Patents by Inventor Helen S. Wellons

Helen S. Wellons 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: 10913909
    Abstract: Systems and methods are provided for modifying or selecting processing conditions for bright stock formation based on compositional characterization of the feedstock and/or bright stock products. In some aspects, the compositional information can include Z-class characterization of the components of a feed and/or bright stock product, optionally in combination with carbon number and/or molecular weight for the components. The compositional information can be used to select processing conditions to allow for removal and/or modification of selected components within a bright stock in order to improve throughput and/or provide desirable cold flow properties.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 9, 2019
    Date of Patent: February 9, 2021
    Assignee: ExxonMobil Research and Engineering Company
    Inventors: Liezhong Gong, Helen S. Wellons, Kuangnan Qian, Lisa I. Yeh, James W. Gleeson
  • Publication number: 20200190415
    Abstract: Systems and methods are provided for modifying or selecting processing conditions for bright stock formation based on compositional characterization of the feedstock and/or bright stock products. In some aspects, the compositional information can include Z-class characterization of the components of a feed and/or bright stock product, optionally in combination with carbon number and/or molecular weight for the components. The compositional information can be used to select processing conditions to allow for removal and/or modification of selected components within a bright stock in order to improve throughput and/or provide desirable cold flow properties.
    Type: Application
    Filed: December 9, 2019
    Publication date: June 18, 2020
    Inventors: Liezhong Gong, Helen S. Wellons, Kuangnan Qian, Lisa I. Yeh, James W. Gleeson
  • Patent number: 8992770
    Abstract: Methods are provided for characterizing crude oils, crude fractions, or other potential feedstocks for forming lubricating base oils in order to determine the suitability of a feedstock for lubricating base oil production. One type of characterization is to determine the isoparaffin, naphthene, and/or aromatics contents of the distillate portion of a feedstock. A second characterization is to determine the viscosity index of a distillate portion of a feedstock after dewaxing the distillate portion to a target pour point.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 15, 2013
    Date of Patent: March 31, 2015
    Assignee: ExxonMobil Research and Engineering Company
    Inventors: Liezhong Gong, Corry S. Powers, Helen S. Wellons, Tahmid I. Mizan, Eric D. Joseck, Steven Webster Levine
  • Patent number: 8682597
    Abstract: A method for determining the composition of a material including the steps of fitting multivariate analytical data of the material to a combination of multivariate analytical data in a database to determine coefficients of the combination so as to determine a reference model of composition based on the coefficients and the compositions in the database, wherein the database includes multivariate analytical data of database materials whose compositions are known, and reconciling the reference model of composition to match properties of the material.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: October 10, 2008
    Date of Patent: March 25, 2014
    Assignee: ExxonMobil Research and Engineering Company
    Inventors: James M. Brown, Anantha Sundaram, Roland B. Saeger, Helen S. Wellons, Clinton R. Kennedy, Stephen B. Jaffe
  • Publication number: 20090105966
    Abstract: A method for determining the composition of a material including the steps of fitting multivariate analytical data of the material to a combination of multivariate analytical data in a database to determine coefficients of the combination so as to determine a reference model of composition based on the coefficients and the compositions in the database, wherein the database includes multivariate analytical data of database materials whose compositions are known, and reconciling the reference model of composition to match properties of the material.
    Type: Application
    Filed: October 10, 2008
    Publication date: April 23, 2009
    Inventors: James M. Brown, Anantha Sundaram, Roland B. Saeger, Helen S. Wellons, Clinton R. Kennedy, Stephen B. Jaffe
  • Patent number: 7389186
    Abstract: The invention provides a method and means of predicting, in near real-time, the detailed chemical composition of major streams in a refinery, including those downstream from the crude distillation column. The dynamically updated feed characterizations can be derived in near real time from an assay database of current crude diet, RTO information about upstream refinery units and various analyzer inputs. The chemical compositions of each stream are stored and updated in a plant wide database. A broad range of property calculations can be ascertained, either automatically or on demand, from the compositional information. An application permits users, such as operations, planning and engineering personnel, to access the database directly or indirectly (e.g., on line). This information is then used by each user to further optimize the operation of a given refinery unit and/or the plant as a whole.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: August 11, 2006
    Date of Patent: June 17, 2008
    Assignee: ExxonMobil Research and Engineering Company
    Inventors: Howard D. Franklin, Apostolos T. Georgiou, J. Douglas Kushnerick, Helen S. Wellons
  • Publication number: 20080040051
    Abstract: The invention provides a method and means of predicting, in near real-time, the detailed chemical composition of major streams in a refinery, including those downstream from the crude distillation column. The dynamically updated feed characterizations can be derived in near real time from an assay database of current crude diet, RTO information about upstream refinery units and various analyzer inputs. The chemical compositions of each stream are stored and updated in a plant wide database. A broad range of property calculations can be ascertained, either automatically or on demand, from the compositional information. An application permits users, such as operations, planning and engineering personnel, to access the database directly or indirectly (e.g., on line). This information is then used by each user to further optimize the operation of a given refinery unit and/or the plant as a whole.
    Type: Application
    Filed: August 11, 2006
    Publication date: February 14, 2008
    Applicant: ExxonMobil Research and Engineering Company
    Inventors: Howard D. Franklin, Apostolos T. Georgiou, J. Douglas Kushnerick, Helen S. Wellons