Patents by Inventor Stephen S. Woo

Stephen S. Woo 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: 8005645
    Abstract: The present invention is a method for detecting an abnormal event for process units of a hydrocracking unit. The method compares the operation of the process units to a model developed by principle components analysis of normal operation for these units. If the difference between the operation of a process unit and the normal operation indicates an abnormal condition, then the cause of the abnormal condition is determined and corrected.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: February 23, 2007
    Date of Patent: August 23, 2011
    Assignee: ExxonMobil Research and Engineering Company
    Inventors: Kenneth F. Emigholz, Thomas A. Kendi, Stephen S. Woo
  • Patent number: 7761172
    Abstract: The present invention is a method and system for detecting an abnormal event for process units of a Polymers Unit. The method compares the operation of the process units to statistical, engineering or heuristic models. The statistical models are developed by principle components analysis of the normal operation for these units. In addition, the engineering models are based on correlation analysis between variables or simple engineering calculations. If the difference between the operation of a process unit and the normal model result indicates an abnormal condition, then the cause of the abnormal condition is determined and corrected.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 16, 2007
    Date of Patent: July 20, 2010
    Assignee: ExxonMobil Research and Engineering Company
    Inventors: Anh T. Nguyen, Kenneth F. Emigholz, Stephen S. Woo, Stephen D. Vercher, Steven M. Orsak, Perry Alagappan
  • Patent number: 7720641
    Abstract: The present invention is a method for detecting an abnormal event for process units of a Delayed Coking Unit. The method compares the operation of the process units to statistical and engineering models. The statistical models are developed by principal components analysis of the normal operation for these units. The engineering models are based statistical and correlation analysis between variables. If the difference between the operation of a process unit and the normal model result indicates an abnormal condition, then the cause of the abnormal condition is determined and corrected.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: April 13, 2007
    Date of Patent: May 18, 2010
    Assignee: ExxonMobil Research and Engineering Company
    Inventors: Perry Alagappan, Kenneth F. Emigholz, Kevin R. Worden, Stephen S. Woo, Anh T. Nguyen
  • Patent number: 7567887
    Abstract: The present invention is a method for detecting an abnormal event for process units of a Fluidized Catalytic Cracking Unit. The method compares the operation of the process units to a statistical and engineering models. The statistical models are developed by principle components analysis of the normal operation for these units. In addition, the engineering models are based on partial least squares analysis and correlation analysis between variables. If the difference between the operation of a process unit and the normal model result indicates an abnormal condition, then the cause of the abnormal condition is determined and corrected.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: August 26, 2005
    Date of Patent: July 28, 2009
    Assignee: ExxonMobil Research and Engineering Company
    Inventors: Kenneth F. Emigholz, Sourabh K. Dash, Stephen S. Woo
  • Patent number: 7424395
    Abstract: The present invention is a method for detecting an abnormal event for process units of an ethylene processing system. The method compares the operation of the process units to a model developed by principal components analysis of normal operation for these units. If the difference between the operation of a process unit and the normal operation indicates an abnormal condition, then the cause of the abnormal condition is determined and corrected.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: August 26, 2005
    Date of Patent: September 9, 2008
    Assignee: ExxonMobil Research and Engineering Company
    Inventors: Kenneth F. Emigholz, Richard B. McLain, Robert K. Wang, Stephen S. Woo
  • Patent number: 7349746
    Abstract: Thousands of process and equipment measurements are gathered by the modern digital process control systems that are deployed in refineries and chemical plants. Several years of these data are historized in databases for analysis and reporting. These databases can be mined for the data patterns that occur during normal operation and those patterns used to determine when the process is behaving abnormally. These normal operating patterns are represented by sets of models. These models include simple engineering equations, which express known relationships that should be true during normal operations and multivariate statistical models based on a variation of principle component analysis. Equipment and process problems can be detected by comparing the data gathered on a minute by minute basis to predictions from these models of normal operation.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: August 26, 2005
    Date of Patent: March 25, 2008
    Assignee: ExxonMobil Research and Engineering Company
    Inventors: Kenneth F. Emigholz, Robert K. Wang, Stephen S. Woo, Richard B. McLain, Sourabh K. Dash, Thomas A. Kendi