Patents Examined by Renee E Robinson
  • Patent number: 9039890
    Abstract: A process for the production of high yields of high quality products from heavy hydrocarbonaceous feedstock comprising a two-stage, close-coupled process, wherein the first stage comprises a thermal-catalytic zone into which is introduced a mixture comprising the feedstock, coal, dispersed catalyst, and hydrogen; and the second, close-coupled stage comprises a catalytic-hydrotreating zone into which substantially all the effluent from the first stage is directly passed and processed under hydrotreating conditions.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: January 25, 2012
    Date of Patent: May 26, 2015
    Assignee: Chevron U.S.A. Inc.
    Inventors: Dennis R. Cash, Graham J. Forder, David S. Mitchell, Joel W. Rosenthal
  • Patent number: 9034175
    Abstract: A method for reducing the mercury content of natural gas condensate, comprising the steps of providing a nanofiltration membrane having a feed side and a permeate side; contacting the natural gas condensate with the feed side of the membrane; and obtaining a mercury-depleted natural gas condensate at the permeate side of the membrane; and a natural gas processing plant comprising a condensate workup section including a nanofiltration membrane separation unit for reducing the mercury content of natural gas condensate.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 25, 2008
    Date of Patent: May 19, 2015
    Assignee: Shell Oil Company
    Inventors: Johannes Leendert Willem Cornelis Den Boestert, Arian Nijmeijer, Cornelis Jacobus Smit
  • Patent number: 9023195
    Abstract: A process for hydrotreating a naphtha fraction that includes a step of estimating the difference between the naphtha fraction hydrotreating reactor outlet temperature and inlet temperature, based on the reaction temperature of the Fischer-Tropsch synthesis reaction and the ratio of the flow rate of the treated naphtha fraction returned to the naphtha fraction hydrotreating step relative to the flow rate of the treated naphtha fraction discharged from the naphtha fraction hydrotreating step, a step of measuring the difference between the naphtha fraction hydrotreating reactor outlet temperature and inlet temperature, and a step of adjusting the reaction temperature of the naphtha fraction hydrotreating step so that the measured difference between the naphtha fraction hydrotreating reactor outlet temperature and inlet temperature becomes substantially equal to the estimated difference between the naphtha fraction hydrotreating reactor outlet temperature and inlet temperature.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: October 13, 2010
    Date of Patent: May 5, 2015
    Assignees: Japan Oil, Gas and Metals National Corporation, Inpex Corporation, JX Nippon Oil & Energy Corporation, Japan Petroleum Exploration Co., Ltd., Cosmo Oil Co., Ltd., Nippon Steel Engineering Co., Ltd.
    Inventors: Kazuhiko Tasaka, Yuichi Tanaka, Marie Iwama
  • Patent number: 9017545
    Abstract: Disclosed is a process for hydrotreating inferior naphtha fraction, comprising: (1) warming a recycle oil in a heating device; (2) mixing the inferior naphtha fraction with the recycle oil before and/or after the heating device; and (3) feeding the mixture of the inferior naphtha fraction and the recycle oil into a separating unit, wherein the gas-liquid separation is realized at least to obtain a gas phase and a liquid phase, wherein the gas phase comprises gasified inferior naphtha, wherein the gas phase enters a hydrotreating reactor to undergo hydrotreating, and wherein part of the liquid phase circulates to the heating device as the recycle oil; wherein warming of the recycle oil is controlled to ensure the temperature of gas phase from the separator at least reaches the inlet temperature of the hydrotreating reactor. Comparing with the prior art, the inventive process effectively solves the coking problem of the hydrogenating unit for inferior naphtha fraction.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: October 26, 2012
    Date of Patent: April 28, 2015
    Assignees: China Petroleum & Chemical Corporation, Fushun Research Institute of Petroleum and Petrochemicals, Sinopec
    Inventors: Ying Zhang, Baozhong Li, Ronghui Zeng, Youliang Shi
  • Patent number: 9011674
    Abstract: A process is provided in which a first hydrocarbon-containing composition is provided where the first hydrocarbon-containing composition comprises hydrocarbons having a boiling range from 25° C. to 538° C. and from 0.1 wt. % to 5 wt. % sulfur, where at least 40 wt. % of the sulfur is contained in hydrocarbons having a boiling point of less than 343° C. where at least 40 wt. % of the sulfur contained in hydrocarbons having a boiling point less than 343° C. is contained in benzothiophenic compounds, and the first hydrocarbon-containing compound is hydrotreated to produce a second hydrocarbon-containing compound.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 8, 2011
    Date of Patent: April 21, 2015
    Assignee: Shell Oil Company
    Inventors: Stanley Nemec Milam, Michael Anthony Reynolds, Scott Lee Wellington, Frederik Arnold Buhrman
  • Patent number: 9005429
    Abstract: The present invention relates to hydrocarbons and particularly to the manufacture of hydrocarbon components suitable as aviation fuels or jet fuels and as blending stocks for aviation fuels. The process comprises the stages, wherein in the first stage an oil feed of biological origin and hydrogen gas are subjected to conditions sufficient to effect hydrodeoxygenation in the presence of a hydrodeoxygenation catalyst to yield n-paraffins; in the second stage the n-paraffins and hydrogen gas are subjected to conditions sufficient to effect isomerization in the presence of an isomerization catalyst to yield isoparaffins and separating fractions; and recycling the fraction boiling at a temperature above 200° C. under atmospheric pressure obtained from the second stage to reisomerization, where isomerization is effected in the presence of an isomerization catalyst.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 30, 2009
    Date of Patent: April 14, 2015
    Assignee: Neste Oil Oyj
    Inventors: Varpu Markkanen, Petri Lindqvist, Elina Harlin, Pekka Aalto, Jukka Myllyoja, Ville Alopaeus
  • Patent number: 8999247
    Abstract: In one exemplary embodiment, a system for reacting a first feed can include a petroleum fraction having at least about 90%, by volume, with a boiling point of at least about 300° C. The system can include a bubble column reactor. The bubble column reactor, in turn, can include a first inlet for the first feed and a second inlet for a second feed including a gas rich in hydrogen. In addition, the petroleum fraction may be in counter-current flow with respect to the gas rich in hydrogen inside the bubble column reactor.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: October 17, 2012
    Date of Patent: April 7, 2015
    Assignee: UOP LLC
    Inventor: Paul R. Zimmerman
  • Patent number: 8999151
    Abstract: Ionic liquids of the general formula C+A? where C+ represents an organic cation, specifically, but not limited to the imidazolium, pyridinium, isoquinolinium, ammonium types, which have aliphatic and aromatic substituents, while A? represents a carboxylate, aromatic and aliphatic anion. The ionic liquids are synthesized under conventional heating or microwave irradiation This invention is also related to the application of ionic liquids to remove sulfur compounds of naphthas through a liquid-liquid extraction and the recovery and reuse of ionic liquids by the application of heat, reduced pressure and washing with solvents.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: August 27, 2009
    Date of Patent: April 7, 2015
    Assignee: Instituto Mexicano del Petroleo
    Inventors: Rafael Martinez Palou, Natalya Victorovna Likhanova, Eugenio Alejandro Flores Oropeza, Diego Javier Guzman Lucero
  • Patent number: 8992768
    Abstract: A highly active nickel carrier catalyst based on aluminium oxide has a nickel content of approximately 20 to 70 wt.-% (as Ni) and optionally comprises a bonding agent and optionally a promoter, selected from the compounds of Mg, Ti, Pb, Pt, Ba, Ca and/or Cu, wherein the size of the Ni crystallites in the reduced state is in the range of approximately 3.5 to 4.5 nm and the distortion factor of the Ni crystallites is approximately 2 to 5%. In a method for the reduction of the content of sulphur compounds in hydrocarbon-based fuels by selective adsorption of the sulphur compounds on a nickel catalyst, a nickel catalyst based on aluminium oxide is used, particularly the nickel catalyst described above. A nickel catalyst based on aluminium oxide may be used for reducing the sulphur compound content in hydrocarbon-based fuels by selective adsorption of the sulphur compounds on said catalyst and/or for the hydrogenation of aromatic compounds.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 13, 2008
    Date of Patent: March 31, 2015
    Assignee: Süd-Chemie IP GmbH & Co. KG
    Inventors: Jürgen Ladebeck, Tiberius Regula, Klaus Wanninger, Wolfgang Gabriel, Frank Grossmann, Jürgen Koy
  • Patent number: 8986622
    Abstract: A crude oil feedstream is treated to remove or reduce the content of known undesired heteroatomic and polynuclear aromatic compounds containing nitrogen and sulfur by contacting the feedstream with one or more solid adsorbent materials selected from attapulgus clay, alumina, silica gel and activated carbon in a mixing vessel for a time that is sufficient to optimize the adsorption of the undesired compounds from the crude oil, subjecting the mixture to atmospheric flash distillation and then to vacuum flash distillation to recover presorbed boiling ranges of products having a lowered content of the undesired compounds, and preferably regenerating at least a portion of the solid adsorbent material for reuse in the process.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: February 9, 2010
    Date of Patent: March 24, 2015
    Assignee: Saudi Arabian Oil Company
    Inventors: Omer Refa Koseoglu, Adnan Al-Hajji, Hendrik Muller
  • Patent number: 8980081
    Abstract: A process of upgrading a highly aromatic hydrocarbon feedstream comprising (a) contacting a highly aromatic hydrocarbon feedstream, wherein, a major portion of the feedstream has a boiling range of from about 300° F. to about 800° F., under catalytic conditions with a catalyst system, containing a hydrotreating catalyst and a hydrogenation/hydrocracking catalyst in a single stage reactor system, wherein the active metals in the hydrogenation/hydrocracking catalyst comprises from about 5%-30% by weight of nickel and from about 5%-30% by weight tungsten; and (b) wherein at least a portion of the highly aromatic hydrocarbon feedstream is converted to a product stream having a boiling range within jet or diesel boiling ranges.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: October 22, 2007
    Date of Patent: March 17, 2015
    Assignee: Chevron U.S.A. Inc.
    Inventors: Jaime Lopez, Janine Lichtenberger
  • Patent number: 8974659
    Abstract: A process to prepare an aliphatic gasoline component comprising more than 90 wt % of trimethyl substituted compounds and monomethyl substituted compounds in a weight ratio of trimethyl to monomethyl compounds of at least 0.03 by (a) contacting a Fischer-Tropsch synthesis product with a catalyst comprising an acidic matrix and a large pore molecular sieve in a riser reactor at a temperature of between 450 and 650° C. at a contact time of between 1 and 10 seconds and at a catalyst to oil ratio of between 2 and 20 kg/kg; (b) isolating from the product of step (a) a gasoline fraction and a fraction comprising iso-butane and iso-butylene; (c) subjecting the iso-butane and the iso-butylene obtained in step (b) to an alkylation step to prepare a trimethyl substituted pentane; and (d) combining the gasoline fraction with the product rich in trimethyl substituted pentane.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: April 15, 2010
    Date of Patent: March 10, 2015
    Assignee: Shell Oil Company
    Inventor: Jan Lodewijk Maria Dierickx
  • Patent number: 8975208
    Abstract: The present invention provides an adsorbent for removing sulfur from cracking gasoline or diesel fuel. The adsorbent has excellent abrasion-resistance and desulfurization activity. The adsorbent comprises from about 5 to about 35 wt % of alumina, from about 3 to about 30 wt % of silica, from about 10 to about 80 wt % of at least one oxide of metal selected from Groups IIB and VB, from about 3 to about 30 wt % of at least one metal accelerant selected from Groups VIIB and VIII, and from about 0.5 to about 10 wt % of at least one oxide of metal selected from Groups IA and IIA, based on the total weight of the adsorbent.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 30, 2009
    Date of Patent: March 10, 2015
    Assignees: China Petroleum Chemical Corporation, Research Institute of Petroleum Processing, Sinopec
    Inventors: Jun Long, Huiping Tian, Wei Lin
  • Patent number: 8967390
    Abstract: A filter device for filtering a suspension includes at least one filter for continuous creation of a filter cake including particles from the suspension, at least one dispensing device configured to apply at least one first wash liquid to the filter cakes, at least one steaming unit configured to steam the filter cake using steam; at least one removal device configured to remove a surface layer of the filter cake facing away from the at least one filter, wherein the filter device is configured to convey the filter cake to the at least one removal device, the at least one dispensing device and the at least one steaming device, and at least one transport device configured to transport the removed surface layer of the filter cake away from the filter device.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: May 11, 2012
    Date of Patent: March 3, 2015
    Assignee: Siemens Aktiengesellschaft
    Inventor: Elisabeth Schmidt
  • Patent number: 8962514
    Abstract: A hydrotreating catalyst that exhibits excellent levels of both desulfurization activity and denitrification activity. The hydrotreating catalyst is prepared by supporting molybdenum, cobalt and nickel on a carrier comprising aluminum, silicon, phosphorus and boron, and then performing a presulfiding treatment, and has an average stacking number for molybdenum sulfide slab that is greater than 1.0 but not more than 1.9. Also, a process for producing a hydrotreating catalyst that enables a hydrotreating catalyst having excellent levels of both desulfurization activity and denitrification activity to be produced with comparative ease. The process includes a first step of mixing an acidic aluminum salt aqueous solution and a basic aluminum salt aqueous solution in the presence of phosphate ions and silicate ions to achieve a pH of 6.5 to 9.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 18, 2010
    Date of Patent: February 24, 2015
    Assignee: JX Nippon Oil & Energy Corporation
    Inventors: Hiroyuki Seki, Yoshiaki Fukui, Masanori Yoshida
  • Patent number: 8961778
    Abstract: The invention relates to a method of hydroconverting in ebullated bed mode a petroleum feed containing a significant amount of light fractions and, among other things, asphaltenes, sulfur-containing and metallic impurities. More precisely, the object of the invention is a hydroconversion method using at least one ebullated-bed reactor for which injection of the feed is carried out at the top of said reactor, in the gas overhead, and involving separation within said feed inside the reactor into a vaporized fraction and a liquid fraction. The invention also relates to the reactor allowing said method to be implemented.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: October 24, 2008
    Date of Patent: February 24, 2015
    Assignee: IFP Energies Nouvelles
    Inventors: Thierry Gauthier, Jan Verstraete, Simon Maget
  • Patent number: 8961779
    Abstract: A reaction system and method for removing heteroatoms from oxidized-heteroatom-containing hydrocarbon streams and products derived therefrom are disclosed. An oxidized-heteroatom-containing hydrocarbon feed is reacted in a reaction system thereby forming non-ionic hydrocarbon products. The products derived therefrom are useful as transportation fuels, lubricants, refinery intermediates, or refinery feeds.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: January 21, 2014
    Date of Patent: February 24, 2015
    Assignee: Auterra, Inc.
    Inventors: Kyle E. Litz, Jennifer L. Vreeland, Jonathan P. Rankin, Thomas W. DeLancey, Timothy A. Thompson
  • Patent number: 8956529
    Abstract: Oil-water dispersions and emulsions derived from petroleum industry operations are demulsified and clarified using anionic polymers. Formation of such oil-water dispersion and emulsions is inhibited and mitigated using the anionic polymers. The anionic polymers comprise: A) 2-80% by weight of at least one C3-C8 ?,?-ethylenically unsaturated carboxylic acid monomer; B) 15-80% by weight of at least one nonionic, copolymerizable ?,?-ethylenically unsaturated monomer; C) 1-50% by weight of one or more of the following monomers: C1) at least one nonionic vinyl surfactant ester; or C2) at least one nonionic, copolymerizable ?,?-ethylenically unsaturated monomer having longer polymer chains than monomer B), or C3) at least one nonionic urethane monomer; and, optionally, D) 0-5% by weight of at least one crosslinker.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: August 4, 2010
    Date of Patent: February 17, 2015
    Assignee: Rohm and Haas Company
    Inventors: Norman Edward Byrne, Joseph Manna, Somil Chandrakant Mehta, Peter Rozowski
  • Patent number: 8951410
    Abstract: A crude oil feedstream is treated to remove or reduce the content of undesired metal components including nickel and/or vanadium by contacting the feedstream with one or more solid adsorbent materials selected from attapulgus clay, alumina, silica gel and activated carbon in a mixing vessel for a time that is sufficient to optimize the adsorption of the undesired metal components from the crude oil, subjecting the mixture to atmospheric flash distillation and then to vacuum flash distillation to recover presorted boiling ranges of products having a lowered content of the undesired metal components, and preferably regenerating at least a portion of the solid adsorbent material for reuse in the process.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: July 30, 2012
    Date of Patent: February 10, 2015
    Assignee: Saudi Arabian Oil Company
    Inventors: Omer Refa Koseoglu, Adnan Al-Hajji, Hendrik Muller
  • Patent number: 8936719
    Abstract: A process for the deep desulfurisation of hydrocarbons (HC), in particular Natural Gas Condensate (NGC), and HC comprising diesel, pre-extracted diesel and naphtha, is described which is capable of reducing the sulfur content of these HC from 500 to 30 ppm. The process comprises contacting the hydrocarbon material with an oxidant selected from organic peroxy acids, organic peroxides, inorganic peroxides and mixtures thereof, in at least a stochiometric amount sufficient to oxidise a sulfur compound to a sulfone compound; contacting the hydrocarbon material with an aqueous extractant to allow at least a portion of the oxidised sulfur compounds to be extracted into the aqueous extractant, and separating the hydrocarbon material from the aqueous extractant to give a hydrocarbon material of reduced sulfur content. Optionally, the process may include a second and subsequent extractions with the aqueous extractant to further reduce sulfur content. A final extraction with an IL may be conducted.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 21, 2007
    Date of Patent: January 20, 2015
    Assignee: Ultraclean Fuel Pty Ltd.
    Inventors: John Gargano Gordon, Thomas Ruether, Friederike Elisabeth Agel, Andreas Bösmann