Patents by Inventor Spencer Taylor

Spencer Taylor 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: 10913891
    Abstract: A method for producing hydrocarbons within a reservoir includes (a) injecting an aqueous solution into the reservoir. The aqueous solution includes water and a thermally activated chemical species. The thermally activated chemical species is urea, a urea derivative, or a carbamate. The thermally activated chemical agent is thermally activated at or above a threshold temperature less than 200° C. In addition, the method includes (b) thermally activating the thermally activated chemical species in the aqueous solution during or after (a) at a temperature equal to or greater than the threshold temperature to produce carbon-dioxide and at least one of ammonia, amine, and alkanolamine within the reservoir. Further, the method includes (c) increasing the water wettability of the subterranean formation in response to the thermally activation in (b). Still further, the method includes (d) waterflooding the reservoir with water after (a), (b) and (c).
    Type: Grant
    Filed: January 2, 2019
    Date of Patent: February 9, 2021
    Assignee: BP CORPORATION NORTH AMERICA INC.
    Inventors: James Neil, Spencer Taylor, Huang Zeng, Allan Peats, Giovanna Boccardo, John V. Bullen, Ian Ralph Collins, Andrew Rees
  • Patent number: 10907878
    Abstract: An evaporative cooling device including a combination of insulative surfaces and evaporative surfaces that may hold and cool contents with walls that are made of semipermeable materials. The evaporative surfaces store and facilitate the evaporation of a liquid to cool the interior of the evaporative cooling device while the insulative surfaces limit heat transfer in or out of the evaporative cooling device from air, sunlight or the ground. The evaporative cooling device is further capable of holding a variety of products at a temperature below ambient environmental temperature, assuming less than 100% humidity. Moreover, the evaporative cooling device may be designed to be lightweight and collapsible for easy transport and storage.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: September 22, 2017
    Date of Patent: February 2, 2021
    Assignee: Evaptainers, LLC
    Inventors: Jeremy Fryer-Biggs, Quang Truong, Spencer Taylor, Josh Guyot
  • Publication number: 20190219321
    Abstract: An evaporative cooling device including a combination of insulative surfaces and evaporative surfaces that may hold and cool contents with walls that are made of semipermeable materials. The evaporative surfaces store and facilitate the evaporation of a liquid to cool the interior of the evaporative cooling device while the insulative surfaces limit heat transfer in or out of the evaporative cooling device from air, sunlight or the ground. The evaporative cooling device is further capable of holding a variety of products at a temperature below ambient environmental temperature, assuming less than 100% humidity. Moreover, the evaporative cooling device may be designed to be lightweight and collapsible for easy transport and storage.
    Type: Application
    Filed: September 22, 2017
    Publication date: July 18, 2019
    Inventors: Jeremy Fryer-Biggs, Quang Truong, Spencer Taylor, Josh Guyot
  • Publication number: 20190136124
    Abstract: A method for producing hydrocarbons within a reservoir includes (a) injecting an aqueous solution into the reservoir. The aqueous solution includes water and a thermally activated chemical species. The thermally activated chemical species is urea, a urea derivative, or a carbamate. The thermally activated chemical agent is thermally activated at or above a threshold temperature less than 200° C. In addition, the method includes (b) thermally activating the thermally activated chemical species in the aqueous solution during or after (a) at a temperature equal to or greater than the threshold temperature to produce carbon-dioxide and at least one of ammonia, amine, and alkanolamine within the reservoir. Further, the method includes (c) increasing the water wettability of the subterranean formation in response to the thermally activation in (b). Still further, the method includes (d) waterflooding the reservoir with water after (a), (b) and (c).
    Type: Application
    Filed: January 2, 2019
    Publication date: May 9, 2019
    Applicant: BP Corporation North America Inc.
    Inventors: James Neil, Spencer Taylor, Huang Zeng, Allan Peats, Giovanna Boccardo, John V. Bullen, Ian Ralph Collins, Andrew Rees
  • Patent number: 10214683
    Abstract: A method for producing hydrocarbons within a reservoir includes (a) injecting an aqueous solution into the reservoir. The aqueous solution includes water and a thermally activated chemical species. The thermally activated chemical species is urea, a urea derivative, or a carbamate. The thermally activated chemical agent is thermally activated at or above a threshold temperature less than 200 C. In addition, the method includes (b) thermally activating the thermally activated chemical species in the aqueous solution during or after (a) at a temperature equal to or greater than the threshold temperature to produce carbon-dioxide and at least one of ammonia, amine, and alkanolamine within the reservoir. Further, the method includes (c) increasing the water wettability of the subterranean formation in response to the thermally activation in (b). Still further, the method includes (d) waterflooding the reservoir with water after (a), (b) and (c).
    Type: Grant
    Filed: January 12, 2016
    Date of Patent: February 26, 2019
    Assignee: BP Corporation North America Inc
    Inventors: James Neil, Spencer Taylor, Huang Zeng, Allan Peats, Giovanna Boccardo, John V. Bullen, Ian Ralph Collins, Andrew Rees
  • Publication number: 20180002595
    Abstract: A method for producing hydrocarbons within a reservoir includes (a) injecting an aqueous solution into the reservoir. The aqueous solution includes water and a thermally activated chemical species. The thermally activated chemical species is urea, a urea derivative, or a carbamate. The thermally activated chemical agent is thermally activated at or above a threshold temperature less than 200 C. In addition, the method includes (b) thermally activating the thermally activated chemical species in the aqueous solution during or after (a) at a temperature equal to or greater than the threshold temperature to produce carbon-dioxide and at least one of ammonia, amine, and alkanolamine within the reservoir. Further, the method includes (c) increasing the water wettability of the subterranean formation in response to the thermally activation in (b). Still further, the method includes (d) waterflooding the reservoir with water after (a), (b) and (c).
    Type: Application
    Filed: January 12, 2016
    Publication date: January 4, 2018
    Applicant: BP Corporation North America Inc.
    Inventors: James Neil, Spencer Taylor, Huang Zeng, Allan Peats, Giovanna Boccardo, John V. Bullen, Ian Ralph Collins, Andrew Rees
  • Publication number: 20140262243
    Abstract: A method for mobilizing viscous hydrocarbons in a reservoir includes (a) injecting an aqueous solution into the reservoir with the reservoir at the reservoir ambient temperature. The aqueous solution includes water and a water-soluble chemical agent that is substantially non-decomposable and substantially non-reactive in the reservoir at the reservoir ambient temperature. In addition, the method includes (b) adding thermal energy to the reservoir at any time after (a) to increase the temperature of at least a portion of the reservoir to an elevated temperature greater than the ambient temperature of the reservoir. Further, the method includes (c) in response to the elevated temperature in (b), mobilizing at least a portion of the hydrocarbons in the reservoir by reducing the viscosity of the hydrocarbons and allowing the chemical agent to enhance mobilization of the hydrocarbons.
    Type: Application
    Filed: March 13, 2014
    Publication date: September 18, 2014
    Inventors: Andrew C. Rees, Calvin Coulter, Russell Engelman, Uriel Guerrero-Aconcha, Spencer Taylor, Allan Peats, Huang Zeng
  • Publication number: 20140262241
    Abstract: A method for recovering viscous hydrocarbons from a reservoir in a subterranean formation includes (a) injecting steam into the reservoir. In addition, the method includes (b) injecting a surfactant into the reservoir with the steam during (a). Further, the method includes (c) decreasing the viscosity of the hydrocarbons in the reservoir with thermal energy from the steam. Still further, the method includes (d) emulsifying the hydrocarbons with the surfactant during (b) and (c). Moreover, the method includes (e) mobilizing at least some of the hydrocarbons in the reservoir.
    Type: Application
    Filed: March 13, 2014
    Publication date: September 18, 2014
    Inventors: Andrew C. Rees, Calvin Coulter, Russell Engelman, Uriel Guerrero-Aconcha, Spencer Taylor, Allan Peats
  • Publication number: 20140262242
    Abstract: A method for recovering viscous hydrocarbons from a reservoir in a subterranean formation includes (a) injecting steam into the reservoir. In addition, the method includes (b) injecting a thermally activated chemical species into the reservoir with the steam during (a). The thermally activated chemical species decomposes at a temperature between 40° and 200° C. Further, the method includes (c) decreasing the viscosity of the hydrocarbons in the reservoir during (a) and (b). Still further, the method includes (d) mobilizing at least some of the hydrocarbons in the reservoir.
    Type: Application
    Filed: March 13, 2014
    Publication date: September 18, 2014
    Inventors: Andrew C. Rees, Calvin Coulter, Russell Engelman, Uriel Guerrero-Aconcha, Spencer Taylor, Allan Peats
  • Publication number: 20130103695
    Abstract: Various technologies described herein pertain to detecting machine translated content. Documents in a document pair are mutual lingual translations of each other. Further, document level features of the documents in the document pair can be identified. The document level features can correlate with translation quality between the documents in the document pair. Moreover, statistical classification can be used to detect whether the document pair is generated through machine translation based at least in part upon the document level features. Further, a first document can be a machine translation of a second document in the document pair or a disparate document when generated through machine translation.
    Type: Application
    Filed: October 21, 2011
    Publication date: April 25, 2013
    Applicant: Microsoft Corporation
    Inventors: Spencer Taylor Rarrick, William Duncan Lewis, Christopher Brian Quirk, Anthony Aue
  • Publication number: 20080067110
    Abstract: The present invention provides methods of improving the thermal oxidative stability of a distillate fuel which comprise selectively reducing the active concentration in the fuel of N—H containing heterocyclic aromatic compounds in which the nitrogen atom of the N—H group is part of the aromatic system, and wherein said fuel also contains an active concentration of metal compounds or will be exposed to active metal compounds in storage or in use. The present invention also provides methods of determining the thermal oxidative stability of a distillate fuel and apparatus for performing said methods.
    Type: Application
    Filed: September 14, 2007
    Publication date: March 20, 2008
    Applicant: BP Oil International Limited
    Inventor: Spencer Taylor
  • Publication number: 20050160799
    Abstract: A method and apparatus for determining the content of the surfactant in a hydrocarbon distillate fuel wherein: (a) a wettable surface is contacted with a fuel comprising at least one surfactant, (b) the fuel and non adsorbed surfactant is separated from the wettable surface to leave a deposit of the surfactant upon the wettable surface, (c) the wettable surface comprising the surfactant deposit is then exposed to a wetting liquid, (d) the extent or rate of displacement of the wetting liquid over the wettable surface comprising the surfactant deposit is measured, and (e) said measurement is converted to provide a value for the content of surfactant in the hydrocarbon distillate fuel.
    Type: Application
    Filed: November 28, 2002
    Publication date: July 28, 2005
    Inventor: Spencer Taylor
  • Publication number: 20050103686
    Abstract: The present invention provides methods of improving the thermal oxidative stability of a distillate fuel which comprise selectively reducing the active concentration in the fuel of N—H containing heterocyclic aromatic compounds in which the nitrogen atom of the N—H group is part of the aromatic system, and wherein said fuel also contains an active concentration of metal compounds or will be exposed to active metal compounds in storage or in use. The present invention also provides methods of determining the thermal oxidative stability of a distillate fuel and apparatus for performing said methods.
    Type: Application
    Filed: April 24, 2003
    Publication date: May 19, 2005
    Inventor: Spencer Taylor
  • Publication number: 20020169623
    Abstract: Methods and systems for creating online tickets enable a user to purchase a ticket over the Internet and to redeem the ticket for admission at a ticketed event. Barcodes are printed on the tickets and contain unique authentication information. Dual barcoding enables authentication information of the ticket to be read when one of the barcodes is damaged or cannot be read. A copy of the authentication information is stored in a database and is used to verify the authenticity of a ticket when it is presented for redemption at a ticket event. Authenticity of the ticket is verified by comparing authentication information on the ticket with authentication information accessed from the database. To discourage counterfeiting, the tickets contain transparent images that when photocopied become opaque and prevent a ticket from being redeemed.
    Type: Application
    Filed: May 10, 2001
    Publication date: November 14, 2002
    Inventors: Nicholas J. Call, Spencer Taylor