Patents by Inventor Normand Brais

Normand Brais 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).

  • Publication number: 20030131734
    Abstract: An outwardly projecting air purifier comprising a support, a generally cylindrical array of UV lamp assemblies mounted to the support, wherein each the UV lamp assembly comprises a reflector having a generally parabolic inner surface and a UV lamp so mounted to the reflector that the inner surface of the reflector reflects a portion of the ultraviolet radiation emitted by the lamp in an outward, radial, direction is described herein. The air purifier also includes a convex shaped deflector element so mounted to the support that the airflow is deflected by the deflector element and brought near the lamps.
    Type: Application
    Filed: December 2, 2002
    Publication date: July 17, 2003
    Inventors: Stuart Engel, Normand Brais, Marc Lupien
  • Publication number: 20030061764
    Abstract: An apparatus for steam reforming of hydrocarbons, the apparatus comprising a vessel defining a combustion chamber. The combustion chamber has a burner device for combustion of a fuel and a flue gas outlet for exhausting flue gas resulting from the combustion. A second chamber is integrally formed with the vessel. The second chamber comprises a first inlet conduit adapted for receiving water therein and an outlet conduit for exhausting steam. A reformer tube in the combustion chamber is filled with a catalyst and is connected to a second inlet conduit for having a steam and hydrocarbon mixture flow therethrough, and to a second outlet conduit for exhausting a process gas resulting from a steam reforming process in the reformer tube. The reformer tube is disposed in the combustion chamber so as to transfer heat from the combustion to the steam reforming process.
    Type: Application
    Filed: October 1, 2001
    Publication date: April 3, 2003
    Inventors: Belhocine Benallal, David Elkaim, Kyle Valdock, Normand Brais, Debbie Soriano, Louis-Michel Malouin
  • Publication number: 20020008214
    Abstract: An ultra-violet lamp and reflector/shield assembly designed to be mounted in a commercial HVAC, and to other types of A/C units is described herein. The reflector/shield includes a reflective inner surface creating an illumination pattern and an outer surface shielding the UV lamp from the air flow. An orienting and securing assembly for a UV lamp is also described herein.
    Type: Application
    Filed: June 7, 2001
    Publication date: January 24, 2002
    Inventors: David sevack, Normand Brais, Stuart Engel
  • Patent number: 5833740
    Abstract: Disclosed is a chemical and biological air purifier. The air purifier has a housing having an inlet and an outlet both aligned on a longitudinal axis, a turbulence generator, one or more vacuum ultraviolet (UV) sources achieving a chemical purification and one or more germicidal ultraviolet (UV) sources achieving the biological purification. The turbulence generator is mounted within the housing downstream of the inlet and promotes a dispersion and mixing of air received through the inlet. The vacuum UV source is mounted within the housing downstream of the turbulence generator and breaks oxygen molecules into mono-atomic oxygen which then reacts with chemical contaminants present in the air and degrades them by successive oxidation to odorless and inoffensive byproducts. The turbulence generator reduces the production of ozone by increasing the contact between the mono-atomic oxygen and the chemical contaminants.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: November 25, 1996
    Date of Patent: November 10, 1998
    Inventor: Normand Brais
  • Patent number: 5551869
    Abstract: A burner is provided for heating a stream of combustion supporting gas, like air. The burner has a main feed pipe extending across the stream of combustion supporting gas. The main feed pipe has an inlet for receiving a fuel gas from a fuel gas source, and at least one outlet for producing a main jet of fuel gas substantially in the direction of the stream. The burner also has two parallel auxiliary feed pipes extending across the stream of combustion supporting gas, at a predetermined distance downstream from the main pipe and on each side of the main jet. Each of the auxiliary feed pipes has an inlet for receiving fuel gas from the fuel gas source, and at least one outlet for producing an auxiliary jet of fuel gas in the direction of the stream. The burner further has two bluff-body devices in front of the outlets of both the auxiliary feed pipes respectively.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 7, 1995
    Date of Patent: September 3, 1996
    Assignee: Brais, Martres et Associes Inc.
    Inventors: Normand Brais, Louis-Michel Malouin, Jacques Martres
  • Patent number: 5277578
    Abstract: A gas burner is described having a cylindrical combustion chamber having at least two spaced apart counter-rotation stationary tangential air injectors and at least three sets of radial injection holes in between for admitting air under pressure in the combustion chamber to cause adjacent counter-rotation air turbulence regions in said combustion chamber. The combustion chamber has a closed end and an open end with a gas injector tube extending in the chamber from the closed end and disposed centrally therein. The injector tube has combustion gas injection ports at least upstream and downstream of the at least two air injectors to create a combustion mixture which is initially fuel-lean to generate a flame having a lower temperature and producing less nitrogen oxide than with conventional gas burners of this type. An air chamber is provided about at least a portion of the combustion chamber and communicates with the tangential air injectors.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 8, 1992
    Date of Patent: January 11, 1994
    Assignee: Gaz Metropolitain & Co., Ltd. and Ptnr.
    Inventors: Kebir Ratnani, Normand Brais
  • Patent number: 5217363
    Abstract: An air-cooled oxygen-gas burner for use with a direct fired furnace. The burner comprises a body formed from three concentric metal tubes supported in a cylindrical housing secured about a conical bore in a refractory side wall of a furnace. The three concentric tubes have a cone shaped inner end which are adjustable to define a nozzle with annular openings therebetween of variable size to vary the shape of a flame produced by a mixture of combustible gas, oxygen and air fed under pressure, respectively, in each of two chambers defined between the three concentric metal tubes and a chamber defined between the tubes and the cylinder housing. The combustible gas is fed in the inner chamber, the oxygen in the intermediate chamber, while the air is fed in the outer chamber to cool the concentric tube assembly and the furnace refractory about the burner nozzle.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 3, 1992
    Date of Patent: June 8, 1993
    Assignee: Gaz Metropolitan & Co., Ltd. and Partnership
    Inventors: Normand Brais, Jean-Guy Chouinard
  • Patent number: 4776289
    Abstract: A process and apparatus are described with which pulverized coal can be burned with an essentially non-turbulent flame in which the residence time of individual cool particles within the burner flame is generally increased. Pulverized cool is supplied through a plurality of annularly-distributed conduits. A supply of secondary air is passed around the conduits in a manner so as to produce an axial or low turbulent flow of air from the burner with a relatively small amount of the combustion air being swirled to produce a vortex suitable to anchor the burner flame. The pulverized solid fuel is injected to enter both the vortex and flame regions so as to expose a large portion of fuel particles to a low turbulent diffusion flame in which oxygen reaches burning particles primarily by way of a diffusion process.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 18, 1987
    Date of Patent: October 11, 1988
    Assignee: Fuel Tech, Inc.
    Inventors: Jeremy Peter-Hoblyn, Normand A. Brais, Francois X. Grimard