Spent Catalyst Recovery & Regeneration Patent Snapshot
The spent catalyst recovery and regeneration space is a tightly held, specialty field where ARCO Chemical Technology dominates and the top five filers account for over half of activity among the hundred largest filers. Annual filing volume has eased back from its 2021 peak, placing the field in a decline phase with selective but narrowing new activity.
ARCO Chemical Technology leads a concentrated field with a wide margin over challengers
ARCO Chemical Technology Inc. holds the top position by a substantial margin, followed by Lyondell Chemical Technology LP and Monsanto Technology LLC. The ranking reflects a field shaped primarily by large integrated chemical companies with proprietary epoxidation and oxidation catalyst processes.
The top five filers — ARCO Chemical Technology, Lyondell Chemical Technology, Monsanto Technology, ONGC Energy Centre Trust, and Institute of Chemical Technology — together represent 56% of the combined activity of the ranked applicants visible in this query, indicating a moderately concentrated structure with a clear first-tier leader and a cluster of mid-tier players close together in volume.
| # | Applicant | Patent records | Share |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | ARCO Chemical Technology Inc. | 23 | |
| 2 | Lyondell Chemical Technology LP | 11 | |
| 3 | Monsanto Technology LLC | 9 | |
| 4 | ONGC Energy Centre Trust | 7 | |
| 5 | Institute of Chemical Technology | 7 | |
| 6 | SCG Chemicals Co., Ltd. | 6 | |
| 7 | BASF Mobile Emissions Catalysts LLC | 4 | |
| 8 | SABIC Global Technologies BV | 4 | |
| 9 | ExxonMobil Chemical Patents Inc. | 3 | |
| 10 | TotalEnergies SE (formerly TotalFina Elf) | 3 |
| # | Applicant | Patent records | Share |
|---|---|---|---|
| 11 | Koch Technology Solutions LLC | 2 | |
| 12 | ARCO Chemical Technology Nederland | 2 | |
| 13 | Texaco Development Corporation | 2 | |
| 14 | NOVA Chemicals (International) SA | 2 | |
| 15 | Hydro X Ltd. | 1 | |
| 16 | Conser | 1 | |
| 17 | Tech France SA | 1 | |
| 18 | Tianjin Winfuture Environmental Protection Technology Co., Ltd. | 1 | |
| 19 | Buchanan J. Scott | 1 | |
| 20 | Gevo Inc. | 1 |
ARCO Chemical Technology’s position, reinforced by its focus on epoxidation-related catalyst regeneration, suggests that proprietary process chemistry rather than generic regeneration methods defines the competitive frontier. Challengers are differentiated more by substrate chemistry than by regeneration technique alone.
Patent records from roughly the past 18 to 24 months are subject to publication lag and likely under-represent actual recent filings; conclusions about very recent activity should be treated as provisional. Longer-window growth, applicant concentration, and technology-route coverage are therefore more reliable signals than the latest-year bar alone.
Filing volume has eased from a 2021 peak; catalysis process chemistry dominates the technology mix
The annual filing trend and the IPC technology composition together reveal a field that surged briefly around 2021 and has since contracted, while remaining anchored in core heterogeneous catalysis methods with a long tail of adjacent chemical classes.
Annual filing trend
Filings peaked in 2021 at six records and have declined sharply since; years 2025 and 2026 show minimal recorded activity but are subject to publication lag and should not be read as a definitive endpoint. The broader multi-year window shows overall negative recent growth relative to earlier periods.
↗ Hover for values · click a bar to ask EurekaTechnology composition
B01J (chemical and physical processes, catalysis) is the overwhelmingly visible class, followed at a distance by C07C (acyclic and carbocyclic compounds) and C07D (heterocyclic compounds), reflecting the close coupling between regeneration methods and specific organic synthesis routes. Classes such as F01N (exhaust treatment), C07F (organo-metallic compounds), and B01D (separation processes) each hold small shares, pointing to under-served adjacent application areas.
↗ Hover for values · click a bar to ask EurekaHighly cited patent families surfaced by the query
Citation-heavy patent families returned by the query. Use this section as citation context, not as a curated list of the most topic-specific patents.
Titanium/silica heterogeneous catalyst regeneration
The catalytic activity of a titanium-containing heterogeneous catalyst such as titania-on-silica which has been used to catalyze olefin epoxidation is effectively restored by washing the catalyst with water, alcohol, ether, nitrile, ester, aromatic hydrocarbon, or ketone. (excerpt from the patent abstract)
Open this patent in Eureka →| # | Patent | Citations |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | High efficiency epoxidation process | 110 |
| 2 | Oxidation catalyst and process | 82 |
| 3 | Heterogeneous catalyst regeneration | 69 |
| 4 | Transition metal-containing catalysts and processe… | 67 |
| 5 | Process for epoxidation of propylene | 65 |
| 6 | Process and device for desulphurizing hydrocarbons… | 53 |
| 7 | Heterogeneous catalyst regeneration | 41 |
| 8 | High efficiency epoxidation process | 40 |
Ranked by total forward citations. Citation counts favour older and broadly cited patent families, and broad or adjacent patents may appear when they match the search scope. Treat this section as citation context, not as a curated list of the most topic-specific patents. Some patent titles may be shown in their original, non-English language where an accurate translation could not be guaranteed.
Assignee snapshot from the current evidence set
The applicants below are visible in this query result. Because the evidence set is relatively small, read this section as a directional snapshot rather than a full competitive ranking.
ARCO Chemical Technology Inc.
ARCO Chemical Technology holds 23 patent records — the largest portfolio in this corpus — with technology emphasis concentrated in B01J 38 (catalyst regeneration processes), C07D 301 (epoxide-forming heterocyclic reactions), and B01J 21 (solid catalysts). This tightly coupled profile indicates that its regeneration IP is inseparable from its proprietary epoxidation process technology. No applicant momentum data is available for the period in scope.
patent records: 23Monsanto Technology LLC
Monsanto Technology holds 9 patent records with a notably uniform distribution across B01J 21, B01J 23, and B01J 27 — covering solid supports, metal-containing catalysts, and phosphorus/sulfur/halogen catalysts respectively. This breadth suggests a platform-level approach to catalyst chemistry rather than a single-process focus. No applicant momentum data is available for the period in scope.
patent records: 9Frequently asked questions
The analysis covers 26 patent families in spent catalyst recovery and regeneration.
ARCO Chemical Technology Inc. is the top filer with 23 patent records, more than double the next-ranked applicant, Lyondell Chemical Technology LP, which holds 11 patent records.
The field is classified as Decline. Annual filing volume has eased back from its 2021 peak of six records, and the recent growth figure is negative relative to prior periods.
The United States leads all jurisdictions, followed by Europe via the EPO and WIPO PCT. China, Australia, Canada, and India each receive secondary coverage, while South Korea, the United Kingdom, and Singapore show limited filing activity.
Yes. The only documented co-filing relationship in the evidence is between Institute of Chemical Technology and ONGC Energy Centre Trust, which co-filed 7 patent records together, representing an academic-industrial partnership.
F01N (exhaust treatment and automotive catalyst regeneration) and B01D (separation processes for catalyst fines recovery) each hold low shares of the technology composition — 3% and 2% respectively — making them the most sparsely covered adjacent branches relative to their technical relevance.
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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.
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