Patents by Inventor Sean Patrick Fitzgerald

Sean Patrick Fitzgerald 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: 20150336074
    Abstract: The disclosed technology relates to an apparatus, comprising: at least one microchannel, the microchannel comprising at least one heat transfer wall; a porous thermally conductive support in the microchannel in contact with the heat transfer wall; a catalyst or a sorption medium supported by the porous support; and a heat source and/or heat sink in thermal contact with the heat transfer wall.
    Type: Application
    Filed: July 1, 2015
    Publication date: November 26, 2015
    Inventors: Anna Lee Tonkovich, Kai Tod Paul Jarosch, Jeffrey Dale Marco, Bin Yang, Sean Patrick Fitzgerald, Steven T. Perry, Thomas Yuschak, Francis P. Daly, Haibiao Chen
  • Patent number: 9150494
    Abstract: The disclosed invention relates to a process, comprising: flowing a first reactant feed stream comprising a reactant substrate and a second reactant feed stream comprising an alkylating agent, an acylating agent or a mixture thereof, in a process microchannel in contact with each other to form a product comprising at least one alkylation product, at least one acylation product, or a mixture thereof; transferring heat from the process microchannel to a heat sink; and removing the product from the process microchannel.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: November 11, 2005
    Date of Patent: October 6, 2015
    Assignee: Velocys, Inc.
    Inventors: Anna Lee Tonkovich, Steven T. Perry, Timothy J. LaPlante, Kai Tod Paul Jarosch, Thomas P. Hickey, Sean Patrick Fitzgerald, Dongming Qiu, Ravi Arora, Timothy J. Sullivan, Paul Neagle
  • Patent number: 9101890
    Abstract: The disclosed technology relates to an apparatus, comprising: at least one microchannel, the microchannel comprising at least one heat transfer wall; a porous thermally conductive support in the microchannel in contact with the heat transfer wall; a catalyst or a sorption medium supported by the porous support; and a heat source and/or heat sink in thermal contact with the heat transfer wall.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: May 25, 2006
    Date of Patent: August 11, 2015
    Assignee: Velocys, Inc.
    Inventors: Anna Lee Tonkovich, Kai Tod Paul Jarosch, Jeffrey D. Marco, Bin Yang, Sean Patrick Fitzgerald, Steven T. Perry, Thomas Yuschak, Francis P. Daly, Haibiao Chen
  • Patent number: 7935734
    Abstract: The disclosed technology relates to a process for conducting a chemical reaction between at least one liquid reactant and at least one gaseous reactant in a process microchannel containing at least one catalyst, the catalyst comprising a solid phase catalyst or a homogeneous catalyst immobilized on a solid. In one embodiment, the process microchannel comprises a processing zone containing one or more structures for disrupting fluid flow and a reaction zone containing one or more structures for contacting and/or supporting the catalyst, the one or more structures for contacting and/or supporting the catalyst containing openings to permit the reactants to flow through the one or more structures and contact the catalyst.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 30, 2006
    Date of Patent: May 3, 2011
    Inventors: Anna Lee Tonkovich, Kai Tod Paul Jarosch, Timothy J. Sullivan, Terry Mazanec, Sean Patrick Fitzgerald, Maddalena Fanelli
  • Patent number: 7923592
    Abstract: The disclosed invention relates to a process for converting a feed composition comprising one or more hydrocarbons to a product comprising one or more unsaturated hydrocarbons, the process comprising: flowing the feed composition and steam in contact with each other in a microchannel reactor at a temperature in the range from about 200° C. to about 1200° C. to convert the feed composition to the product, the process being characterized by the absence of catalyst for converting the one or more hydrocarbons to one or more unsaturated hydrocarbons. Hydrogen and/or oxygen may be combined with the feed composition and steam.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: February 2, 2007
    Date of Patent: April 12, 2011
    Assignee: Velocys, Inc.
    Inventors: Anna Lee Tonkovich, Thomas Yuschak, Timothy J. LaPlante, Scott Rankin, Steven T. Perry, Sean Patrick Fitzgerald, Wayne W. Simmons, Terry Mazanec, Eric Daymo
  • Patent number: 7816411
    Abstract: The disclosed invention relates to a process for making a multiphase mixture, comprising: flowing a first fluid stream through a process microchannel, the first fluid stream comprising at least one liquid and/or at least one gas, the process microchannel having an apertured section; flowing a second fluid stream through the apertured section into the process microchannel in contact with the first fluid stream to form the multiphase mixture, the second fluid stream comprising at least one gas and/or at least one microbody-forming material, the first fluid stream forming a continuous phase in the multiphase mixture, the second fluid stream forming a discontinuous phase dispersed in the continuous phase.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: November 23, 2009
    Date of Patent: October 19, 2010
    Assignee: Velocys, Inc.
    Inventors: Anna Lee Tonkovich, Laura J. Silva, David John Hesse, Michael Alan Marchiando, Micheal Jay Lamont, Dongming Qiu, Terence Andrew Dritz, Kristina M. Pagnotto, Richard Stevenson, Steven T. Perry, Maddalena Fanelli, Ravi Arora, Bin Yang, Sean Patrick Fitzgerald, Timothy J. Sullivan, Kai Tod Paul Jarosch, Thomas Yuschak
  • Publication number: 20100081726
    Abstract: The disclosed technology relates to a process for conducting a chemical reaction between at least one liquid reactant and at least one gaseous reactant in a process microchannel containing at least one catalyst, the catalyst comprising a solid phase catalyst or a homogeneous catalyst immobilized on a solid. In one embodiment, the process microchannel comprises a processing zone containing one or more structures for disrupting fluid flow and a reaction zone containing one or more structures for contacting and/or supporting the catalyst, the one or more structures for contacting and/or supporting the catalyst containing openings to permit the reactants to flow through the one or more structures and contact the catalyst.
    Type: Application
    Filed: June 30, 2006
    Publication date: April 1, 2010
    Inventors: Anna Lee Tonkovich, Kai Tod Paul Jarosch, Timothy J. Sullivan, Terry Mazanec, Sean Patrick Fitzgerald, Maddalena Fanelli
  • Publication number: 20100068366
    Abstract: The disclosed invention relates to a process for making a multiphase mixture, comprising: flowing a first fluid stream through a process microchannel, the first fluid stream comprising at least one liquid and/or at least one gas, the process microchannel having an apertured section; flowing a second fluid stream through the apertured section into the process microchannel in contact with the first fluid stream to form the multiphase mixture, the second fluid stream comprising at least one gas and/or at least one microbody-forming material, the first fluid stream forming a continuous phase in the multiphase mixture, the second fluid stream forming a discontinuous phase dispersed in the continuous phase.
    Type: Application
    Filed: November 23, 2009
    Publication date: March 18, 2010
    Inventors: Anna Lee Tonkovich, Laura J. Silva, David John Hesse, Michael Alan Marchiando, Micheal Jay Lamont, Dongming Qiu, Terrence Andrew Dritz, Kristina M. Pagnotto, Richard Stevenson, Steven T. Perry, Maddalena Fanelli, Ravi Arora, Bin Yang, Sean Patrick Fitzgerald, Timothy J. Sullivan, Kai Tod Paul Jarosch, Thomas Yuschak
  • Publication number: 20090326279
    Abstract: The disclosed technology relates to an apparatus, comprising: at least one microchannel, the microchannel comprising at least one heat transfer wall; a porous thermally conductive support in the microchannel in contact with the heat transfer wall; a catalyst or a sorption medium supported by the porous support; and a heat source and/or heat sink in thermal contact with the heat transfer wall.
    Type: Application
    Filed: May 25, 2006
    Publication date: December 31, 2009
    Inventors: Anna Lee Tonkovich, Kai Tod Paul Jarosch, Jeffrey D. Marco, Bin Yang, Sean Patrick Fitzgerald, Steven T. Perry, Thomas Yuschak, Francis P. Daly, Haibiao Chen
  • Patent number: 7622509
    Abstract: The disclosed invention relates to a process for making a multiphase mixture, comprising: flowing a first fluid stream through a process microchannel, the first fluid stream comprising at least one liquid and/or at least one gas, the process microchannel having an apertured section; flowing a second fluid stream through the apertured section into the process microchannel in contact with the first fluid stream to form the multiphase mixture, the second fluid stream comprising at least one gas and/or at least one microbody-forming material, the first fluid stream forming a continuous phase in the multiphase mixture, the second fluid stream forming a discontinuous phase dispersed in the continuous phase.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: September 30, 2005
    Date of Patent: November 24, 2009
    Assignee: Velocys, Inc.
    Inventors: Anna Lee Tonkovich, Laura J. Silva, David John Hesse, Michael Alan Marchiando, Michael Jay Lamont, Dongming Qiu, Terence Andrew Dritz, Kristina M. Pagnotto, Richard Stevenson, Steven T. Perry, Maddalena Fanelli, Ravi Arora, Bin Yang, Sean Patrick Fitzgerald, Timothy J. Sullivan, Kai Tod Paul Jarosch, Thomas Yuschak
  • Publication number: 20080184915
    Abstract: The disclosed invention relates to a process for converting a feed composition comprising one or more hydrocarbons to a product comprising one or more unsaturated hydrocarbons, the process comprising: flowing the feed composition and steam in contact with each other in a microchannel reactor at a temperature in the range from about 200° C. to about 1200° C. to convert the feed composition to the product, the process being characterized by the absence of catalyst for converting the one or more hydrocarbons to one or more unsaturated hydrocarbons. Hydrogen and/or oxygen may be combined with the feed composition and steam.
    Type: Application
    Filed: February 2, 2007
    Publication date: August 7, 2008
    Inventors: Anna Lee Tonkovich, Thomas Yuschak, Timothy J. LaPlante, Scott Rankin, Steven T. Perry, Sean Patrick Fitzgerald, Wayne W. Simmons, Terry Mazanec, Eric Daymo