Patents by Inventor Bruce Hook

Bruce Hook 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: 9605350
    Abstract: Processes and apparatus for purifying brine are provided including (1) providing an aqueous brine solution comprising one or more inorganic salts and one or more organic compounds and (2) conducting at least one unit operation for removing organic compounds from the brine solution to obtain a purified brine solution.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 20, 2013
    Date of Patent: March 28, 2017
    Assignee: BLUE CUBE IP LLC
    Inventors: Bruce Hook, Dan Tirtowidjojo, Anil Mehta
  • Publication number: 20130281721
    Abstract: Processes and apparatus for purifying brine are provided including (1) providing an aqueous brine solution comprising one or more inorganic salts and one or more organic compounds and (2) conducting at least one unit operation for removing organic compounds from the brine solution to obtain a purified brine solution.
    Type: Application
    Filed: June 20, 2013
    Publication date: October 24, 2013
    Inventors: Bruce Hook, Dan Tirtowidjojo, Anil Mehta
  • Patent number: 8501034
    Abstract: Processes and apparatus for purifying brine are provided including (1) providing an aqueous brine solution comprising one or more inorganic salts and one or more organic compounds and (2) conducting at least one unit operation for removing organic compounds from the brine solution to obtain a purified brine solution.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: August 18, 2008
    Date of Patent: August 6, 2013
    Assignee: Dow Global Technologies LLC
    Inventors: Bruce Hook, Dan Tirtowidjojo, Anil Mehta
  • Patent number: 8343328
    Abstract: Process and apparatus for reducing organic content of brine comprising subjecting a brine solution to at least two purification treatments selected from electrochemical treatment, chlorinolysis, or other chemical oxidation treatment, carbon adsorption, extraction, biological treatment and chrystallizing treatment; wherein the organic content of purified brine is sufficiently low to enable sense of the purified brine in an industrial process.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: August 18, 2008
    Date of Patent: January 1, 2013
    Assignee: Dow Global Technologies LLC
    Inventors: Bruce Hook, Dan Tirtowidjojo, Frank Koester, Sunil K. Chaudhary, Anil Mehta, Jean Chauvel, Jr., Christopher P Christenson, Timothy Frank, Celio Lume Pereira, Steve Gluck, Glenn Lord, David West, Christine Lundstroem, Annett Horn, Istvan Lengyel
  • Publication number: 20100261255
    Abstract: Process for purifying brine including providing an aqueous brine solution comprising one or more inorganic salts, one or more organic compounds, and optionally one or more microbial nutrients other than microbial nutrients comprised in the one or more inorganic salts and the one or more organic compounds and conducting at least one unit operation for removing organic compounds from the aqueous brine solution provided in step (1) to obtain a first purified brine solution, wherein the at least one unit operation comprises contacting the aqueous brine solution with living microbes capable of oxidizing the organic compounds in the presence of oxygen.
    Type: Application
    Filed: August 18, 2008
    Publication date: October 14, 2010
    Inventors: Celio Lume Pereira, Bruce Hook, Christine Lundstroem, Annett Horn
  • Publication number: 20100219372
    Abstract: Process and apparatus for reducing organic content of brine comprising subjecting a brine solution to at least two purification treatments selected from electrochemical treatment, chlorinolysis, or other chemical oxidation treatment, carbon adsorption, extraction, biological treatment and chrystallizing treatment; wherein the organic content of purified brine is sufficiently low to enable sense of the purified brine in an industrial process.
    Type: Application
    Filed: August 18, 2008
    Publication date: September 2, 2010
    Inventors: Bruce Hook, Dan Tirtowidjojo, Frank Koester, Sunil K. Chaudhary, Anil Mehta, Jean Chauvel, JR., Chris Christenson, Timothy Frank, Celio Lume Pereira, Steve Gluck, Glenn Lord, David West, Christine Lundstroem, Annett Horn, Istvan Lengyel
  • Publication number: 20100206744
    Abstract: Process of reducing organic content of brine which includes subjecting a brine solution containing an organic content to an electrochemical process for a sufficient period of time and at a sufficient voltage to reduce the organic content of the brine to obtain a reduced organic content brine. Also provided is a process for reducing organic contamination of brine in a chemical process comprising subjecting a brine stream of the chemical process to electrochemical oxidation to obtain a reduced organic content brine stream.
    Type: Application
    Filed: August 18, 2008
    Publication date: August 19, 2010
    Inventors: Celio Lume Pereira, Glenn Lord, Steve Gluck, Bruce Hook
  • Publication number: 20100193732
    Abstract: Processes and apparatus for purifying brine are provided including (1) providing an aqueous brine solution comprising one or more inorganic salts and one or more organic compounds and (2) conducting at least one unit operation for removing organic compounds from the brine solution to obtain a purified brine solution.
    Type: Application
    Filed: August 18, 2008
    Publication date: August 5, 2010
    Inventors: Bruce Hook, Dan Tirtowidjojo, Anil Mehta
  • Publication number: 20100193443
    Abstract: A plurality of stages is employed to reduce the total organic carbon (TOC) content of a brine by-product stream to produce a recyclable brine stream having a TOC content of less than about 10 ppm. In a first stage treatment, a brine by-product stream may be subjected to chlorinolysis at a temperature of less than about 125 0C to obtain a chlorinolysis product having a TOC content of less than about 100 ppm, which may be treated in a second stage with activated carbon to obtain a TOC content of less than about 10 ppm. The chlorinolysis may be a reaction with sodium hypochlorite, which may be produced in situ by treatment of the brine by-product stream with chlorine gas and sodium hydroxide. The brine by-product stream may contain a high amount of difficult to remove glycerin, such as a brine by-product stream from the production of epichlorohydrin from glycerin.
    Type: Application
    Filed: August 18, 2008
    Publication date: August 5, 2010
    Inventors: Sunil K. Chaudhary, Bruce Hook, Christopher P. Christenson, Chauvel J. Jean, David West, Steve Gluck, Celio Lume Pereira, Istvan Lengyel, Frank Koester
  • Publication number: 20080045728
    Abstract: The present invention relates to a process for converting a multihydroxylated-aliphatic hydrocarbon or ester thereof to a chlorohydrin, by contacting the multihydroxylated-aliphatic hydrocarbon or ester thereof starting material with a source of a superatmospheric partial pressure of hydrogen chloride for a sufficient time and at a sufficient temperature, and wherein such contracting step is carried out without substantial removal of water, to produce the desired chlorohydrin product; wherein the desired product or products can be made in high yield without substantial formation of undesired overchlorinated byproducts. In addition, certain catalysts of the present invention may be used in the present process at superatmospheric, atmospheric and subatmospheric pressure conditions with improved results.
    Type: Application
    Filed: July 18, 2005
    Publication date: February 21, 2008
    Inventors: William Kruper, David Schreck, Kenneth Kearns, Richard Varjian, Mark Jones, Robert Campbell, Bruce Hook, John Briggs, Jeffrey Hippler
  • Publication number: 20080015369
    Abstract: The present invention relates to a process for converting a multihydroxylated-aliphatic hydrocarbon or ester thereof to a chlorohydrin, by contacting the multihydroxylated-aliphatic hydrocarbon or ester thereof starting material with a source of hydrogen chloride at superatmospheric, atmospheric and subatmospheric pressure conditions for a sufficient time and at a sufficient temperature, preferably wherein such contracting step is carried out without substantial removal of water, to produce the desired chlorohydrin product; wherein the desired product or products can be made in high yield without substantial formation of undesired overchlorinated byproducts; said process carried out without a step undertaken to specifically remove volatile chlorinated hydrocarbon by-products or chloroacetone, wherein the combined concentration of volatile chlorinated hydrocarbon by-products and chloroacetone is less than 2000 ppm throughout any stage of the said process.
    Type: Application
    Filed: February 22, 2007
    Publication date: January 17, 2008
    Inventors: William Kruper, Tina Arrowood, Bruce Bell, John Briggs, Robert Campbell, Bruce Hook, Anh Nguyen, Curt Theriault, Ralf Fitschen
  • Publication number: 20080015370
    Abstract: A process for converting a crude glycerol, crude mixtures of naturally derived multihydroxylated-aliphatic hydrocarbons or esters thereof to a chlorohydrin, by contacting the crude glycerol, crude mixtures of naturally derived multihydroxylated-aliphatic hydrocarbons or esters thereof starting material with a source of a superatmospheric partial pressure of hydrogen chloride for a sufficient time and at a sufficient temperature, and wherein such contracting step is carried out without substantial removal of water, to produce the desired chlorohydrin product; wherein the desired product or products can be made in high yield without substantial formation of undesired overchlorinated byproducts; wherein said crude glycerol, said ester of crude glycerol, or mixture thereof is derived from a renewable raw material. Chlorohydrins made by the process of the present invention are useful in preparing epoxides such as epichlorohydrins.
    Type: Application
    Filed: February 22, 2007
    Publication date: January 17, 2008
    Inventors: Bruce Hook, John Briggs, Robert Campbell, William Kruper, David Schreck, Richard Varjian, Jeffrey Hippler