Patents by Inventor Richard L. Furgerson

Richard L. Furgerson 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).

  • Pretreatment process to remove oxygen from coal en route to a coal pyolysis process as a means of improving the quality of the hydrocarbon liquid product
    Patent number: 7008459
    Abstract: A process and apparatus for coal pyrolysis pretreatment. The apparatus is made up of a pretreatment vessel for holding a bed of coal particles, a preheater for heating the bed of coal particles to a temperature below the coal pyrolysis temperature range and an oxygen remover for removing oxygen released from the heated coal particles. The apparatus can also have a flue gas source as an oxygen removal sweep gas to the bed of coal, a collector for collecting non-condensable combustible gases, and the preheater having a furnace holding ceramic balls which are circulated from the furnace to the bed of coal particles. The process involves heating the bed of coal particles to a temperature below the coal pyrolysis temperature range and preventing air from contacting the bed of coal particles in addition to collecting non-condensable combustible gases or the preheating step accomplished by having a furnace holding ceramic balls which are circulated from the furnace to the bed of coal particles.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: April 9, 1997
    Date of Patent: March 7, 2006
    Inventors: Arthur P. Fraas, Richard L. Furgerson, Harold L. Falkenberry