Did You Know...
...that several people are credited with the invention of the flush toilet? Most people have heard of Thomas Crapper (1837-1910), the sanitary engineer who invented the valve-and-siphon arrangement that made the modern toilet possible. Another claimant to "the throne" was British inventor Alexander Cumming who patented a toilet in 1775. Then there's a nameless Minoan (a native of ancient Crete) who lived 4,000 years ago who supposedly was ahead of his time and created the first flush toilet!
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| Number | Title | Issue Date |
| 7395858 | Process for the selective controlled reduction of the relative water permeability in high permeability oil-bearing subterranean formations A process for the selective controlled reduction of the relative water permeability in high permeability, oil-bearing formations, with negligible reduction of the permeability to oil. The process comprises, for sandstone reservoir rocks, a first layer of cationic po... | 07/08/2008 |
| 7342217 | System for the measurement and data acquisition for optical fiber sensors A system for the measurement and surface data acquisition for optical fiber sensors containing Bragg gratings for the sensing of physical parameters originated from a set of oil wells, the system including: an optical system for signal processing, the signals being ... | 03/11/2008 |
| 7308165 | Optical transducer and method for the simultaneous measurement of pressure and temperature in oil and gas wells An optical transducer 100, 200 and method for the simultaneous measurement of downhole pressure and temperature in a single- or multi-point configuration including a body 10a/10b with an elastic membrane 50 onto which at lea... | 12/11/2007 |
| 7285515 | Compositions of oil-based biodegradable drilling fluids and process for drilling oil and gas wells Compositions of oil-based biodegradable drilling fluids are described, the compositions comprising an oil phase composed by methyl esters of soybean oil fatty acids, an aqueous phase finely dispersed in the oil phase by specific emulsifiers and several other additiv... | 10/23/2007 |
| 7266261 | Fiber optics differential pressure transducer A fiber optics differential pressure transducer (100, 200, 300, 400) containing Bragg networks (118), said transducer being used to measure the differential pressure in a Venturi installed inside a pipe (1), through which a fluid like oil is dis... | 09/04/2007 |
| 7086417 | Gas flow control device Invention is of an improvement to seat of gate valves used for gas-lift producing oil wells, consisting of a seat lower part of which is curved there being a straight vertical art and a sloping straight lower part, central spacing consisting of a first part in the s... | 08/08/2006 |
| 6840282 | Mechanisms to set a hollow device into and to retrieve said hollow device from a flow pipe A method to set a hollow device into an undersea flow pipe uses a flexible pig driven by a flow flowing into said flow pipe to displace a hollow device to a point where a stop means halts a displacement of said hollow device, thereby setting said hollow device into ... | 01/11/2005 |
| 6783331 | System and method of multiple-phase pumping A pump system for multi-phase fluids that includes a drive-shaft (11), mechanical differential units (12, 22, 23, 23′, D1 . . . Dn) and pumps (14, 14′, 25, 25′, 25″, 25′″, B1 . . . Bn) wher... | 08/31/2004 |
| 6568473 | Gas lift valve with central body venturi The present invention relates to a gas lift valve for use in an oil well producing by means of gas lift, said gas lift valve making use of a central body venturi for both controlling the flow of the injection gas from the annulus between the tubing and th... | 05/27/2003 |
| 6568478 | Method and device to stabilize the production of oil wells The present invention relates to a method and a device to stabilize the production of oil wells. The device is used in a tubing of an oil well and it is intended to overcome the harmful effects provoked by the unstable flow of multiphase flows which are p... | 05/27/2003 |
| 6568880 | Foundation system for tension leg platforms A foundation system for tension leg platforms without use of foundation templates, wherein each tendon (5) is directly connected to a socket (9) inside a pile (8), the piles (8) being positioned for driving purpose by a pile-driving template (10) which is... | 05/27/2003 |
| 6561110 | Passive stabilizer for floating petroleum-production systems The present invention relates to a passive stabilizer (3) which is installed in the lower part of a tanker used in floating production systems which make use of a mechanism which enables the tanker (1) to rotate about a vertical axis (turret). The stabili... | 05/13/2003 |
| 6434825 | Method of diminishing the cross section of an opening of a hollow device located in a flow pipe A method of diminishing the size of the cross section of an opening of a first hollow device located in an undersea flow pipe through which passes a fluid flow uses a second hollow device to be inserted into the undersea flow pipe, the second hollow devic... | 08/20/2002 |
| 6394182 | Oil-gas separating method and bottom-hole spiral separator with gas escape channel This invention relates to a separator for the bottom of an oil production well with a channel for the escape of gas which has the function of providing a free path for the flow of gas which might be trapped in the separating channel due to possible floodi... | 05/28/2002 |
| 6312195 | Method of installing foundation for tension leg platform A method of installing a foundation for a tension leg platform is described that eliminates the foundation template as a permanent, load bearing part of the foundation. As an embodiment of the invention, piles are installed by, for example, being driven i... | 11/06/2001 |
| 6308363 | Modular multisize bidirection scraping device The present invention relates to a device for scraping the inner walls of a pipeline. The device comprises a flexible shaft, a plurality of groups of flexible radial scraping bars which are spaced apart and offset angularly so that the said bars are able ... | 10/30/2001 |
| 6276017 | Multisize bidirectional scraping device The present invention relates to a device 10 for scraping the inner walls of a pipeline. The device has (i) a flexible shaft 16 of elastomeric material, (ii) a plurality of groups of flexible radial scraping bars 14 which are spaced apart and offset angul... | 08/21/2001 |
| 6273287 | Vacuum-relief valve for the floating roofs of tanks for storing liquids The present invention relates to a device which is used in the floating roofs of tanks for storing liquids and is intended to prevent the formation of a vacuum between the stored liquid and the floating roof (5). More particularly, the device of the inven... | 08/14/2001 |
| 6267182 | Method and equipment for offshore oil production with primary gas separation and flow using the injection of high pressure gas A subsea primary separating vessel (2,22) is installed close to the wellhead (1,31) of an oil producing well to effect primary separation of the liquid and gas phases of the fluids produced. A line (3,23) connected to the top of the separating vessel allo... | 07/31/2001 |
| 6199329 | Liquid storage system This invention relates to a liquid storage system for storing liquid products, particularly petroleum and its derivatives. An auxiliary dam (1) within a bund defined by a main dam (3) bounds an area (5) around a tank (2) in such a way that the contaminati... | 03/13/2001 |
| 6193092 | Highly resilient, non-structural floating roof for tanks for storing liquids The present invention relates to a floating roof (1) with non-structural characteristics, which basically comprises a peripheral ring (7) formed by the joining of a plurality of plates and which has a plurality of floats (2), and a central platform (8) fo... | 02/27/2001 |
| 6142709 | Foundation system for tension leg platforms A foundation system for tension leg platforms without use of foundation templates, wherein each tendon (5) is directly connected to a socket (9) inside the pile (8), said piles (8) being positioned for driving purpose by means of a pile-driving template (... | 11/07/2000 |
| 6129150 | Method and equipment for offshore oil production by intermittent gas injection A subsea primary separating vessel (2) is installed close to the wellhead (1) of an oil producing well to effect primary separation of the liquid and gas phases of the produced fluids. A line (3) connected to the top of the separating vessel allows the se... | 10/10/2000 |
| 6119885 | Tank for storing liquid products A tank for storing liquid products, particularly a large capacity tank 1, comprises a bottom 5, whose center 6, is at a level below the level of the edge of the bottom. Drainage channels 7, consisting of a ramp 8, as floor with lateral plates 10, as sides... | 09/19/2000 |
| 6092603 | Method and equipment for the flow of offshore oil production with primary gas separation The invention relates to a method and equipment to assist the flow of offshore production of hydrocarbon mixtures containing a high concentration of gas. A primary separating vessel is used and production is diverted to it. This vessel is designed to allo... | 07/25/2000 |
| 6079498 | Method and equipment for the flow of offshore oil production This invention relates to a method and equipment to assist the flow of offshore oil production. At least three production flow lines are used, which are interconnected close to offshore well-heads or manifolds forming two U-shaped lengths of pipe acting a... | 06/27/2000 |
| 6041803 | Device and method for eliminating severe slugging in multiphase-stream flow lines The present invention relates to a device located near to the point of junction of a multiphase-stream underwater flow line with a stratified phase pattern, and an underwater riser, which introduces a pressure drop into the flow and causes a vigorous mixi... | 03/28/2000 |
| 5947642 | Method and apparatus for connecting an underwater flexible riser to a structure on the surface The present invention relates to an apparatus and to a method for facilitating the connection of underwater flexible risers coming from the sea bed at any point located above the sea surface on a surface structure. Two principal components are used, namel... | 09/07/1999 |
