Patents by Inventor James A. Valencia

James A. Valencia 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).

  • Reducing refrigeration and dehydration load for a feed stream entering a cryogenic distillation process
    Patent number: 10495379
    Abstract: A system for conditioning a sour gas feed stream for a cryogenic distillation tower. A dehydration unit separates the sour gas feed stream into a first stream including water and a feed stream. A sequential cooling assembly is coupled to both the dehydration unit and the cryogenic distillation tower. The sequential cooling assembly includes: a first stage that separates the feed stream into a partially cooled feed stream and a second stream including acid gas; a second stage that cools the partially cooled feed stream into a cooled feed stream and a third stream including acid gas; and a cooled feed stream header coupled to a cryogenic distillation tower feed inlet. The first stage, the second stage, or both send at least one of the second and third streams to a bottom section of the cryogenic distillation tower.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: January 13, 2016
    Date of Patent: December 3, 2019
    Assignee: ExxonMobil Upstream Research Company
    Inventors: Ananda K. Nagavarapu, P. Scott Northrop, Robert D. Denton, James A. Valencia