Abstract: Zeolite adsorbent, and method of production, exchanged with calcium and barium cations, for purifying or separating a gas or gas mixture, in particular air, so as to remove therefrom the impurities found therein, such as hydrocarbons and nitrogen oxides (NxOy). The adsorbent is preferably an X or LSX zeolite and the gas purification process is of the TSA type.
Type:
Grant
Filed:
October 16, 2002
Date of Patent:
March 14, 2006
Assignee:
L'Air Liquide, Societe Anonyme A Directoire et Conseil de Surveillance pour l'Etude et l'Exploitation des Procedes Georges Claude
Abstract: The invention concerns a method for driving at least a compression machine (7, 8) of an air distillation unit (3) which supplies oxygen and/or nitrogen and/or argon to an industrial plant (1) producing water vapour. In normal running conditions, the compression machine is driven at least partly by a steam turbine (13) fed with said water vapour, which is input at an input port (15) of the turbine. The turbine has two input ports (15, 16) which correspond to different intake pressures. During at least one operating phase of said plant (1), the turbine is partly supplied with water vapour from an auxiliary water vapour source (21) and input at the turbine other input port (16). The invention is useful for supplying air gas to a synthetic hydrocarbon production plant.
Type:
Grant
Filed:
June 27, 2002
Date of Patent:
March 14, 2006
Assignee:
L'Air Liquide, Societe Anonyme A Directoire et Conseil De Surveillance Pour L'Etude et L'Exploitation Des Procedes Georges Claude
Abstract: A method and apparatus for increasing spatial energy coverage in a furnace is provided. The apparatus of the present invention includes a panel positioned at least partially into a sidewall of a furnace. The panel includes a plurality of openings for injecting a material through each of the openings at least partially during the same time period. The method of the present invention includes positioning the panel at least partially within the sidewall of a furnace. The method also includes injecting at least partially during the same time period, a primary combustion material, a secondary combustion material, and a particulate material, into the furnace.
Type:
Grant
Filed:
December 8, 2003
Date of Patent:
February 14, 2006
Assignee:
Air Liquide America, LP
Inventors:
Alex Popenov, Peter van Kampen, Yury Eyfa, Olivier Delabroy
Abstract: Method and apparatus for treating a gas by adsorption. A gas is compressed and then treated by being circulated in an adsorber. A regenerating fluid is indirectly heated by the gas coming from the compressor. In a second regeneration phase, the regenerating fluid is sent directly to the adsorber, while the treated gas is refrigerated by an auxiliary refrigerator.
Type:
Grant
Filed:
October 9, 2002
Date of Patent:
January 10, 2006
Assignee:
L'Air Liquide, Société Anonyme à Directoire et Conseil de Surveillance pour l'Etude et l'Exploitation des Procédés Georges Claude
Abstract: A method of separating a gas mixture using a permeation membrane unit, wherein the gas mixture, containing primarily hydrogen and carbon monoxide, is first treated to reduce the level of secondary components to lower than 100 molar ppm.
Type:
Grant
Filed:
November 13, 2002
Date of Patent:
December 20, 2005
Assignee:
L'Air Liquide, Société Anonyme à Directoire et Conseil de Surveillance pour l'Etude et l'Exploitation des Procédés Georges Claude
Inventors:
Nicolas Siadous, Yves Engler, Christian Monereau
Abstract: A method and apparatus for cooling a fluid in the liquid state, possibly also containing solid elements, comprising feeding said fluid into a containing member for said fluid and also feeding into said member a cooling fluid in the liquid state, such as a liquefied gas; said fluids are brought into direct contact within said containing member so that by absorbing heat, the cooling fluid passes into the gaseous state and cools the fluid to be cooled, these fluids then being extracted directly from said member by separate conduits.
Type:
Grant
Filed:
February 6, 2004
Date of Patent:
November 29, 2005
Assignee:
L'Air Liquide, Société Anonyme à Directoire et Conseil de Surveillance pour l'Etude et l'Exploitation des Procédés Georges Claude
Abstract: A method of controlling slag characteristics in an electric arc furnace control is disclosed. The furnace has inputs including oxygen supply and carbon supply. The method of controlling slag characteristics includes introducing a charge to be melted into the furnace, melting at least a portion of the charge to produce a melt, and introducing oxygen and carbon into the melt to enhance formation of a slag having slag conditions including a slag height and a slag coverage. To better control the slag characteristics, the slag is modeled and the inputs are controlled to maximize the energy transferred from the electrode to the slag.
Abstract: A method for separating air by cryogenic distillation. A first compressor compresses air to a first pressure, and sends part of that air to a second compressor which compresses that part to a second pressure. Part of the air at the second pressure is cooled in a heat exchanger and sent to a third compressor where part of it is compressed to a third pressure. Part of the air at the third pressure is liquefied and sent a column system. Around half of the total liquefied air sent to the column system will have originally been compressed by the third compressor. Part of the air at the first pressure is cooled in a heat exchanger and part of the cooled air at the first pressure is then expanded to the pressure of the column system. The expanded air is sent to the column system.
Type:
Grant
Filed:
December 10, 2003
Date of Patent:
November 8, 2005
Assignee:
L'Air Liquide, Société Anonyme à Directoire et Conseil de Surveillance pour l'Etude et l'Exploitation des Proédés Georges Claude
Abstract: The present invention relates to compositions which comprise a combination a) of one or more glycerol monoalkyl ether(s) of the general formula R—O—CH2—CHOH—CH2OH in which R is a branched or unbranched C3-C18-alkyl group, where the alkyl group can be substituted by one or more hydroxyl and/or C1-C4-alkoxy group(s) and/or the alkyl chain can be interrupted by up to four oxygen atoms, with b) an antioxidant or two or more antioxidants as stabilizer(s), the simultaneous presence of phosphocholines and phosphocholine derivatives being excluded.
Abstract: Steam generation apparatus and methods are presented that are dedicated to oxygen-enriched air combustion of a fuel, wherein the oxygen concentration of the oxygen-enriched air may range from just above 21 percent to 100 percent. One apparatus comprises an oxygen-enriched air preheater through which oxygen-enriched air flows and exchanges heat indirectly with flue gas, creating a preheated oxygen-enriched air stream. The apparatus further comprises a boiler having a radiant section and a convection section, and other heat transfer units adapted to handle reduced flue gas flow rate and higher temperature flue gases than comparable air/fuel combustion boilers, thus allowing a smaller heat transfer surface area, a more compact design and a higher efficiency.
Abstract: The method and apparatus for enhancing the metallurgical quality of products treated in a furnace with several zones, wherein the temperature and the atmospheric conditions can be controlled. The applies to any type of product treated in a furnace, such as billets, blooms, slugs or slabs. Alternatively, this may be used by iron and steel manufacturers in the production line for sheets, plates, tubes, etc.
Type:
Grant
Filed:
April 19, 2002
Date of Patent:
October 18, 2005
Assignee:
L'Air Liquide, Société Anonyme á Directoire et Conseil de Surveillance pour l'Etude et l'Exploitation des Procédés Georges Claude
Abstract: Method and system on board an aircraft for the production of an oxygen-enriched gas stream from an oxygen/nitrogen gas mixture, particularly air, comprising at least one adsorber containing at least one adsorbent for adsorbing at least some of the nitrogen molecules contained in the oxygen/nitrogen feed mixture, characterized in that the adsorbent comprises a faujasite-type zeolite, having a Si/Al ratio of 1 to 1.50, exchanged to at least 80% with lithium cations. Aircraft equipped with such a system, in particular an airliner, especially an airliner of the long-range, large-capacity type.
Type:
Grant
Filed:
May 1, 2003
Date of Patent:
October 18, 2005
Assignee:
L'Air Liquide, Societe Anonyme pour l'Etude et, l 'Exploitation des Procedes Georges Claude
Inventors:
Stéphane Lessi, Richard Zapata, Jean-Michel Cazenave, Jean Dehayes
Abstract: A plate-type heat exchanger containing a number of stacked dividing plates of roughly uniform thickness (e), at least one passage, and at least one fin. The minimum thickness (e?) of the fin is 0.8 times greater than the thickness (e) of each dividing plate(s).
Type:
Grant
Filed:
October 1, 2003
Date of Patent:
October 4, 2005
Assignee:
L'Air Liquide, Société Anonyme à Directoire et Conseil de Surveillance pour l'Etude et l'Exploitation des Procédés Georges Claude
Abstract: The invention concerns a method involving the intake (through 16) of air in an intake of an air separation plant (14), supplying (though 16) at least a fraction of the intake air from a gas turbine compressor section (2), and extracting from the air separation plant (16) two gas streams (through 20, 24, 32, and 36) respectively nitrogen-enriched and oxygen-enriched streams; detecting (through 18) a substantial decrease in the flow rate of the air fraction from the gas turbine compressor section (2), then recycling (through 28, 42), to the inlet of the air separation plant (14) at least part of one of the two gas streams, and thus avoiding any major fluctuation of the intake air flow rate of said air separation plant.
Type:
Grant
Filed:
May 17, 2002
Date of Patent:
September 27, 2005
Assignee:
L'Air Liquide, Société Anonyme à Directoire et Conseil de Surveillance pour L'Etude et L'Exploitation des Procédés Georges Claude
Abstract: An apparatus and method for air distillation. Two cold boxes and an air treatment unit are used to distill air. The cold boxes contain a heat exchanger for cooling the air to be distilled and an air distillation unit for producing either oxygen, nitrogen or argon. The air treatment unit has many individual treatment elements which are connected in parallel. The outlet of the air treatment unit is connected to both cold boxes and to all the individual treatment units.
Type:
Grant
Filed:
September 11, 2003
Date of Patent:
September 20, 2005
Assignee:
L'Air Liquide, Societe Anonyme pour l'etude et, l'Exploitation des Procedes Georges Claude
Abstract: A method for conducting laser absorption measurements in high temperature process streams having high levels of particulate matter is disclosed. An impinger is positioned substantially parallel to a laser beam propagation path and at upstream position relative to the laser beam. Beam shielding pipes shield the beam from the surrounding environment. Measurement is conducted only in the gap between the two shielding pipes where the beam propagates through the process gas. The impinger facilitates reduced particle presence in the measurement beam, resulting in improved SNR (signal-to-noise) and improved sensitivity and dynamic range of the measurement.
Type:
Grant
Filed:
January 29, 2003
Date of Patent:
September 13, 2005
Assignees:
Air Liquide America, L.P., L'Air Liquide- Societe Anonyme a'Directoire et Conseil de Surveillance pour l'Etude et l'Exploitation des Procedes Georges Claude
Inventors:
William A. Von Drasek, Kenneth A. Mulderink, Ovidiu Marin
Abstract: A furnace apparatus and method for increasing the productivity and/or quality of reheated products by improving the temperature profile of a furnace for reheating products.
Type:
Grant
Filed:
August 23, 2002
Date of Patent:
August 30, 2005
Assignee:
L'Air Liquide, Société Anonyme à Directoire et Conseil de Surveillance pour l'Etude et l'Exploitation des Procédés Georges Claude
Abstract: A method for producing silicon nitride and silicon oxynitride films by CVD technology, where even at lower temperatures, acceptable film-deposition rates are achieved, without the by-product production of large amounts of ammonium chloride.
Type:
Grant
Filed:
November 27, 2002
Date of Patent:
August 30, 2005
Assignee:
L'Air Liquide, Societe Anonyme pour l'etude et, l'Exploitation des Procedes Georges Claude
Abstract: A non-refillable valve device includes a housing with an axially extending internal cavity, where the internal cavity includes a chamber extending to an end of the housing. The housing is securable to a container to facilitate fluid communication between the container and the housing chamber. A plug member is secured within the housing chamber to provide a fluid flow passage between the container and the housing chamber when the housing is secured to the container, and an elastic sealing member is also disposed within the chamber. The sealing member is displaceable from a first position to a second position within the chamber, where the sealing member in the first position permits fluid flowing into the valve device to flow through the fluid flow passage and into the container, and the sealing member in the second position substantially prevents fluid flow through the fluid flow passage and into the container.
Type:
Grant
Filed:
April 3, 2003
Date of Patent:
August 23, 2005
Assignee:
Air Liquide Advanced Technologies U.S. LLC
Abstract: A method for producing a plate heat exchanger with multiple plates made of a solderable material. The plated define circuits for fluid circulation and are assembled together by soldering. The soldering is done after a soldering material is applied to the regions to be soldered. The soldering material is deposited on the plates with an electrolytic solution.
Type:
Grant
Filed:
October 26, 2001
Date of Patent:
August 23, 2005
Assignees:
L'Air Liquide, Société Anonyme {dot over (a)} Directoire et Conseil de Surveillance pour l'Etude et l'Exploitation des Procedes Georges Claude, Nordon Cryogénie
Inventors:
Marc Wagner, Sophie Wastiaux, Norbert Niclout