Patents by Inventor Francois E. J. Malherbe

Francois E. J. Malherbe has filed for patents to protect the following inventions. This listing includes patent applications that are pending as well as patents that have already been granted by the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO).

  • Patent number: 5599849
    Abstract: A process for producing liquid and, optionally, gaseous products from gaseous reactants comprises feeding gaseous reactants into a slurry bed of solid particles suspended in a liquid; allowing the reactants to react as they pass upwardly through the slurry bed, thereby to form liquid and, optionally, gaseous products; and separating liquid product from the solid particles by passing, in a filtration zone within the slurry bed, liquid product through a filtration medium in a first direction, so that a cake of the solid particles forms on the filtration medium. The passage of liquid product through the filtering medium is interrupted. The filtering medium is then backflushed by passing a flushing fluid through the filtering medium in a second direction, opposite to the first direction, for at least portions of the periods that the liquid product passage is interrupted, thereby to dislodge the cake from the filtering medium.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: January 25, 1994
    Date of Patent: February 4, 1997
    Assignee: Sasol Chemical Industries (Proprietary) Limited
    Inventors: Berend Jager, Andre P. Steynberg, Juan R. Inga, Renus C. Kelfkens, Michael A. Smith, Francois E. J. Malherbe