Patents by Inventor Folkert Paul Visser

Folkert Paul Visser 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).

  • Desalination method
    Patent number: 7600567
    Abstract: A method of recovering hydrocarbons from a porous subterranean hydrocarbon-bearing formation comprising the steps of: a) feeding to at least on reverse osmosis unit of a desalination assembly a high salinity water feed stream having a total dissolved solids content (total salinity) of at least 10,000 ppm; b) driving a portion of the high salinity water feed stream across a membrane in the reverse osmosis unit of the desalination assembly at a pressure above the osmotic pressure of the high salinity water feed stream while excluding at least a portion of the dissolved solids from crossing said membrane to produce a treated low salinity water product stream having a total salinity of less than 5,000 ppm and a concentrated waste brine stream wherein the hydrostatic head exerted by the high salinity water feed stream on the feed side of the membrane provides at least a major component of the pressure required to overcome the osmotic pressure; c) injecting the low salinity water product stream into the hydrocarbon
    Type: Grant
    Filed: May 19, 2005
    Date of Patent: October 13, 2009
    Assignees: BP Exploration Operating Company Limited, BP Corporation North America Inc.
    Inventors: Charles Arles Christopher, Ian Ralph Collins, Harry Frampton, Folkert Paul Visser