCT filings total 28, followed by Europe (EPO) at 23, Australia at 21 and the United Kingdom at 20. A filing strategy focused solely on the US will cover the largest single office but will miss meaningful, if smaller, activity in China and through the PCT system.
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Disclaimer. This page is generated from Patsnap Eureka data drawn from a limited snapshot of global patent and scientific-literature records, and is provided for general information and reference only.
Patent data carries inherent limitations: recent filings (typically the most recent 18–24 months) are under-counted due to standard publication lag; counts may be reported at either a patent-family or a patent-record basis and are not always directly comparable; classification, applicant-name, and citation data may contain errors, duplicates, or omissions; and the underlying search query defines and constrains the scope shown. As a result, the analysis may be incomplete or inaccurate and may not reflect the full technology landscape.
Nothing on this page constitutes an exhaustive prior-art, novelty, freedom-to-operate, or validity search, nor does it constitute legal, financial, investment, or professional advice, and it should not be relied upon as such. Any patent, commercial, or strategic decision should be verified independently and reviewed with qualified patent, legal, and domain professionals. Patsnap makes no warranties, express or implied, as to the accuracy, completeness, or fitness for any particular purpose of the information presented.
Machine translation. Assignee and organisation names originally recorded in Chinese, Japanese or Korean have been rendered into English by an AI translation step so that the tables stay readable. These renderings are best-effort and may not match a company’s registered English name; the original name is what the underlying patent record carries, and it is what any Eureka query launched from this page uses.