Patents by Inventor Marco Kruger

Marco Kruger 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: 11332550
    Abstract: An apparatus for production of pulverulent polymers having a reactor for droplet polymerization with an apparatus for dropletization of a monomer solution for the preparation of the polymer. The apparatus for dropletization has holes through which the monomer solution is introduced, an addition point for a gas above the apparatus for dropletization, at least one gas withdrawal point at the periphery of the reactor and a fluidized bed, wherein at least one of the following is fulfilled: an apparatus for increasing turbulence in the gas flow is disposed in the region of the apparatus for dropletization of the monomer solution, an apparatus for increasing turbulence in the gas flow is disposed in the region of the addition point for the gas, the addition point for gas is configured such that elevated turbulence is generated. A process for producing pulverulent polymers, in which an increase in flow turbulence in the gas flow in the region of the apparatus for dropletization also is disclosed.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: February 26, 2018
    Date of Patent: May 17, 2022
    Assignee: BASF SE
    Inventors: Stephan Bauer, Markus Toennessen, Christophe Bauduin, Katrin Baumann, Marco Krüger, Andreas Daiss, Markus Muehl
  • Publication number: 20200231711
    Abstract: An apparatus for production of pulverulent polymers having a reactor for droplet polymerization with an apparatus for dropletization of a monomer solution for the preparation of the polymer. The apparatus for dropletization has holes through which the monomer solution is introduced, an addition point for a gas above the apparatus for dropletization, at least one gas withdrawal point at the periphery of the reactor and a fluidized bed, wherein at least one of the following is fulfilled: an apparatus for increasing turbulence in the gas flow is disposed in the region of the apparatus for dropletization of the monomer solution, an apparatus for increasing turbulence in the gas flow is disposed in the region of the addition point for the gas, the addition point for gas is configured such that elevated turbulence is generated. A process for producing pulverulent polymers, in which an increase in flow turbulence in the gas flow in the region of the apparatus for dropletization also is disclosed.
    Type: Application
    Filed: February 26, 2018
    Publication date: July 23, 2020
    Inventors: Stephan Bauer, Markus Toennessen, Christophe Bauduin, Katrin Baumann, Marco Krüger, Andreas Daiss, Markus Muehl
  • Patent number: 10450395
    Abstract: A process for preparing water-absorbing polymer beads by polymerizing droplets comprising at least one monomer in a gas phase surrounding the droplets, the droplets being obtained by enveloping a first monomer solution with a second monomer solution and polymerizing the second monomer solution and polymerizing to give a more highly crosslinked polymer than the first monomer solution.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: August 1, 2013
    Date of Patent: October 22, 2019
    Assignee: BASF SE
    Inventors: Dennis Lösch, Matthias Weismantel, Marco Krüger, Antje Ziemer
  • Patent number: 10252238
    Abstract: An apparatus for producing pulverulent poly(meth)acrylate in a reactor for droplet polymerization having an apparatus for dropletization of a monomer solution for the production of the poly(meth)acrylate having holes through which the monomer solution is introduced, an addition point for a gas above the apparatus for dropletization, at least one gas withdrawal point on the circumference of the reactor and a fluidized bed, and above the gas withdrawal point the reactor has a region having a constant hydraulic internal diameter and below the gas withdrawal point the reactor has a hydraulic internal diameter that steadily decreases. The reactor has a heating means in the region having a steadily decreasing hydraulic internal diameter.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: February 25, 2016
    Date of Patent: April 9, 2019
    Assignee: BASF SE
    Inventors: Robert Bayer, Jürgen Freiberg, Rudolf Schliwa, Marco Krüger
  • Patent number: 10208149
    Abstract: A process for preparing water-absorbing polymer beads with high permeability by polymerizing droplets of a monomer solution, comprising monomers bearing acid groups, in a gas phase surrounding the droplets, wherein the monomer solution comprises polyvalent cations and the polymer beads have a mean diameter of at least 150 ?m.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: October 21, 2016
    Date of Patent: February 19, 2019
    Assignee: BASF SE
    Inventors: Uwe Stueven, Matthias Weismantel, Wilfried Heide, Marco Krüger, Volker Seidl, Stefan Blei, Dennis Loesch, Rüdiger Funk, Annemarie Hillebrecht
  • Patent number: 10150091
    Abstract: An apparatus for addition of droplets of a monomer solution for production of poly(meth)acrylate to a reactor for droplet polymerization, comprising at least one channel or a dropletizer head having, at its base, holes through which the solution is dropletized into the reactor, at least one of the following features being fulfilled: (a) the ratio of the area covered by the channels or the dropletizer head in the reactor relative to the area which is defined by the circumference of a line along the outermost holes is less than 50%, (b) the number of holes relative to the area which is defined by the circumference of a line along the outermost holes is within a range from 100 to 1000 holes/m2.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 16, 2015
    Date of Patent: December 11, 2018
    Assignee: BASF SE
    Inventors: Andreas Daiss, Robert Bayer, Rudolf Schliwa, Jürgen Freiberg, Karl J. Possemiers, Marco Krüger
  • Publication number: 20180326392
    Abstract: The invention relates to an apparatus for producing pulverulent poly(meth)acrylate, comprising a reactor for droplet polymerization having an apparatus for dropletization of a monomer solution for the preparation of the poly(meth)acrylate having holes through which the monomer solution is introduced, an addition point for a gas above the apparatus for dropletization, at least one gas withdrawal point on the circumference of the reactor and a fluidized bed, the reactor comprising a reactor shell between the apparatus for dropletization and the gas withdrawal point and having, above the fluidized bed, a region having decreasing hydraulic diameter toward the fluidized bed and having a maximum hydraulic diameter greater than the mean hydraulic diameter of the reactor shell, and the reactor shell projecting into the region having decreasing hydraulic diameter, so as to form an annular duct between the outer wall of the reactor shell and the wall by which the region having decreasing hydraulic diameter is bounded,
    Type: Application
    Filed: November 16, 2016
    Publication date: November 15, 2018
    Inventors: Marco Krüger, Karl Possemiers, Rudolf Schliwa, Robert Bayer
  • Publication number: 20180319906
    Abstract: The invention relates to an apparatus for producing pulverulent poly(meth)acrylate, comprising a reactor for droplet polymerization having an apparatus for dropletization of a monomer solution for the preparation of the poly(meth)acrylate having holes through which the monomer solution is introduced, an addition point for a gas above the apparatus for dropletization, at least one gas withdrawal point on the circumference of the reactor, a fluidized bed and an apparatus for product discharge from the fluidized bed. The apparatus for product discharge comprises a discharge apparatus, with a backup segment (39) disposed above the discharge apparatus.
    Type: Application
    Filed: November 15, 2016
    Publication date: November 8, 2018
    Inventors: Marco Kruger, Karl Possemiers, Gerald Gruenewald, Juergen Freiberg, Markus Muehl
  • Patent number: 9925511
    Abstract: An apparatus for introducing droplets of a monomer solution for production of poly(meth)acrylate into a reactor for droplet polymerization, comprising at least one channel or a dropletizer head, the channel or the dropletizer head being sealed at its base by a dropletizer plate, the dropletizer plate having holes through which the monomer solution is introduced into the reactor, and the dropletizer plate being configured such that holes that, in an axially symmetric dropletizer plate or in an annular dropletizer plate or in one configured as a ring segment, are not on a center line of the dropletizer plate or, in the case of a circular dropletizer plate, are not at the center of the dropletizer plate are aligned such that monomer solution is introduced through the holes into the reactor at an angle to the vertical, and the holes in the case of a radial alignment of axially symmetric dropletizer plates being aligned such that the angle at which the monomer solution is introduced into the reactor decreases in t
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 23, 2015
    Date of Patent: March 27, 2018
    Assignee: BASF SE
    Inventors: Andreas Daiss, Robert Bayer, Rudolf Schliwa, Jürgen Freiberg, Karl J. Possemiers, Marco Krüger
  • Publication number: 20180065102
    Abstract: An apparatus for producing pulverulent poly(meth)acrylate in a reactor for droplet polymerization having an apparatus for dropletization of a monomer solution for the production of the poly(meth)acrylate having holes through which the monomer solution is introduced, an addition point for a gas above the apparatus for dropletization, at least one gas withdrawal point on the circumference of the reactor and a fluidized bed, and above the gas withdrawal point the reactor has a region having a constant hydraulic internal diameter and below the gas withdrawal point the reactor has a hydraulic internal diameter that steadily decreases. The reactor has a heating means in the region having a steadily decreasing hydraulic internal diameter.
    Type: Application
    Filed: February 25, 2016
    Publication date: March 8, 2018
    Inventors: Robert Bayer, Jürgen Freiberg, Rudolf Schliwa, Marco Krüger
  • Publication number: 20180028999
    Abstract: An apparatus for producing pulverulent poly(meth)acrylate in a reactor for droplet polymerization having an apparatus for dropletization of a monomer solution for the production of the poly(meth)acrylate having holes through which the monomer solution is introduced, an addition point for a gas above the apparatus for dropletization, at least one gas withdrawal point on the circumference of the reactor and a fluidized bed, and above the gas withdrawal point the reactor has a region having a constant hydraulic internal diameter and below the gas withdrawal point the reactor has a hydraulic internal diameter that steadily decreases.
    Type: Application
    Filed: March 1, 2016
    Publication date: February 1, 2018
    Inventors: Robert Bayer, Jürgen Freiberg, Rudolf Schliwa, Marco Krüger
  • Publication number: 20170246607
    Abstract: An apparatus for production of pulverulent poly(meth)acrylate, comprising a reactor or droplet polymerization, having an apparatus for dropletization of a monomer solution for the production of the poly(meth)acrylate, having holes through which the solution is dropletized, an addition point for a gas above the apparatus for dropletization, at least one gas withdrawal point on the periphery of the reactor and a fluidized bed. The outermost holes through which the solution is dropletized are positioned such that a droplet falling vertically downward falls into the fluidized bed and the hydraulic diameter at the level of the midpoint between the apparatus for dropletization and the gas withdrawal point is at least 10% greater than the hydraulic diameter of the fluidized bed.
    Type: Application
    Filed: June 10, 2015
    Publication date: August 31, 2017
    Applicant: BASF SE
    Inventors: Andreas Daiss, Robert Bayer, Rudolf Schliwa, Jürgen Freiberg, Karl J. Possemiers, Marco Krüger
  • Publication number: 20170232418
    Abstract: An apparatus for introducing droplets of a monomer solution for production of poly(meth)acrylate into a reactor for droplet polymerization, comprising at least one channel or a dropletizer head, the channel or the dropletizer head being sealed at its base by a dropletizer plate, the dropletizer plate having holes through which the monomer solution is introduced into the reactor, and the dropletizer plate being configured such that holes that, in an axially symmetric dropletizer plate or in an annular dropletizer plate or in one configured as a ring segment, are not on a center line of the dropletizer plate or, in the case of a circular dropletizer plate, are not at the center of the dropletizer plate are aligned such that monomer solution is introduced through the holes into the reactor at an angle to the vertical, and the holes in the case of a radial alignment of axially symmetric dropletizer plates being aligned such that the angle at which the monomer solution is introduced into the reactor decreases in t
    Type: Application
    Filed: June 23, 2015
    Publication date: August 17, 2017
    Applicant: BASF SE
    Inventors: Andreas Daiss, Robert Bayer, Rudolf Schliwa, Jürgen Freiberg, Karl J. Possemiers, Marco Krüger
  • Publication number: 20170225138
    Abstract: An apparatus for addition of droplets of a monomer solution for production of poly(meth)acrylate to a reactor for droplet polymerization, comprising at least one channel or a dropletizer head having, at its base, holes through which the solution is dropletized into the reactor, at least one of the following features being fulfilled: (a) the ratio of the area covered by the channels or the dropletizer head in the reactor relative to the area which is defined by the circumference of a line along the outermost holes is less than 50%, (b) the number of holes relative to the area which is defined by the circumference of a line along the outermost holes is within a range from 100 to 1000 holes/m2.
    Type: Application
    Filed: June 16, 2015
    Publication date: August 10, 2017
    Inventors: Andreas Daiss, Robert Bayer, Rudolf Schliwa, Jürgen Freiberg, Karl J. Possemiers, Marco Krüger
  • Publication number: 20170037172
    Abstract: A process for preparing water-absorbing polymer beads with high permeability by polymerizing droplets of a monomer solution, comprising monomers bearing acid groups, in a gas phase surrounding the droplets, wherein the monomer solution comprises polyvalent cations and the polymer beads have a mean diameter of at least 150 ?m.
    Type: Application
    Filed: October 21, 2016
    Publication date: February 9, 2017
    Inventors: Uwe Stueven, Matthias Weismantel, Wilfried Heide, Marco Krüger, Volker Seidl, Stefan Blei, Dennis Loesch, Rüdiger Funk, Annemarie Hillebrecht
  • Patent number: 9480968
    Abstract: The present invention relates to a process for producing fluid-absorbent cores, comprising mixing a fibrous material and fluid-absorbent polymer particles having low moisture content and low apparent density and pressing the obtained mixture under specific conditions.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 19, 2014
    Date of Patent: November 1, 2016
    Assignee: BASF SE
    Inventors: Matthias Weismantel, Rüdiger Funk, Ulrich Schröder, Marco Krüger, Sylvia Bertha, John Joseph Louden
  • Patent number: 9073040
    Abstract: The present invention relates to a process for producing water-absorbent polymer particles by polymerizing droplets of a monomer solution in a surrounding heated gas phase and flowing the gas cocurrent through the polymerization chamber, wherein the temperature of the gas leaving the polymerization chamber is 130° C. or less, the gas velocity inside the polymerization chamber is at least 0.5 m/s, and the droplets are generated by using a droplet plate having a multitude of bores.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: April 25, 2013
    Date of Patent: July 7, 2015
    Assignee: BASF SE
    Inventors: Rainer Dobrawa, Thomas Daniel, Uwe Stueven, Marco Krüger, Francisco Javier Lopez Villanueva, Norbert Herfert, Karin Flore, Stefan Blei, Michael A. Mitchell
  • Patent number: 9029485
    Abstract: A process for producing water-absorbing polymer particles by polymerizing droplets of a monomer solution in a surrounding gas phase in a reaction chamber, wherein the monomer solution is metered into the reaction chamber via at least one bore, and the diameter is from 210 to 290 ?m per bore and the metering rate is from 0.9 to 5 kg/h per bore.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: August 29, 2013
    Date of Patent: May 12, 2015
    Assignee: BASF SE
    Inventors: Marco Krüger, Stefan Blei, Wilfried Heide, Matthias Weismantel, Uwe Stueven
  • Patent number: 8895800
    Abstract: The present invention relates to fluid-absorbent articles, comprising an upper liquid-pervious layer, a lower liquid-impervious layer and a fluid-absorbent core, wherein the fluid-absorbent core comprises a fibrous material and 10 to 95% by weight of spherical fluid-absorbent polymer particles having a moisture content of at least 8% by weight.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: July 30, 2009
    Date of Patent: November 25, 2014
    Assignee: BASF SE
    Inventors: Matthias Weismantel, Rüdiger Funk, Ulrich Schröder, Marco Krüger, John Joseph Louden
  • Patent number: 8865828
    Abstract: A process for producing water-absorbing polymer particles by polymerizing droplets of a monomer solution in a surrounding gas phase, wherein the polymer particles are coated with a permeability improver.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: November 18, 2009
    Date of Patent: October 21, 2014
    Assignee: BASF SE
    Inventors: Thomas Daniel, Uwe Stueven, Marco Krüger, Stefan Blei, Francisco Javier Lopez Villanueva, Norbert Herfert