Patents by Inventor Rustam H. Sethna

Rustam H. Sethna 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).

  • Publication number: 20150299596
    Abstract: A method for removing contaminants from a natural gas feed stream from a well head is provided for. The natural gas feed stream is fed to a separation unit which contains a first gas membrane unit for removing hydrocarbons and a second gas membrane unit for removing carbon dioxide from the natural gas feed stream. The method allows the same unit to be used for either hydrocarbon conditioning of field gas for drilling operations (power generation) and/or for pipeline quality natural gas production from wells.
    Type: Application
    Filed: February 20, 2015
    Publication date: October 22, 2015
    Inventors: Rustam H. Sethna, Gary Peterson, John Lindberg
  • Publication number: 20140338393
    Abstract: A method for producing a blended mixture of liquefied natural gases to meet the particular requirements of an operator at a production facility, application site or a fueling station by blending together a lean liquefied natural gas and a rich liquefied natural gas. The operator can control through a device such as a heat exchange blending system the composition of the end product mixed liquefied natural gas for its intended end use.
    Type: Application
    Filed: May 9, 2014
    Publication date: November 20, 2014
    Inventors: Rustam H. Sethna, Bryan Luftglass
  • Publication number: 20140318177
    Abstract: A method for integrating a liquefied natural gas liquefier system with production of liquefied natural gas from a methane-containing gas stream. The liquefied natural gas is produced by feeding a methane-containing gas stream through a heat exchanger to a distillation column and liquefying the natural gas while capturing the gaseous nitrogen. The liquefied natural gas is captured and the nitrogen gas is recovered, fed through the heat exchanger to recover cold.
    Type: Application
    Filed: July 10, 2014
    Publication date: October 30, 2014
    Inventors: Rustam H. Sethna, Richard Potthoff, Guillaume Pages
  • Publication number: 20140262285
    Abstract: A method for stimulating or fraccing an oil or a natural gas well by adding a liquefied hydrocarbon such as liquid petroleum gas and liquefied natural gas, a proppant and a diluent such as carbon dioxide, nitrogen or mixtures thereof to the well. The order of addition is typically liquefied hydrocarbon then diluent but this order can be reversed and in other circumstances the liquefied hydrocarbon and diluent can be mixed together and fed to the well as a mixture.
    Type: Application
    Filed: March 11, 2014
    Publication date: September 18, 2014
    Inventors: Rustam H. Sethna, Eugene Wexler
  • Publication number: 20130205828
    Abstract: A method for integrating a liquefied natural gas liquefier system with production of liquefied natural gas from a methane-containing gas stream. The liquefied natural gas is produced by feeding a methane-containing gas stream through a heat exchanger to a distillation column and liquefying the natural gas while capturing the gaseous nitrogen. The liquefied natural gas is captured and the nitrogen gas is recovered, fed through the heat exchanger to recover cold and purified.
    Type: Application
    Filed: September 25, 2012
    Publication date: August 15, 2013
    Inventors: Rustam H. Sethna, Richard Potthoff, Guillaume Pages
  • Publication number: 20120231127
    Abstract: A method for making a foaming beverage includes providing a beverage having at least one lipid-based ingredient therein and mixing nitrous oxide with said beverage. A beverage having a foam composition includes a liquid having at least one lipid-based ingredient therein and nitrous oxide mixed into the liquid. The nitrous oxide may be in gas phase.
    Type: Application
    Filed: March 11, 2011
    Publication date: September 13, 2012
    Inventors: Steven FINLEY, Rustam H. Sethna, Daniel A. Morgan
  • Publication number: 20120085232
    Abstract: A method for removing contaminants from natural gas streams. The natural gas stream is fed to a dryer, then a membrane module and a multibed, multilayer vacuum swing adsorption process for removal of oxygen, nitrogen and carbon dioxide from the natural gas stream. Alternatively when carbon dioxide is in relatively low concentration in the natural gas stream, the membrane module step is not employed.
    Type: Application
    Filed: April 12, 2011
    Publication date: April 12, 2012
    Inventors: Rustam H. Sethna, Ramachandran Krishnamurthy
  • Publication number: 20120067079
    Abstract: A method for recovering liquefied natural gas from a gas mixture containing natural gas and impurities by subjecting the natural gas to a series of steps beginning with feeding a natural gas stream containing impurities to a nitrogen rejection unit; feeding the purified natural gas stream to a liquefier heat exchanger; expanding the liquefied natural gas and feeding the expanded liquefied natural gas to a flash vessel; flashing the liquid natural gas and separating the liquefied natural gas from the flash gas; and feeding the liquefied natural gas to storage and the flash gas to the nitrogen rejection unit.
    Type: Application
    Filed: March 22, 2011
    Publication date: March 22, 2012
    Inventors: Rustam H. SETHNA, Guillaume PAGES
  • Publication number: 20120058045
    Abstract: Methane collected from a landfill is used as a feedstock for the production of hydrogen in a steam methane reformer. This invention provides a green energy feed stock for the hydrogen production that benefits the environment.
    Type: Application
    Filed: March 7, 2011
    Publication date: March 8, 2012
    Inventors: Michael Beckman, Steven Eckhardt, Rustam H. Sethna
  • Publication number: 20090071190
    Abstract: The present invention provides for a process for providing cooling and controlling the refrigeration in a cooling loop used in the production of liquefied natural gas. A cooling loop in contact with a heat exchanger contains a refrigerant composition and by controlling the amount of a component in the refrigerant composition, the necessary level of cooling provided to the heat exchanger can be maintained.
    Type: Application
    Filed: March 18, 2008
    Publication date: March 19, 2009
    Inventors: Richard Potthoff, Ramachandran Krishnamurthy, Rustam H. Sethna
  • Patent number: 7326277
    Abstract: The invention comprises a temperature swing adsorption system for providing dry air to an air brake system. More particularly, there is provided a desiccant wheel upstream of the air compressor to dry air prior to its compression.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: April 14, 2004
    Date of Patent: February 5, 2008
    Assignee: UOP LLC
    Inventors: Alan P. Cohen, Stephen R. Dunne, Rustam H. Sethna
  • Patent number: 7166149
    Abstract: Using a high pressure rotary adsorbent wheel, a high value compressed gas feed can be purified by concentrating the impurity such as water, condensing it out, before final purification. Instead of exhausting gas from the system, the effluent can be put back into the feed at a point prior to condensation of the high value gas feed, and therefore the entire feed is purified without any high value gas feed going into a waste stream.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: January 12, 2004
    Date of Patent: January 23, 2007
    Assignee: UOP LLC
    Inventors: Stephen R. Dunne, Peter K. Coughlin, Rustam H. Sethna
  • Patent number: 6960700
    Abstract: A process for removal of trace impurities of hydrides of arsenic, phosphorus, antimony, silicon, and boron and sulfur and oxygenates and compounds containing these impurities from a hydrocarbon stream comprising contacting the hydrocarbon stream with an adsorbent material selected from the group consisting of zeolites and promoted alumina to adsorb compounds containing sulfur and/or oxygenates, contacting the hydrocarbon stream with an adsorbent material comprising one or more active metal oxides to remove the hydrides and contacting the hydrocarbon stream with an adsorbent material that removes water.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 19, 2002
    Date of Patent: November 1, 2005
  • Patent number: 6562103
    Abstract: The present invention relates to a pressure swing adsorption process for direct reduction of iron wherein a portion of spent reducing gas withdrawn from the direct reduction reactor is subjected to a PSA process for the removal of carbon dioxide from the spent reducing gas. An improved CO2-rejection method using an external natural gas purge stream after depressurization and before the product purge step is described. The PSA process comprises an external purge step with a non-absorbable gas, which surprisingly reduces the adsorbent regeneration requirements to maintain the selective adsorption of carbon dioxide from the spent reducing gas. The external natural gas purge results in a cleaner bed before the start of each adsorption cycle. Consequently, significantly more CO2 can be rejected and/or higher hydrogen and CO recoveries can be attained. The external purge stream is fully integrated into the DDRI production scheme.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: August 26, 2002
    Date of Patent: May 13, 2003
    Assignee: UOP LLC
    Inventors: Rustam H. Sethna, Michael Whysall, Kirit M. Patel
  • Publication number: 20030047037
    Abstract: The present invention relates to a pressure swing adsorption process for direct reduction of iron wherein a portion of spent reducing gas withdrawn from the direct reduction reactor is subjected to a PSA process for the removal of carbon dioxide from the spent reducing gas. An improved CO2-rejection method using an external natural gas purge stream after depressurization and before the product purge step is described. The PSA process comprises an external purge step with a non-adsorbable gas, which surprisingly reduces the adsorbent regeneration requirements to maintain the selective adsorption of carbon dioxide from the spent reducing gas. The external natural gas purge results in a cleaner bed before the start of each adsorption cycle. Consequently, significantly more CO2 can be rejected and/or higher hydrogen and CO recoveries can be attained. The external purge stream is fully integrated into the DRI production scheme.
    Type: Application
    Filed: August 26, 2002
    Publication date: March 13, 2003
    Inventors: Rustam H. Sethna, Michael Whysall, Kirit M. Patel
  • Patent number: 6390303
    Abstract: A method for optimising a mineral recovery process. A slurry 10 is fed to a conditioning step 20. The condition slurry 30 is then provided to a flotation circuit 40 to recover a concentrate 50. The remainder of the slurry is then rejected as tail 60 or passed for further processing. The present invention provides apparatus for analysing a sample stream 100 of the slurry. A sample stream 100 is provided to an analysis device 200 which treats the sample with an oxidising gas similar to the oxidative treatment 20. Several parameters are measured before and/or after the oxidative treatment of the slurry. The flotability characteristic of the slurry is then determined as a function of the measured parameter(s). The result is used to optimise mineral recovery. This apparatus can be used intermittently or continuously to provide on-going optimisation of the mineral recovery circuit.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: July 22, 1999
    Date of Patent: May 21, 2002
    Assignee: BOC Gases Austrailia Ltd.
    Inventors: David William Clark, Billy Kim Fung Chan, Rustam H. Sethna, Peter L. Fleming, Jason Simon Tullai
  • Patent number: 6210527
    Abstract: A method for producing bleached wood pulp in which wood chips are digested in polysulfide liquor to produce brown stock pulp. The brown stock pulp is washed to produce washed brown stock wood pulp and weak black liquor and the washed wood pulp is then delignified in an oxygen delignification stage to produce oxygen delignified wood pulp. The delignified wood pulp is then ozone bleached in an ozone bleaching stage in which a waste stream principally containing ozone, carbon dioxide and oxygen is produced. The ozone-bleached pulp is introduced into an extractive oxidation stage which can include peroxide to further bleach the pulp and the product of the extractive oxidation stage is then either introduced into either a peroxide or chlorine dioxide bleaching stage.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 14, 1994
    Date of Patent: April 3, 2001
    Assignee: The BOC Group, Inc.
    Inventors: Mark J. Kirschner, Rustam H. Sethna
  • Patent number: 5972165
    Abstract: White liquor produced from black liquor is partially or completed oxidized. The white liquor contains dregs that are utilized as a carbon based catalyst. Dregs are produced by separating the dregs from green liquor an intermediate product between the black liquor and the oxidized white liquor. After formation of the oxidized white liquor, the dregs are separated therefrom to form a waste dreg stream which can be recycled so that part of the dregs present within the dregs containing white liquor stream to be oxidized is contributed by the waste dreg stream.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: January 17, 1997
    Date of Patent: October 26, 1999
    Assignee: The BOC Group, Inc.
    Inventors: Rustam H. Sethna, Mark J. Kirschner
  • Patent number: 5693856
    Abstract: Terephthalic acid is produced by reacting paraxylene with oxygen in a reactor having several vertical stages, the reaction taking place in the liquid phase using acetic acid as solvent and a cobalt-manganese-bromine complex catalyst. During the reaction, a carbon dioxide-containing gas phase is withdrawn from the vapor space of the reactor. The gas phase is cooled to condense vaporized acetic acid therefrom and carbon dioxide is separated from the gas phase and recycled to the vapor space or to the liquid phase or to both of these. In an alternate embodiment, the gas remaining after condensing acetic acid is subjected to catalytic oxidation to oxidize carbon monoxide and methane, if present, to carbon dioxide, and some or all of the carbon dioxide is recycled to the reactor.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: January 16, 1996
    Date of Patent: December 2, 1997
    Assignee: The BOC Group, Inc.
    Inventors: Ramakrishnan Ramachandran, Rustam H. Sethna, Satish S. Tamhankar
  • Patent number: 5645771
    Abstract: A gas injection apparatus for injecting a gas into a liquid comprising a baffle plate, a re-circulation chamber, and a discharge nozzle. The discharge nozzle is oriented normally to the baffle plate so that a liquid stream composed of the liquid is directed against the baffle plate and produces an oppositely directed flow towards the outer peripheral edge of the baffle plate. The oppositely directed flow has a sheet-like turbulent flow regime located adjacent to the plate and a circulating flow regime located above the turbulent flow regime and bounded by a re-circulation chamber. The gas is mixed into the liquid so that smaller bubbles are entrained in the turbulent flow regime and are discharged with the liquid flowing in the turbulent flow regime from the outer peripheral edge of the baffle plate. Larger bubbles flow into the circulating flow regime to break up into smaller bubbles which are entrained in the turbulent flow regime swept out of the apparatus.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: September 21, 1995
    Date of Patent: July 8, 1997
    Assignee: The BOC Group, Inc.
    Inventors: Rustam H. Sethna, Atul M. Athalye, Michael K. Sahm