Patents Assigned to L'Exploitation Des
  • Patent number: 7059397
    Abstract: The invention concerns a heat exchanger which includes a stack of plates defining passages, containing corrugated fins which include a transverse section with repeated corrugated pattern extending between two upper and lower end planes. The pattern includes a base corrugated pattern that includes corrugated legs linked to corrugated summits and corrugated bases, this base pattern being modified by a sub-pattern which defines, between at least some corrugated legs, additional leading edges located at an intermediate level between the end planes. The invention is applicable to cryogenic gas—gas heat exchangers.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 21, 2001
    Date of Patent: June 13, 2006
    Assignee: L'Air Liquide, Societe Anonyme A Directoire et Conseil de Surveillance Pour l'Etude et l'Exploitation des Procedes Georges Claude
    Inventors: Fabienne Chatel, Gilles Lebain, Claire Szulman, Etienne Werlen
  • Patent number: 7038163
    Abstract: Binary gas mixture for welding using a laser beam of up to 12 kW, consisting of 30% to 60% nitrogen by volume, the remainder (up to 100%) being helium. Application of this gas mixture to the welding of steel, stainless steel or titanium.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 9, 2003
    Date of Patent: May 2, 2006
    Assignee: L'air liquide, societe anonyme a directoire et conseil de surveillance pour l'etude et l'exploitation des procedes georges claude
    Inventors: Francis Briand, Karim Chouf, Philippe Lefebvre, Eric Verna
  • Patent number: 7025803
    Abstract: A system and a process for recovering high concentrations of methane from crude natural gas and solid waste landfill exhaust gas uses a sequential combination of a pressure swing adsorber unit operation to remove volatile organic compounds from the crude feed gas mixture followed by a membrane separation unit operation. The membrane separation uses a membrane which is selectively gas permeable to reject transmission of methane and thus to produce a permeate depleted in methane relative to the feed mixture. The permeate is also free of volatile organic compounds and is recycled to the pressure swing adsorber unit operation to regenerate saturated adsorbers.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: November 13, 2003
    Date of Patent: April 11, 2006
    Assignee: L'Air Liquide Societe Anonyme A Directoire et Counsel de Surveillance Pour L'Etude et L'Exploration des Procedes Georges Claude
    Inventors: Kenneth J. Wascheck, Charles L. Anderson
  • Patent number: 7025801
    Abstract: The treatment unit comprises N adsorption units, N being greater than or equal to 1, operating on a parametrized cycle split uniformly into at most N phase times. Further more, use is made of a control unit for controlling the treatment unit, designed to modify at least one parameter of the cycle. Each time there is a predicted change in the composition of the feed gas, the control unit is sent a pre-established signal representing this change. The processing unit then processes the signal to determine the parameters of an exceptional operating cycle of the treatment unit which cycle is suited to the predicted change.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 20, 2003
    Date of Patent: April 11, 2006
    Assignee: L'Air Liquide, Société Anonyme àl Directoire et Conseil de Surveillance pour l'Etude et l'Exploitation des Procédés Georges Claude
    Inventor: Christian Monereau
  • Patent number: 7024907
    Abstract: A folding-pressing operation is carried out on the strip (17) in successive steps, by means of two opposed dies (11,12) with a relative movement alternating between coming together and moving apart, these dies having active surfaces (11,12) which are substantially conjugate with the two faces of the corrugation.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: February 7, 2002
    Date of Patent: April 11, 2006
    Assignee: L'air Liquide - Societe Anonyme a Directoire et Conseil de Surveillance Pour L'Etude et L'Exploitation des Procedes Georges Claude
    Inventors: Jean-Claude Beauvois, Son Ha Giang, Gilles Lebain, Etienne Werlen
  • Patent number: 7025804
    Abstract: A method of separating or concentrating hydrocarbon-containing gas mixtures such as hydrogen from hydrocarbons, carbon dioxide from hydrocarbons, nitrogen from hydrocarbons, and hydrocarbons from one another using a selectively permeable membrane. The method is well suited to separate hydrocarbon-containing mixtures such as those generated by petroleum refining industries, petrochemical industries, natural gas processing, and the like. The membranes exhibit extremely good resistance to plasticization by hydrocarbon components in the gas mixture under practical industrial process conditions.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: November 25, 2003
    Date of Patent: April 11, 2006
    Assignee: L'Air Liquide, Societe Anonyme A Directoire et Conseil De Surveillance Pour L'Etude et L'Exploitation Des Procedes Georges Claude
    Inventors: John W. Simmons, Sudhir Kulkarni, Okan M. Ekiner
  • Patent number: 7019159
    Abstract: A composition and method of preparation, to provide silane compounds that are free of chlorine. The compounds are hexakis(monohydrocarbylamino)disilanes with general formula (I) ((R)HN)3—Si—Si—(NH(R))3??(I) wherein each R independently represents a C1 to C4 hydrocarbyl. These disilanes may be synthesized by reacting hexachlorodisilane in organic solvent with at least 6-fold moles of the monohydrocarbylamine RNH2 (wherein R is a C1 to C4 hydrocarbyl). Such compounds have excellent film-forming characteristics at low temperatures. These films, particularly in the case of silicon nitride and silicon oxynitride, also have excellent handling characteristics.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: November 27, 2002
    Date of Patent: March 28, 2006
    Assignee: L'air Liquide Societe Anonyme a Directoire et Conseil de Surveillance pour l'Etude et l'Exploitation des Procedes Georges Claude
    Inventors: Christian Dussarrat, Jean-Marc Girard
  • Patent number: 7018445
    Abstract: The present invention provides a selectively gas permeable membrane that has a superior combination of permeability and selectivity. The membrane composition includes a Type 1 copolyimide uniformly blended with a Type 2 copolyimide, which polymers are defined by chemical structure more specifically in this disclosure. The invention also provides a method of using the membrane of the copolyimide blend to separate components of gas mixtures.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: August 15, 2003
    Date of Patent: March 28, 2006
    Assignee: L'Air Liquide, Societe Anonyme a Directoire et Conseil de Surveillance Pour l'Etude et l'Exploitation des Procedes Georges Claude
    Inventors: John W. Simmons, Okan Max Ekiner
  • Patent number: 7014458
    Abstract: Methods and apparatus for combustion of a hydrocarbon fuel in a combustion chamber of a furnace or boiler are presented, the combustion normally using only air as an oxidant, part of the air entering the combustion chamber through one or more burners, and a remaining portion of air entering the combustion chamber at a plurality of locations downstream of the burners. The methods comprise injecting oxygen-enriched gas through a plurality of lances into the combustion chamber at a plurality of downstream locations, the oxygen-enriched gas injected at a velocity ranging from subsonic to supersonic, and the oxygen-enriched gas being present in an amount sufficient to provide an oxygen concentration of no more than 2% on a volume basis greater than when air is used alone as oxidant.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 8, 2003
    Date of Patent: March 21, 2006
    Assignees: American Air Liquide, Inc., L'Air Liquide, Societe Anonyme a Directoire et Conseil de Surveillance pour l'Etude et l'Exploitation des Procedes Georges Claude
    Inventors: Ovidiu Marin, Benjamin Bugeat, Eric Streicher, Pietro Di Zanno
  • Patent number: 7011695
    Abstract: Zeolite adsorbent, and method of production, exchanged with calcium and barium cations, for purifying or separating a gas or gas mixture, in particular air, so as to remove therefrom the impurities found therein, such as hydrocarbons and nitrogen oxides (NxOy). The adsorbent is preferably an X or LSX zeolite and the gas purification process is of the TSA type.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: October 16, 2002
    Date of Patent: March 14, 2006
    Assignee: L'Air Liquide, Societe Anonyme A Directoire et Conseil de Surveillance pour l'Etude et l'Exploitation des Procedes Georges Claude
    Inventors: Serge Moreau, Elise Renou, Claire Szulman
  • Patent number: 7013022
    Abstract: The invention relates to a method of processing images of at least one flame or of a scene in a furnace, characterized in that it comprises at least one sliding statistical processing of the images of the flame which are captured in the course of a sliding time interval, so as to eliminate the fast fluctuations therefrom.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: September 20, 2001
    Date of Patent: March 14, 2006
    Assignee: L'Air Liquide, Societe Anonyme pour l'Etude et l'Exploitation des Procedes Georges Claude
    Inventors: Jacques Dugue, Lynda Mouloudj, Isabelle Hibon, Richard Soula
  • Patent number: 7010919
    Abstract: The invention concerns a method for driving at least a compression machine (7, 8) of an air distillation unit (3) which supplies oxygen and/or nitrogen and/or argon to an industrial plant (1) producing water vapour. In normal running conditions, the compression machine is driven at least partly by a steam turbine (13) fed with said water vapour, which is input at an input port (15) of the turbine. The turbine has two input ports (15, 16) which correspond to different intake pressures. During at least one operating phase of said plant (1), the turbine is partly supplied with water vapour from an auxiliary water vapour source (21) and input at the turbine other input port (16). The invention is useful for supplying air gas to a synthetic hydrocarbon production plant.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 27, 2002
    Date of Patent: March 14, 2006
    Assignee: L'Air Liquide, Societe Anonyme A Directoire et Conseil De Surveillance Pour L'Etude et L'Exploitation Des Procedes Georges Claude
    Inventor: Jean-Pierre Gourbier
  • Patent number: 6984258
    Abstract: Method and apparatus for treating a gas by adsorption. A gas is compressed and then treated by being circulated in an adsorber. A regenerating fluid is indirectly heated by the gas coming from the compressor. In a second regeneration phase, the regenerating fluid is sent directly to the adsorber, while the treated gas is refrigerated by an auxiliary refrigerator.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: October 9, 2002
    Date of Patent: January 10, 2006
    Assignee: L'Air Liquide, Société Anonyme à Directoire et Conseil de Surveillance pour l'Etude et l'Exploitation des Procédés Georges Claude
    Inventors: Norbert Niclout, Marc Wagner
  • Patent number: 6977007
    Abstract: A method of separating a gas mixture using a permeation membrane unit, wherein the gas mixture, containing primarily hydrogen and carbon monoxide, is first treated to reduce the level of secondary components to lower than 100 molar ppm.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: November 13, 2002
    Date of Patent: December 20, 2005
    Assignee: L'Air Liquide, Société Anonyme à Directoire et Conseil de Surveillance pour l'Etude et l'Exploitation des Procédés Georges Claude
    Inventors: Nicolas Siadous, Yves Engler, Christian Monereau
  • Patent number: 6968705
    Abstract: A method and apparatus for cooling a fluid in the liquid state, possibly also containing solid elements, comprising feeding said fluid into a containing member for said fluid and also feeding into said member a cooling fluid in the liquid state, such as a liquefied gas; said fluids are brought into direct contact within said containing member so that by absorbing heat, the cooling fluid passes into the gaseous state and cools the fluid to be cooled, these fluids then being extracted directly from said member by separate conduits.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: February 6, 2004
    Date of Patent: November 29, 2005
    Assignee: L'Air Liquide, Société Anonyme à Directoire et Conseil de Surveillance pour l'Etude et l'Exploitation des Procédés Georges Claude
    Inventor: Maurizio Frati
  • Patent number: 6962062
    Abstract: A method for separating air by cryogenic distillation. A first compressor compresses air to a first pressure, and sends part of that air to a second compressor which compresses that part to a second pressure. Part of the air at the second pressure is cooled in a heat exchanger and sent to a third compressor where part of it is compressed to a third pressure. Part of the air at the third pressure is liquefied and sent a column system. Around half of the total liquefied air sent to the column system will have originally been compressed by the third compressor. Part of the air at the first pressure is cooled in a heat exchanger and part of the cooled air at the first pressure is then expanded to the pressure of the column system. The expanded air is sent to the column system.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 10, 2003
    Date of Patent: November 8, 2005
    Assignee: L'Air Liquide, Société Anonyme à Directoire et Conseil de Surveillance pour l'Etude et l'Exploitation des Proédés Georges Claude
    Inventors: Bao Ha, Jean-Renaud Brugerollle
  • Patent number: 6962268
    Abstract: An apparatus for storing and mixing two pressurized gases. The apparatus has an outer container for storing the first gas and an inner container, situated inside the outer container, for storing the second gas. The gases exit their containers through outlet passages, are mixed together resulting in a mixture which leaves the apparatus through and output channel.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: November 28, 2002
    Date of Patent: November 8, 2005
    Assignee: L'Air Liquide, Société Anonyme à Directoire et Conseil de Surveillance pour l'Etude et l'Exploitation des Procédés Georges Claude
    Inventors: Josyane Bruat, Clarisse L'Heveder
  • Publication number: 20050245443
    Abstract: The present invention concerns an isolated bacteriocin, Divergicin M35, derived form Carnobacterium divergens M35. It also concerns a composition comprising an effective amount of Divergicin M35 and the use of that bacteriocin to kill or limit the proliferation of a microorganism.
    Type: Application
    Filed: April 30, 2004
    Publication date: November 3, 2005
    Applicants: UNIVERSITE LAVAL, MINISTERE DE L'AGRICULTURE, DES PECHERIES ET DE L'ALIMENTATION
    Inventors: Ismail Fliss, Michel Desbiens, Christophe Lacroix, Imane Tahiri, Regis-Olivier Benech, Ehab Kheadr
  • Patent number: 6955730
    Abstract: The method and apparatus for enhancing the metallurgical quality of products treated in a furnace with several zones, wherein the temperature and the atmospheric conditions can be controlled. The applies to any type of product treated in a furnace, such as billets, blooms, slugs or slabs. Alternatively, this may be used by iron and steel manufacturers in the production line for sheets, plates, tubes, etc.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: April 19, 2002
    Date of Patent: October 18, 2005
    Assignee: L'Air Liquide, Société Anonyme á Directoire et Conseil de Surveillance pour l'Etude et l'Exploitation des Procédés Georges Claude
    Inventors: Savine Bockel-Macal, Olivier Delabroy, Olivier Louedin, Christel Champinot
  • Patent number: 6951245
    Abstract: A plate-type heat exchanger containing a number of stacked dividing plates of roughly uniform thickness (e), at least one passage, and at least one fin. The minimum thickness (e?) of the fin is 0.8 times greater than the thickness (e) of each dividing plate(s).
    Type: Grant
    Filed: October 1, 2003
    Date of Patent: October 4, 2005
    Assignee: L'Air Liquide, Société Anonyme à Directoire et Conseil de Surveillance pour l'Etude et l'Exploitation des Procédés Georges Claude
    Inventor: Jean-Yves Lehman