Patents by Inventor Wendell Gaylon Whitehouse

Wendell Gaylon Whitehouse 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: 3990938
    Abstract: This disclosure is for a solvent flashing process for recovering polymer from dilute solution in discrete, uniform granules substantially free of solvent. The process comprises pressurizing a dilute solution of a polymer dissolved in a solvent, preferably at an elevated temperature, spraying the solution through a first fluid atomizing outlet of a two fluid nozzle, and forcing a hot gas through at least one outlet port of the two fluid nozzle directed so as to intersect with the polymer solution emerging from the nozzle. The solution is atomized into fine droplets from which the bulk of the solvent flashes by both passage through the atomizing nozzle and by a shearing of the solution by the hot gas leaving finely divided granules of polymer which are collected in water. The process is characterized by the use of the two fluid nozzle and by the passage of the hot gas through the nozzle which causes further atomizing of the polymer solution with more efficient heat transfer from the gas to the polymer solution.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: October 10, 1974
    Date of Patent: November 9, 1976
    Assignee: General Electric Company
    Inventor: Wendell Gaylon Whitehouse