Patents by Inventor John Mak

John Mak 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).

  • NGL recovery methods and configurations
    Patent number: 9410737
    Abstract: Contemplated NGL plants include a feed gas bypass circuit through which a portion of the feed gas is provided downstream to a vapor portion of the feed gas to thereby increase turbo expander inlet temperature and demethanizer temperature. Contemplated configurations are especially advantageous for feed gases with relatively high carbon dioxide content as they entirely avoid carbon dioxide freezing in the demethanizer, provide additional power production by the turboexpander, and recover C2+ components to levels of at least 80% while achieving a low carbon dioxide content in the NGL product.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: July 20, 2006
    Date of Patent: August 9, 2016
    Assignee: Fluor Corporation
    Inventors: John Mak, Richard B. Nielsen, Curt Graham
  • Ethane Recovery Methods And Configurations
    Publication number: 20160187058
    Abstract: Contemplated methods and configurations use a cooled ethane and CO2-containing feed gas that is expanded in a first turbo-expander and subsequently heat-exchanged to allow for relatively high expander inlet temperatures to a second turbo expander. consequently, the relatively warm demethanizer feed from the second expander effectively removes CO2 from the ethane product and prevents carbon dioxide freezing in the demethanizer, while another portion of the heat-exchanged and expanded feed gas is further chilled and reduced in pressure to form a lean reflux for high ethane recovery.
    Type: Application
    Filed: December 30, 2015
    Publication date: June 30, 2016
    Inventor: John Mak
  • CONFIGURATIONS AND METHODS OF HIGH PRESSURE ACID GAS REMOVAL IN THE PRODUCTION OF ULTRA-LOW SULFUR GAS
    Publication number: 20160184767
    Abstract: Acid gas is removed from a high pressure feed gas that contains significant quantities of CO2 and H2S. In especially preferred configurations and methods, feed gas is contacted in an absorber with a lean and an ultra-lean solvent that are formed by flashing rich solvent and stripping a portion of the lean solvent, respectively. Most preferably, the flash vapors and the stripping overhead vapors are recycled to the feed gas/absorber, and the treated feed gas has a CO2 concentration of less than 2 mol % and a H2S concentration of less than 10 ppmv, and more typically less than 4 ppmv.
    Type: Application
    Filed: March 4, 2016
    Publication date: June 30, 2016
    Inventor: John Mak
  • Ethane recovery methods and configurations
    Patent number: 9316433
    Abstract: Contemplated methods and configurations use a cooled ethane and CO2-containing feed gas that is expanded in a first turbo-expander and subsequently heat-exchanged to allow for relatively high expander inlet temperatures to a second turbo expander. Consequently, the relatively warm demethanizer feed from the second expander effectively removes CO2 from the ethane product and prevents carbon dioxide freezing in the demethanizer, while another portion of the heat-exchanged and expanded feed gas is further chilled and reduced in pressure to form a lean reflux for high ethane recovery.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 26, 2007
    Date of Patent: April 19, 2016
    Assignee: Fluor Technologies Corporation
    Inventor: John Mak
  • Propane recovery methods and configurations
    Patent number: 9296966
    Abstract: High-pressure feed gas is chilled and expanded to condense a portion of the feed gas into a C2+ enriched liquid phase and a C2+ depleted vapor phase. The liquid phase is expanded to provide additional cooling for the feed gas and deethanizer reflux prior to being fed to the deethanizer while the vapor is combined with residue gas of a deethanizer.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: July 6, 2007
    Date of Patent: March 29, 2016
    Assignee: Fluor Technologies Corporation
    Inventor: John Mak
  • Configurations and methods for high pressure acid gas removal in the production of ultra-low sulfur gas
    Patent number: 9295940
    Abstract: Acid gas is removed from a high pressure feed gas that contains significant quantities of CO2 and H2S. In especially preferred configurations and methods, feed gas is contacted in an absorber with a lean and an ultra-lean solvent that are formed by flashing rich solvent and stripping a portion of the lean solvent, respectively. Most preferably, the flash vapors and the stripping overhead vapors are recycled to the feed gas/absorber, and the treated feed gas has a CO2 concentration of less than 2 mol % and a H2S concentration of less than 10 ppmv, and more typically less than 4 ppmv.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: February 17, 2010
    Date of Patent: March 29, 2016
    Assignee: Fluor Technologies Corporation
    Inventor: John Mak
  • High pressure high CO2 removal configurations and methods
    Patent number: 9248398
    Abstract: CO2 is removed from high-pressure feed gas in configurations and methods according to the inventive subject matter by contacting feed gas with cooled semi-rich solvent to form a two-phase mixture that is flashed into the bottom section of an absorber. Rich solvent from the absorber is then reduced in pressure to generate refrigeration for the semi-rich solvent and lean solvent countercurrently contacts the partially treated feed gas in the absorber to produce the semi-rich solvent. Among other advantages, cooling of the feed gas and semi-rich solvent by the pressure reduced rich solvent heats the rich solvent to allow enhanced regeneration of the solvent, and external refrigeration and heating of the solvent can be entirely avoided.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: September 16, 2010
    Date of Patent: February 2, 2016
    Assignee: Fluor Technologies Corporation
    Inventor: John Mak
  • Configurations and methods for gas condensate separation from high-pressure hydrocarbon mixtures
    Patent number: 9132379
    Abstract: Contemplated configurations and methods for gas processing use a refluxed absorber that receives a liquid and a vapor hydrocarbon feed. The absorber further receives a stripping medium that is at least in part formed from a vapor portion of a stabilizer overhead and also receives a scrubbing medium that is at least in part formed from a liquid portion of the stabilizer overhead. Most preferably, the absorber overhead is maintained at a temperature near or even below the hydrate point of the feed.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: November 6, 2007
    Date of Patent: September 15, 2015
    Assignee: FLUOR TECHNOLOGIES CORPORATION
    Inventor: John Mak
  • Configurations and Methods for Nitrogen Rejection, LNG and NGL Production from High Nitrogen Feed Gases
    Publication number: 20150246859
    Abstract: Variable N2 content in feed gas ranging from 3 mole % to 50 mole % can be rejected from the process using a feed exchanger that is fluidly coupled with a cold separator and a single fractionation column to produce a nitrogen vent stream and streams that are suitable to be further processed for NGL recovery and LNG production.
    Type: Application
    Filed: February 28, 2014
    Publication date: September 3, 2015
    Applicant: FLUOR TECHNOLOGIES CORPORATION
    Inventor: John MAK
  • Configurations and methods for high pressure acid gas removal
    Patent number: 9114351
    Abstract: Physical solvent is regenerated using flashing and stripping processes to produce an ultra-lean solvent. In especially preferred aspects, flashed C1-C3 hydrocarbons are recycled to the absorber, while C4+ hydrocarbons are recovered from the CO2 that is removed from the solvent. It is further preferred that depressurization of the rich solvent provides most of the refrigeration duty.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 24, 2010
    Date of Patent: August 25, 2015
    Assignee: FLUOR TECHNOLOGIES CORPORATION
    Inventor: John Mak
  • Configurations and methods for improved natural gas liquids recovery
    Patent number: 9103585
    Abstract: Contemplated plants for recovery of NGL from natural gas employ alternate reflux streams in a first column and a residue gas bypass stream, wherein expansion of various process streams provides substantially all of the refrigeration duty in the plant. Contemplated plants not only have flexible recovery of ethane between 2% and 90% while recovering at least 99% of propane, but also reduce and more typically eliminate the need for external refrigeration.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: August 13, 2008
    Date of Patent: August 11, 2015
    Assignee: FLUOR TECHNOLOGIES CORPORATION
    Inventor: John Mak
  • SYSTEMS AND METHODS FOR FLEXIBLE PROPANE RECOVERY
    Publication number: 20150184931
    Abstract: Systems and methods that utilize feed gases that are supplied in a wide range of compositions and pressure to provide highly efficient recovery of NGL products, such as propane, utilizing isenthalpic expansion, propane refrigeration, and shell and tube exchangers are described. Plants utilizing such systems and methods can be readily reconfigured between propane recovery and ethane recovery.
    Type: Application
    Filed: December 31, 2014
    Publication date: July 2, 2015
    Inventor: John Mak
  • CONFIGURATIONS AND METHODS OF FLEXIBLE CO2 REMOVAL
    Publication number: 20150166915
    Abstract: A plant includes a pretreatment unit for H2S removal and air dehydration, and at least two absorbers that receive a feed gas at a pressure of at least 300 psig with variable CO2 content (e.g., between 5 to 60 mol %), wherein the feed gas is scrubbed in the absorbers with an ultralean and a semi-lean physical solvent, respectively, at low temperatures to at least partially remove the CO2 from the feed gas. Such configurations produces a low CO2 dry treated gas and a H2S-free CO2 for sequestration while advantageously providing cooling by expansion of the rich solvent that cools the semi-lean solvent and the feed gas, wherein an ultralean solvent is produced by stripping using dry air.
    Type: Application
    Filed: December 12, 2014
    Publication date: June 18, 2015
    Inventor: John Mak
  • Configurations and methods for waste heat recovery and ambient air vaporizers in LNG regasification
    Patent number: 8950196
    Abstract: Contemplated power plants and LNG regasification facilities employ a combination of ambient air and non-ambient air as continuous heat sources to regasify LNG and to optimize power production. Most preferably, contemplated plants and methods are operable without the need for supplemental heat sources under varying temperature conditions.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: July 17, 2009
    Date of Patent: February 10, 2015
    Assignee: Fluor Technologies Corporation
    Inventor: John Mak
  • Configurations and methods for retrofitting an NGL recovery plant
    Patent number: 8910495
    Abstract: Devices and methods for retrofitting a natural gas liquids plant are contemplated to extend recovery of C3+ hydrocarbons from various feed gases to recovery of C2+ and C3+ hydrocarbons. In especially preferred aspects, dedicated C2+ exchangers are integrated to exclusively cool the feed gas to produce a cooled absorber feed and to produce two separate absorber reflux streams. During C2+ recovery, absorber reflux is provided by a portion of the residue gas and a portion of the feed gas, while during C3+ recovery absorber and distillation column reflux are provided by the distillation column overhead product.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 20, 2012
    Date of Patent: December 16, 2014
    Assignee: Fluor Technologies Corporation
    Inventor: John Mak
  • Methods and configurations of boil-off gas handling in LNG regasification terminals
    Patent number: 8893515
    Abstract: A LNG storage and regasification plant includes a reliquefaction unit in which boil-off vapors from the storage tanks are re liquefied and recycled back to the LNG storage tanks for tank pressure and Wobbe index control. Preferably, LNG cold is used for reliquefaction and operational flexibility is achieved by feeding a portion of the pressurized boil-off gas to a fuel gas header and/or to be recondensed by the sendout LNG.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: April 7, 2009
    Date of Patent: November 25, 2014
    Assignee: Fluor Technologies Corporation
    Inventor: John Mak
  • Gas purification configurations and methods
    Patent number: 8876951
    Abstract: Acid gas is removed from a feed gas in an absorber that produces a treated feed gas and a rich solvent. The treated feed gas is passed through an H2S scavenger bed, and the H2S scavenger bed is regenerated using H2S depleted acid gas flashed from the rich solvent. Most preferably, the off gas from the regenerating bed is injected into a formation.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: September 29, 2010
    Date of Patent: November 4, 2014
    Assignee: Fluor Technologies Corporation
    Inventor: John Mak
  • Methods and configurations for H2S concentration in acid gas removal
    Patent number: 8845788
    Abstract: A syngas treatment plant is configured to remove sulfurous compounds from syngas in a configuration having two flash stages for a physical solvent to so enrich the acid gas to at least 40 mol % H2S or higher as required by the Claus unit and to flash and recycle CO2 back to the syngas feed. Contemplated methods and configurations advantageously remove sulfur to less than 10 ppmv while increasing H2S selectivity at high pressure operation to thereby allow production of an H2S stream that is suitable as feed gas to a Claus plant.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: August 7, 2012
    Date of Patent: September 30, 2014
    Assignee: Fluor Technologies Corporation
    Inventor: John Mak
  • Configurations and methods for gas condensate separation from high-pressure hydrocarbon mixtures
    Patent number: 8840707
    Abstract: A gas condensate production plant comprises a plurality of separation units in which C2 and/or C3 lighter components are stripped from the separator feeds using compressed heated stripping vapor produced from the feed in respective downstream separation units. Contemplated plants substantially reduce heating and cooling duties by using the waste heat from the compressor discharges in the separation process. Furthermore, the multi-stage fractionation according to the inventive subject matter provides improved gas condensate recovery at reduced energy costs.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 22, 2005
    Date of Patent: September 23, 2014
    Assignee: Fluor Technologies Corporation
    Inventor: John Mak
  • FLEXIBLE NGL RECOVERY METHODS AND CONFIGURATIONS
    Publication number: 20140260420
    Abstract: A natural gas liquids plant uses a demethanizer and a deethanizer in a two-column or single column configuration that can be used for ethane recovery and ethane rejection. During ethane recovery, 95% ethane recovery and 99% propane recovery are achieved, while during ethane rejection the sales gas Wobbe Index requirement is maintained while maintaining 95% propane recovery. A residue gas recycle exchanger is most preferably configured to use the demethanizer overhead product to either cool a portion of the residue gas and a portion of the feed gas during ethane recovery, or to cool a portion of the feed gas using two distinct heat transfer areas to produce a feed gas reflux at significantly lower temperature.
    Type: Application
    Filed: March 13, 2014
    Publication date: September 18, 2014
    Applicant: FLUOR TECHNOLOGIES CORPORATION
    Inventor: John MAK