Patents by Inventor Montserrat Fortuny Heredia

Montserrat Fortuny Heredia 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: 8747674
    Abstract: A process for the treatment of water/oil (W/O) emulsions is described which includes the addition of an ionic liquid, under heating, to a water/oil emulsion containing between 0.5% and 85% of water per volume as a dispersion phase, until the concentration of the ionic liquid in the emulsion remains within the range of 0.01 ?L/g to 100 ?L/g. The ionic liquid used is a salt of a general C+ A? formula in a liquid state at temperatures below 150° C., where A? is an anion and C+ is a cation, which has at least a hydrophobic alkyl chain connected to a cation group. The heating method includes conventional heating and heating via microwaves. In the heating via microwaves, the salts of the general C+ A? formula present synergic behavior in separation efficiency in relation to conventional heating.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 28, 2010
    Date of Patent: June 10, 2014
    Assignee: Petroleo Brasileiro S.A.—Petrobras
    Inventors: Regina Celia Lourenco Guimarães, Bianca Machado da Silva Ferreira, Maria de Fatima Pereira dos Santos, Ricardo Andre Guarnieri, Montserrat Fortuny Heredia, Cláudio Dariva, Alexandre Ferreira Santos, Rita de Cássia Bomfim Lemos, Lisiane dos Santos Freitas
  • Publication number: 20110186515
    Abstract: A process for the treatment of water/oil (W/O) emulsions is described which includes the addition of an ionic liquid, under heating, to a water/oil emulsion containing between 0.5% and 85% of water per volume as a dispersion phase, until the concentration of the ionic liquid in the emulsion remains within the range of 0.01 ?L/g to 100 ?L/g. The ionic liquid used is a salt of a general C+ A? formula in a liquid state at temperatures below 150° C., where A? is an anion and C+ is a cation, which has at least a hydrophobic alkyl chain connected to a cation group. The heating method includes conventional heating and heating via microwaves. In the heating via microwaves, the salts of the general C+ A? formula present synergic behavior in separation efficiency in relation to conventional heating.
    Type: Application
    Filed: December 28, 2010
    Publication date: August 4, 2011
    Applicant: PETROLEO BRASILEIRO S.A. - PETROBRAS
    Inventors: Regina Celia Lourenco GUIMARÂES, Bianca Machado da Silva FERREIRA, Maria de Fatima Pereira DOS SANTOS, Ricardo Andre GUARNIERI, Montserrat Fortuny HEREDIA, Cláudio DARIVA, Alexandre Ferreira SANTOS, Rita de Cássia Bomfim LEMOS, Lisiane dos Santos FREITAS
  • Patent number: 7705058
    Abstract: Method for the microwave emulsion treatment of water-in-oil (W/O) emulsions, including a) determining, for an W/O emulsion the optimum conditions of the variables: water content, salt content, pH value of the aqueous phase, initial temperature, microwave application power, final temperature and drop size distribution to be adjusted in the industrial plant, as a function of the features of the tested crude oil such as viscosity, density, asphaltene content, total acidity, such conditions being those required for obtaining at least 90% separation efficiency of the emulsion in the presence of microwave radiation: b) utilizing such information for the initial adjustment of application conditions of the method to phase separation units in refineries and production units; c) perform on line tests of the variables of step a) of the process response in the streams effluent from separation units, being the response the water content and salt content tests, so as to feedback the information to the best adjustment of th
    Type: Grant
    Filed: January 7, 2008
    Date of Patent: April 27, 2010
    Assignee: Petroleo Brasileiro S.A. — Petrobras
    Inventors: Raquel Campos Coutinho, Montserrat Fortuny Heredia, Márcio Nele De Souza, Alexandre Ferreira Santos
  • Publication number: 20080221226
    Abstract: Method for the microwave emulsion treatment of water-in-oil (W/O) emulsions, including a) determining, for an W/O emulsion the optimum conditions of the variables: water content, salt content, pH value of the aqueous phase, initial temperature, microwave application power, final temperature and drop size distribution to be adjusted in the industrial plant, as a function of the features of the tested crude oil such as viscosity, density, asphaltene content, total acidity, such conditions being those required for obtaining at least 90% separation efficiency of the emulsion in the presence of microwave radiation: b) utilizing such information for the initial adjustment of application conditions of the method to phase separation units in refineries and production units; c) perform on line tests of the variables of step a) of the process response in the streams effluent from separation units, being the response the water content and salt content tests, so as to feedback the information to the best adjustment of th
    Type: Application
    Filed: January 7, 2008
    Publication date: September 11, 2008
    Applicant: PETROLEO BRASILEIRO S.A.
    Inventors: Raquel Campos Coutinho, Montserrat Fortuny Heredia, Marcio Nele de Souza, Alexandre Ferreira Santos