Steam Generation Patents: Who Leads, Where the Gaps Are 2026
- Filing has cooled from its 2020 peak of 33. the leader-to-2024 count fell -67% (30 in 2021 to 10 in 2024), the last year with reasonably complete data.
- One assignee dominates the ranking at 56 records. while the field otherwise has a long tail down to single-digit filers by fifth and tenth place.
- Steam-specific classes sit inside a much wider IPC footprint. H02J power/grid (35.4%) and H01M batteries (24.6%) both outrank some core thermal classes, showing steam hardware is increasingly filed alongside power-integration claims.
Filing growth compares 2021 (30 records) with 2024 (10) — 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.
What this landscape covers
This landscape tracks 130 published records filed against a search for once-through steam systems, steam splitters and distribution architecture, cross-referenced with boiler feedwater treatment, steam quality measurement, blowdown separation, metering, water recycling and generator tube scaling. The scope spans 2015 through the 2026-07-31 data cut-off, capturing both classic thermal-plant steam engineering and its more recent overlap with renewable-integrated and industrial-process steam applications.
Filing activity peaked in 2020 and has since declined through 2024, the last year with reasonably complete publication data; 2025 and 2026 figures will fill in as later-filed applications publish, since publication typically lags filing by around 18 months. The technology composition shows steam engineering increasingly intersecting with power-grid, battery and even electrolytic-production classes rather than sitting purely inside classical boiler and turbine art.
Filing trends and technology composition
The two views below sit on different denominators: the trend line counts publications by year, while the IPC composition counts how many of the 130 records touch each subclass — a record can carry several classes, so the shares sum past 100%.
Filing trend, 2015-2026
Filings rose to a peak of 33 in 2020, then declined; the leader's count alone fell -67% from 30 in 2021 to 10 in 2024, the last year treatable as complete given publication lag.
Technology composition by IPC subclass
H02J (power supply and grid systems) leads at 35.4% of the 130 records, followed by F01K (steam and thermal power plants) at 28.5% and F28D (heat exchange apparatus) at 27.7%; separation (B01D), battery (H01M), wind (F03D), marine propulsion (B63H) and electrolytic production (C25B) classes each appear in roughly a fifth to a quarter of records.
Shares are the percentage of the 130 records in scope. A patent can carry several IPC classes, so the shares add up to more than 100%.
Go deeper on Steam Generation and Distribution with Eureka
This page is one run against one query. Ask Eureka your own question about steam generation and distribution and every answer comes back with the patent numbers behind it.
Try EurekaMost-cited records in this landscape
Compact steam quality and flow rate measurement system (US10054559B2)
A compact, pressure-conserving steam quality and flow-rate measurement system combining a converging/diverging nozzle with a conditioning orifice plate. The nozzle reduces pressure loss and controls flow rate; the orifice plate shortens the flow-conditioning pipe run needed and removes secondary conditioning elements. Placing both elements in series lets data from each be used together to determine two-phase steam quality in one compact assembly.Filed by Hutchinson, Dan; published 2018-08-21.
| # | Publication no. | Patent title | Citations |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | US8701773B2 | Oilfield application of solar energy collection | 98 |
| 2 | WO2020150244A1 | Use of renewable energy in olefin synthesis | 73 |
| 3 | AU2016204109B2 | Direct solar steam applications | 64 |
| 4 | EP3725865A1 | Use of renewable energy in olefin synthesis | 54 |
| 5 | EP3730592A1 | Use of renewable energy in olefin synthesis | 39 |
| 6 | US20130092153A1 | Direct Solar Steam Generation | 35 |
| 7 | WO2012006257A2 | Direct solar steam generation | 34 |
| 8 | WO2022115721A2 | Energy storage system and applications | 28 |
| 9 | WO2020150245A1 | Use of renewable energy in ammonia synthesis | 28 |
| 10 | US20220119269A1 | Use of renewable energy in ammonia synthesis | 27 |
Citation counts favour older records simply by virtue of being searchable longer; treat them as a signal of influence within this corpus, not of current technical importance.
Each row carries its publication number; clicking a row searches Eureka by that number.
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Three patterns stand out once the trend, the class composition and the assignee spread are read together.
The 2020 peak has not held
Filings rose to 33 in 2020 and the leading assignee's own count then fell from 30 in 2021 to 10 in 2024, the last year with dependable publication coverage. That is a real pullback rather than a data artefact, though 2025-2026 counts will still rise as later filings publish.
Grid integration outranks core steam classes
Power-supply and grid-systems art (H02J) touches more of the corpus than steam and thermal power plant art (F01K) itself, and battery classes (H01M, 24.6%) appear almost as often as heat-exchange apparatus (F28D, 27.7%). Steam hardware claims are increasingly bundled with power-integration and storage claims rather than filed as standalone thermal art.
One filer, then a steep drop-off
The ranked leader holds 56 records against a fifth-place count of only 5 across the 21 companies in this ranking, with the tenth-place filer also at 5. Most of the field files in single digits, which suggests concentrated core IP held by one player and a long tail of narrower, single-application filings.
Eureka can read the same corpus for gaps instead of for coverage: under-claimed branches adjacent to steam generation and distribution, with the prior art for and against each one.
Who is filing, and where the gaps sit
The ranking covers 21 companies with published records in this scope. Filing is led by one industrial player, with several named individual inventors and a small solar-thermal specialist rounding out the ranked field, alongside strong co-assignee pairs that show close collaboration on a shared portfolio.
Concentrated core portfolio
The top-ranked assignee's 56 records dwarf the rest of the field, and its strongest co-assignee pairings each recur at 15 shared records apiece, pointing to a tightly held cluster of related filings rather than scattered single applications.
Recent-year activity has stalled across the board
Every assignee with recent-year momentum data shows zero filings in the latest year, including the leader at -100% YoY. Given the roughly 18-month publication lag, this reads as an incomplete latest year rather than an abrupt industry exit.
A long tail of narrower filers
Fifth and tenth place both sit at 5 records, indicating a fairly flat tail rather than a sharp secondary tier. Several ranked entries are named individual inventors rather than corporations, suggesting parts of this space are still served by smaller or independent filers.
| Assignee | Recent year | YoY |
|---|---|---|
| SABIC Global Technologies B.V. | 0 | -100% |
| Rondo Energy, Inc. | 0 | -100% |
| GlassPoint Solar, Inc. | 0 | — |
| ZHAO ZHUN | 0 | — |
| WARD | 0 | — |
| STEVENSON SCOTT | 0 | — |
| HUCKMAN MICHAEL EDWARD | 0 | — |
| SCHROER JOSEPH WILLIAM | 0 | — |
Where to take this analysis
The trend and composition data point to specific next steps depending on whether the goal is freedom-to-operate, licensing or new filing strategy.
Run a full claim-scope check on the leader's portfolio
With 56 records and multiple 15-record co-assignee pairings, the leading assignee's claim boundaries are the first thing to map before filing anything adjacent in steam measurement or separation art.
Explore assignee portfolios in EurekaTrack the 2025-2026 filings as they publish
Because publication lags filing by around 18 months, the apparent -67% decline through 2024 is the most recent complete signal; later years need re-checking as they fill in.
Set up filing alerts in EurekaProbe the under-claimed cross-domain branches
Grid-integration and battery classes already overlap steam art at meaningful rates; the sub-areas combining steam metering with hybrid renewable or electrolysis loads look comparatively open.
Search white space in EurekaCommon questions about steam generation and distribution patents
One assignee leads the ranked field with 56 records, well ahead of the rest of the 21 companies in this ranking, where fifth and tenth place both sit at only 5 records. That gap indicates a concentrated core portfolio at the top and a comparatively flat, thinner tail below it rather than a gradual drop-off. Anyone assessing freedom to operate in this space should start by reviewing the leader's claims before looking at the smaller filers.
Filings peaked in 2020 at 33 records and have declined since; the leading assignee's own filings fell -67% from 30 in 2021 to 10 in 2024, the last year with reasonably complete publication data. Because publication typically lags filing by around 18 months, the 2025 and 2026 counts shown in raw data will understate actual filing activity and should not yet be read as a continued decline. The honest read is a real pullback from the 2020 peak through 2024, with the most recent two years still unresolved.
In this dataset, the most common IPC subclasses are H02J (power supply and grid systems, 35.4% of the 130 records), F01K (steam and thermal power plants, 28.5%) and F28D (heat-exchange apparatus, 27.7%), followed by B01D (separation processes) and H01M (batteries and fuel cells). Because a single record can carry multiple IPC classes, these percentages add up to well over 100% and should not be read as mutually exclusive categories. The prominence of H02J and H01M alongside the core steam classes shows that much of this art is filed jointly with power-integration or energy-storage claims.
US10054559B2 covers a compact, pressure-conserving steam quality and flow-rate measurement system that combines a converging/diverging nozzle with a conditioning orifice plate placed in series. The nozzle design reduces pressure loss while controlling flow rate, and the orifice plate shortens the pipe length needed for flow conditioning, removing the need for separate secondary conditioning elements. Anyone designing a two-phase steam measurement device that uses both a shaped nozzle and an inline conditioning plate to jointly derive steam quality and flow rate should review this claim set closely, since the combination of both elements in series is the core of what is claimed.
The technology composition shows dense filing in core measurement, separation and heat-exchange art, but comparatively thinner coverage where steam systems intersect with newer adjacent domains, such as steam metering integrated into hybrid renewable-thermal loops, blowdown heat recovery tied to grid-integration claims, and steam-to-electrolysis coupling. These are inferred from where core steam classes overlap least with the higher-density grid, battery and electrolytic-production classes rather than from a direct white-space metric. A first claim in one of these branches would likely need to combine a specific steam-handling mechanism with a specific downstream energy application to avoid the dense prior art sitting in the core classes.
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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.