Patents Assigned to Continuum Environmental, LLC
  • Patent number: 6951248
    Abstract: A method for separating oil from geological formations by application of an aqueous oxidant. The oxidant breaks the interfacial attraction between the oil phase and the geological formation and also produces ketone moieties which assist in separating the oil phase from the mineral phase and also dissolve into the oil phase, thereby decreasing the viscosity. The method is especially useful in recovering heavy oil from geological formations wherein oil has been previously extracted to exhaustion by prior art methods.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: July 12, 2002
    Date of Patent: October 4, 2005
    Assignee: Continuum Environmental, LLC
    Inventors: Lawrence M. Conaway, Roger Noble, Michael Keller, David Caffey
  • Patent number: 6576145
    Abstract: Method and apparatus for treating a mixture of mineral substrate particles and hydrocarbon compounds, especially tar sands and contaminated soils, to recover a hydrocarbon portion and a cleaned substrate portion. In a preferably continuous process, hydrocarbonaceous rock, sand, ore, or soil containing bitumen, petroleum, and/or kerogen is crushed or otherwise comminuted as needed to the particle size of sand or smaller. The comminuted ore is mixed with water to form a slurry, is heated to between 60° C. and 100° C., and is blended with an oxidant in aqueous solution, preferably hydrogen peroxide. Both free interstitial hydrocarbons and those hydrocarbons bound electrostatically to the surfaces of clay-like particles in the ore are released from the mineral substrate.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 18, 2001
    Date of Patent: June 10, 2003
    Assignee: Continuum Environmental, LLC
    Inventors: Lawrence M. Conaway, Roger Noble, Michael Keller, David Caffey