Patents by Inventor William G. Conner

William G. Conner 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: 7972512
    Abstract: A system and process for treating an industrial wastewater stream is provided using a membrane biological reactor in which granular activated carbon material is introduced into an aeration portion and maintained upstream of a membrane operating system. The size of the granules of activated carbon is selected so that they can be screened or otherwise readily separated from the mixed liquor stream before the mixed liquor enters the membrane operating system tank(s) containing the submerged membranes, thereby preventing abrasion of the membrane by the carbon granules. The aeration portion includes a waste discharge port whereby a portion of spent granular activated carbon can be removed when the effluent concentration of chemical oxygen demand compounds approaches limits typically set by governmental agencies, and replaced by addition of fresh or regenerated granular activated carbon having greater adsorbent capacity.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 19, 2008
    Date of Patent: July 5, 2011
    Assignee: Saudi Arabian Oil Company
    Inventor: William G. Conner
  • Publication number: 20110017664
    Abstract: A wastewater treatment system is provided comprising a biological reactor having a separation subsystem, a suspension system and a membrane operating system. The separation subsystem is constructed and arranged to maintain adsorbent material in the biological reactor with a mixed liquor. The suspension system is positioned in the biological reactor and is constructed and arranged to maintain adsorbent material in suspension with mixed liquor. The membrane operating system is located downstream of the biological reactor and is constructed and arranged to receive treated mixed liquor from the biological reactor and discharge a membrane permeate. In addition, a wastewater treatment system is provided comprising a first biological reaction zone, a second biological reaction zone and a membrane operating system. The first biological reaction zone is constructed and arranged to receive and treat the wastewater.
    Type: Application
    Filed: June 15, 2010
    Publication date: January 27, 2011
    Inventors: William G. CONNER, Mohammed A. AL-HAJRI, Thomas E. SCHULTZ, Michael HOWDESHELL, Chad L. FELCH, Matthew PATTERSON, Samuel SHAFARIK, Curt COOLEY
  • Publication number: 20110005284
    Abstract: The present invention provides a system and method for treating wastewater in which the majority of solids and biological oxygen demand compounds are separated from the wastewater feed using a primary separation process, to produce a solids phase and a water phase. The solids phase is irradiated to reduce the level of pathogens such that it is safe to use as a soil substitute and/or additive so that the solids can thus be disposed of in an environmentally-friendly manner. In additional embodiments, the solids that have been disinfected by radiation are mixed with a suitable inert filler material to produce a soil substitute, fertilizer, compost, or other soil additive. The liquid phase is treated in a substantially smaller system than would be required for treating the full-strength wastewater that can include a suspended media biological regeneration reactor system.
    Type: Application
    Filed: July 8, 2010
    Publication date: January 13, 2011
    Inventors: William G. CONNER, Osama I. Fageeha, Thomas E. Schultz
  • Publication number: 20110006002
    Abstract: A low concentration wastewater treatment system is provided that includes a high flux adsorbent material treatment system integrated with a low flux adsorbent material biological regeneration reactor. The high flux adsorbent material treatment system includes one or more unit operations for mixing low concentration wastewater with adsorbent material that is fresh, recycled, or a combination of both, and for decanting a liquid effluent having a reduced level of contaminants. The adsorbent material with adsorbed contaminants is regenerated in a low flux adsorbent material biological regeneration reactor in which a biological reaction occurs, such as biological oxidation, wherein organic contaminants in the wastewater are metabolized generally into carbon dioxide and water. Excess biomass is removed from the adsorbent material, and the thus-regenerated adsorbent material is recycled to the high flux adsorbent material treatment system.
    Type: Application
    Filed: July 8, 2010
    Publication date: January 13, 2011
    Inventors: William G. CONNER, Thomas E. SCHULTZ
  • Publication number: 20100264082
    Abstract: A system and process for treating an industrial wastewater stream is provided using a membrane biological reactor in which granular activated carbon material is introduced into an aeration portion and maintained upstream of a membrane operating system. The size of the granules of activated carbon is selected so that they can be screened or otherwise readily separated from the mixed liquor stream before the mixed liquor enters the membrane operating system tank(s) containing the submerged membranes, thereby preventing abrasion of the membrane by the carbon granules. The aeration portion includes a waste discharge port whereby a portion of spent granular activated carbon can be removed when the effluent concentration of chemical oxygen demand compounds approaches limits typically set by governmental agencies, and replaced by addition of fresh or regenerated granular activated carbon having greater adsorbent capacity.
    Type: Application
    Filed: December 19, 2008
    Publication date: October 21, 2010
    Inventor: William G. Conner
  • Publication number: 20090100504
    Abstract: Techniques are disclosed for adaptively determining trust in client-server environments. By way of example, a method for assigning a trust level to a client in a client-server environment including at least one client communicating with a plurality of servers includes the following steps. Information associated with a server s1 and a server s2 different from s1 is obtained regarding a request r1 sent by a client and received by s1 and a request r2 sent by the client and received by s2. The obtained information is utilized to assign at least one trust level to the client.
    Type: Application
    Filed: October 16, 2007
    Publication date: April 16, 2009
    Inventors: William G. Conner, II, Arun Kwangil Iyengar, Thomas A. Mikalsen, Isabelle Marie Rouvellou