Patents by Inventor Matthew Lincoln Wagner
Matthew Lincoln Wagner 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).
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Publication number: 20080000532Abstract: An apparatus for controlling the discharge of pressurized fluids from the outlet of a high pressure cylinder containing toxic hydridic or flammable compounds is provided.Type: ApplicationFiled: June 30, 2006Publication date: January 3, 2008Inventors: Matthew Lincoln Wagner, Douglas Charles Heiderman
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Patent number: 6613949Abstract: This invention is directed towards an improved process for the selective gas phase oxidation of a organic reactant using a metal oxide redox catalyst, wherein the organic reactant and air feeds are at a substantially continuous level, the improvement comprising adding a fluctuating flow of oxygen at alternating relatively high and relatively low levels. The invention also teaches means by which a gas may be provided to a reaction process on a fluctuating basis.Type: GrantFiled: March 10, 1997Date of Patent: September 2, 2003Assignee: Praxair Technology, Inc.Inventors: Matthew Lincoln Wagner, Donald Walter Welsh Kirkwood, Kazuo Kiyonaga
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Patent number: 6471937Abstract: The invention comprises a reactor having a source of a first hot reactant gas, a mixing chamber in which said first hot reactant gas mixes with a second reactant gas to form a reactant gas mixture, but wherein substantially no reaction takes place and a reaction zone wherein said mixture undergoes vapor phase reaction. A process for using the reactor is also disclosed.Type: GrantFiled: September 4, 1998Date of Patent: October 29, 2002Assignee: Praxair Technology, Inc.Inventors: John Erling Anderson, Arthur Wellington Francis, Jr., Matthew Lincoln Wagner, Christopher Brian Leger
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Patent number: 6469163Abstract: An improvement in the conventional process for the production of caprolactam. The process involves: (a) reacting air with ammonia gas in an ammonia conversion zone to produce nitric oxide; (b) oxidizing a portion of the nitric oxide to nitrogen dioxide to produce an NOx-rich process gas stream; (c) reacting the NOx-rich stream with ammonium carbonate in a nitriting zone to produce ammonium nitrite; (d) reducing the ammonium nitrite to hydroxylamine diammonium sulfate; (e) hydrolyzing the hydroxylamine diammonium sulfate to hydroxylamine sulfate; (f) oximating the hydroxylamine sulfate with cyclohexanone to produce cyclohexanone oxime; and (g) converting the cyclohexanone oxime to caprolactam. The process is improved by adding supplemental oxygen downstream of the ammonia conversion zone to increase the quantity and rate of formation of nitrogen dioxide in the NOx-rich process gas stream.Type: GrantFiled: December 24, 1998Date of Patent: October 22, 2002Assignee: Praxair Technology Inc.Inventors: Diego Fernandez Echegaray, Antonio Augusto M. Velloso, Matthew Lincoln Wagner
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Patent number: 6442536Abstract: This invention is directed to a method for predicting the flammability of complex mixtures using critical variables of structural groups comprising training data from the critical variables of each structural groups, the critical variables comprising compositional and thermochemical data from each of the structural groups to produce a neural network model; testing the trained data from the neural network model; and validating the trained and tested data from the neural network to accurately predict the flammability limit of an analogous complex mixture having similar structural groups.Type: GrantFiled: January 18, 2000Date of Patent: August 27, 2002Assignee: Praxair Technology, Inc.Inventors: Amer Wahid Akhras, Matthew Lincoln Wagner
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Patent number: 6333411Abstract: A method for production of caprolactam. The method involves: (a) reacting air with ammonia gas in an ammonia conversion zone to produce nitric oxide; (b) oxidizing at least a portion of the nitric oxide to nitrogen dioxide to produce an NOx-rich process gas stream; (c) reactively absorbing the NOx-rich gas stream with phosphoric acid containing solution in an absorption zone to form nitrate ions; (d) contacting the nitrate ions with air in a degassing zone to produce a nitrate-rich aqueous process stream; (e) reducing the nitrate-rich aqueous stream with hydrogen in the presence of phosphoric acid to produce hydroxylammonium phosphate; (f) oximating the hydroxylammonium phosphate with cyclohexanone to produce cyclohexanone oxime; and (g) converting the cyclohexanone oxime to caprolactam. According to the invention, supplemental oxygen is added downstream of the ammonia conversion zone to increase the quantity and rate of formation of nitrogen dioxide in the NOx-rich process gas stream.Type: GrantFiled: December 24, 1998Date of Patent: December 25, 2001Assignee: Praxair Technology, Inc.Inventors: Diego Fernandez Echegaray, Antonio Augusto M. Velloso, Matthew Lincoln Wagner
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Patent number: 6215027Abstract: The amount of a ballast gas needed, to prevent combustion, deflagration, and/or detonations during a liquid phase reaction of molecular oxygen and a flammable process liquid, is reduced by using a ballast gas other than nitrogen. The ballast gas is selected to have a boiling point lower than the boiling point of the flammable process liquid and selected to produce a higher limiting oxygen value (LOV) in a mixture with the flammable process liquid vapor and molecular oxygen than the LOV for the corresponding mixture substituting just nitrogen for the inerting gas.Type: GrantFiled: October 20, 1998Date of Patent: April 10, 2001Assignee: Praxair Technology, Inc.Inventors: Vasilis Papavassiliou, William Robert Williams, Matthew Lincoln Wagner
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Patent number: 6165435Abstract: A process is described for producing nitric acid involving oxidizing ammonia gas to form dinitrogen tetroxide gas, reacting the dinitrogen tetroxide with water in an absorption zone to form aqueous nitric acid and nitric oxide gas, removing a nitric acid/nitric oxide stream from the absorption zone and feeding the stream into a nitric acid bleaching zone, removing impurities from the nitric acid in the bleaching zone to form nitric acid product and adding supplemental oxygen gas to one or more of the reaction streams to increase nitric acid production and or strength. The improvement involves injecting the supplemental oxygen into a nitric acid-containing process stream to form a gas bubble/liquid mixture in the stream, the mixture forming a fine dispersion of gas bubbles having diameters of less than about 0.1 mm.Type: GrantFiled: December 24, 1998Date of Patent: December 26, 2000Assignee: Praxair Technology, Inc.Inventors: Diego Fernandez Echegaray, Antonio Augusto M. Velloso, Matthew Lincoln Wagner
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Method and apparatus for direct oxygen injection with a reactant stream into a fluidized bed reactor
Patent number: 6156921Abstract: A system provides an oxygen-bearing gas and a gaseous reactant stream to a fluidized bed reactor. A sparger causes an entraining of the oxygen bearing gas into the reactant gas stream. A feed line couples the sparger to the reactor's fluidized bed and introduces the reactant gas stream and entrained oxygen-bearing gas directly into contact with the fluidized bed. A controller controls both the amount of oxygen-bearing gas and the gaseous reactant so that, at the point of feed injection, the fluidized bed catalyst does not experience an oxygen deficiency. To assure safety, the reactant content of the combined feed and oxygen stream is maintained above an upper flammability limit, preferably with a safety margin of at least 25%. In one embodiment, the system enables the production of acrylonitriles from a feed stream comprising ammonia, propylene and oxygen.Type: GrantFiled: March 9, 1998Date of Patent: December 5, 2000Assignee: Praxair Technology, Inc.Inventors: Matthew Lincoln Wagner, Thomas John Bergman, Jr. -
Patent number: 6040467Abstract: This invention is directed to a method for producing ethylene oxide comprising feeding ethylene, high purity oxygen and a ballast gas with a recycle gas in a catalyst filled reactor to form a gaseous mixture; passing the gaseous mixture from the reactor to a recovery unit to selectively separate ethylene oxide and carbon dioxide containing gas; passing at least a portion of the carbon dioxide containing gas to a stripping unit to selectively separate carbon dioxide and a waste gas; passing at least a portion of the waste gas to purge and another portion for recycling as the recycle gas; and recovering ethylene oxide from the recovery unit.Type: GrantFiled: July 24, 1997Date of Patent: March 21, 2000Assignee: Praxair Technology, Inc.Inventors: Vasilis Papavassiliou, Matthew Lincoln Wagner, Roger William Day
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Patent number: 5952523Abstract: A method for producing vinyl acetate using ethylene, acetic acid and argon containing oxygen that maximizes selectivity and minimizes ethylene loses to purge.Type: GrantFiled: December 31, 1997Date of Patent: September 14, 1999Assignee: Praxair Technology, Inc.Inventors: Vasilis Papavassiliou, Matthew Lincoln Wagner, Roger William Day
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Method and apparatus for direct oxygen injection with a reactant stream into a fluidized bed reactor
Patent number: 5895817Abstract: A system provides an oxygen-bearing gas and gaseous reactant stream to a fluidized bed reactor using a sparger to entrain the oxygen-bearing gas into the reactant gas stream. A feed line couples the sparger to the reactor's fluidized bed and introduces the reactant gas stream and entrained oxygen-bearing gas directly into contact with the fluidized bed. A controller controls and maintains both the amount of oxygen-bearing gas and the gaseous reactant above an upper flammability limit, preferably with a safety margin of at least 10%.Type: GrantFiled: June 19, 1997Date of Patent: April 20, 1999Assignee: Praxair Technology, Inc.Inventor: Matthew Lincoln Wagner -
Method and apparatus for direct oxygen injection with a reactant stream into a fluidized bed reactor
Patent number: 5801265Abstract: A system provides an oxygen-bearing gas and a gaseous reactant stream to a fluidized bed reactor. A sparger causes an entraining of the oxygen bearing gas into the reactant gas stream. A feed line couples the sparger to the reactor's fluidized bed and introduces the reactant gas stream and entrained oxygen-bearing gas directly into contact with the fluidized bed. A controller controls both the amount of oxygen-bearing gas and the gaseous reactant so that, at the point of feed injection, the fluidized bed catalyst does not experience an oxygen deficiency. To assure safety, the reactant content of the combined feed and oxygen stream is maintained above an upper flammability limit, preferably with a safety margin of at least 25%. In one embodiment, the system enables the production of acrylonitriles from a feed stream comprising ammonia, propylene and oxygen.Type: GrantFiled: August 24, 1995Date of Patent: September 1, 1998Assignee: Praxair Technology, Inc.Inventors: Matthew Lincoln Wagner, Thomas John Bergman, Jr. -
Patent number: 5646305Abstract: This invention is directed towards an improved process for the selective gas phase oxidation of a organic reactant using a metal oxide redox catalyst, wherein the organic reactant and air feeds are at a substantially continuous level, the improvement comprising adding a fluctuating flow of oxygen at alternating relatively high and relatively low levels. The invention also teaches means by which a gas may be provided to a reaction process on a fluctuating basis.Type: GrantFiled: December 27, 1995Date of Patent: July 8, 1997Assignee: Praxair Technology, Inc.Inventors: Matthew Lincoln Wagner, Donald Walter Welsh Kirkwood, Kazuo Kiyonaga