Patents by Inventor Masatsugu Kitaura

Masatsugu Kitaura 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: 8859809
    Abstract: A crystallization device and a crystallization process are provided for obtaining (meth)acrylic acid with higher purity without causing leakage of a crude solution by preventing complete clogging in a crystallization tube from occurring. The device for crystallizing (meth)acrylic acid includes a crude (meth)acrylic acid solution supply part, a crystallization tube, a heat medium supply tube, a heat medium discharge tube, a storage part of a crude (meth)acrylic acid solution passed through the crystallization tube, a tube for circulating and supplying the crude (meth)acrylic acid solution to the supply part from the storage part, and a pump for circulating and supplying the crude (meth)acrylic acid solution to the supply part from the storage part, and also includes a pressure meter in the circulate-supply tube.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 24, 2010
    Date of Patent: October 14, 2014
    Assignee: Nippon Shokubai Co., Ltd.
    Inventors: Kazuhiko Sakamoto, Koji Ueno, Yoshitake Ishii, Masatsugu Kitaura
  • Patent number: 8846977
    Abstract: PROBLEM An object of the present invention is to provide a crystallization unit capable of producing a purified acrylic acid having high purity efficiently. SOLUTION The present invention provides a crystallization unit to separate an acrylic acid-containing solution into a mother liquid and a purified acrylic acid, wherein the crystallization unit comprises a crystallizer having an exit to take out the mother liquid and the purified acrylic acid alternately; a supply line to supply the acrylic acid-containing solution to the crystallizer; and a recovery line to recover the mother liquid and the purified acrylic acid alternately from the crystallizer which is connected to the exit, and wherein the recovery line is equipped with an opening and closing unit consisting of a ball valve or a gate valve.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 24, 2010
    Date of Patent: September 30, 2014
    Assignee: Nippon Shokubai Co. Ltd.
    Inventors: Kazuhiko Sakamoto, Koji Ueno, Yoshitake Ishii, Masatsugu Kitaura
  • Patent number: 8680330
    Abstract: A process for producing (meth)acrylic acid of the present invention comprises the steps in the following order: a crystallization step of supplying a cooling medium cooled by a heat source device to a crystallizer to obtain a (meth)acrylic acid crystal from a crude (meth)acrylic acid solution; an adjustment step of returning the cooling medium discharged from the crystallizer to the crystallizer without cooling; a sweating step of supplying a heating medium to the crystallizer to partially melt the (meth)acrylic acid crystal, thereby obtaining a melted liquid, and discharging the melted liquid from the crystallizer; and a melting step of supplying the heating medium to the crystallizer to melt the (meth)acrylic acid crystal, thereby obtaining purified (meth)acrylic acid. According to the present invention, purified (meth)acrylic acid with high purity can be obtained.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: January 29, 2010
    Date of Patent: March 25, 2014
    Assignee: Nippon Shokubai Co., Ltd.
    Inventors: Kazuhiko Sakamoto, Koji Ueno, Yoshitake Ishii, Takashi Sugimoto, Masatsugu Kitaura, Satoshi Nakagawa, Kunihiko Suzuki
  • Patent number: 8637701
    Abstract: A method for efficiently producing (meth)acrylic acid by crystallization using a plurality of crystallizers to purify (meth)acrylic acid and a refrigerator for supplying both of a cooling medium and a heating medium, while the refrigerator is stably operated for supplying media having a proper temperature and the temperature of the crystallizers is maintained.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: April 30, 2010
    Date of Patent: January 28, 2014
    Assignee: Nippon Shokubai Co., Ltd.
    Inventor: Masatsugu Kitaura
  • Publication number: 20120108847
    Abstract: The objective of the present invention is to provide a crystallization device and a crystallization process for obtaining (meth)acrylic acid with higher purity without causing leakage of a crude solution by preventing complete clogging in a crystallization tube from occurring.
    Type: Application
    Filed: June 24, 2010
    Publication date: May 3, 2012
    Inventors: Kazuhiko Sakamoto, Koji Ueno, Yoshitake Ishii, Masatsugu Kitaura
  • Publication number: 20120108857
    Abstract: PROBLEM An object of the present invention is to provide a crystallization unit capable of producing a purified acrylic acid having high purity efficiently. SOLUTION The present invention provides a crystallization unit to separate an acrylic acid-containing solution into a mother liquid and a purified acrylic acid, wherein the crystallization unit comprises a crystallizer having an exit to take out the mother liquid and the purified acrylic acid alternately; a supply line to supply the acrylic acid-containing solution to the crystallizer; and a recovery line to recover the mother liquid and the purified acrylic acid alternately from the crystallizer which is connected to the exit, and wherein the recovery line is equipped with an opening and closing unit consisting of a ball valve or a gate valve.
    Type: Application
    Filed: June 24, 2010
    Publication date: May 3, 2012
    Inventors: Kazuhiko Sakamoto, Koji Ueno, Yoshitake Ishii, Masatsugu Kitaura
  • Publication number: 20120077947
    Abstract: The objective of the present invention is to provide a method for efficiently producing (meth)acrylic acid by crystallization using a plurality of crystallizer to purify (meth)acrylic acid and a refrigerator for supplying both of a cooling medium and a heating medium, while the refrigerator is stably operated for supplying media having a proper temperature and the temperature of the crystallizers is maintained.
    Type: Application
    Filed: April 30, 2010
    Publication date: March 29, 2012
    Applicant: Nippon Shokubai Co., Ltd.
    Inventor: Masatsugu Kitaura
  • Publication number: 20110319661
    Abstract: A process for producing (meth)acrylic acid of the present invention comprises the steps in the following order: a crystallization step of supplying a cooling medium cooled by a heat source device to a crystallizer to obtain a (meth)acrylic acid crystal from a crude (meth)acrylic acid solution; an adjustment step of returning the cooling medium discharged from the crystallizer to the crystallizer without cooling; a sweating step of supplying a heating medium to the crystallizer to partially melt the (meth)acrylic acid crystal, thereby obtaining a melted liquid, and discharging the melted liquid from the crystallizer; and a melting step of supplying the heating medium to the crystallizer to melt the (meth)acrylic acid crystal, thereby obtaining purified (meth)acrylic acid. According to the present invention, purified (meth)acrylic acid with high purity can be obtained.
    Type: Application
    Filed: January 29, 2010
    Publication date: December 29, 2011
    Inventors: Kazuhiko Sakamoto, Koji Ueno, Yoshitake Ishii, Takashi Sugimoto, Masatsugu Kitaura, Satoshi Nakagawa, Kunihiko Suzuki
  • Patent number: 6994833
    Abstract: In a shell-and-tube type reactor, the leakage between the upper and lower chambers is substantially decreased by tightly fitting the reaction tubes to the shield. The present invention provides a reactor for use in catalytic gas phase oxidation characterized by expanding reaction tubes to at least one groove formed in the reaction tube-fixing part of an intermediate tube sheet to form a shield, thereby forming plural of chambers with the intermediate tube sheet, and forming an expansion joint around the periphery of each of the chambers.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: November 3, 2000
    Date of Patent: February 7, 2006
    Assignee: Nippon Shokubai Co., LTD.
    Inventors: Takeshi Nishimura, Masakatsu Mori, Masatsugu Kitaura, Osamu Dodo, Michio Tanimoto
  • Patent number: 6613940
    Abstract: In the reaction of catalytic gas phase oxidation by means of a shell-and-tube type reactor adapted to circulate a heating medium to the shell of the reactor through the medium of a circulation device connecting an annular conduit connected thereto, a method for the catalytic gas phase oxidation characterized by subjecting a part of the heating medium extracted from the shell of the reactor to heat exchange, introducing the heating medium resulting from the heat exchange into the proximity of a heating medium circulation inlet on the inlet side of the circulation device or the annular conduit on the outlet side of the reactor. The flow rate of the heating medium after the heat exchange is preferred to be in the range of 2-40 vol. % based on the flow rate of the heating medium within the shell of the reactor and the temperature difference of the heating medium at the inlet and the outlet to be in the range of 15-150° C.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: August 25, 2000
    Date of Patent: September 2, 2003
    Assignee: Nippon Shokubai Co., Ltd.
    Inventors: Takeshi Nishimura, Masakatsu Mori, Masatsugu Kitaura, Osamu Dodo, Daisuke Nakamura