Did You Know...
...that in 1800 ether was first used by partyers as a fun diversion? Sniffing the gas led to hilarious and raucous laughter as people watched each other become more and more intoxicated and silly. Several doctors independently realized the value ether would have to anesthetize surgery patients. Of those who claimed rights to the "discovery," none had a happy ending. One had a seizure and died defending his rights. Another spent his life in an asylum because he had been denied acclaim. A third became addicted to chloroform and, in a New York City jail, he soaked a cloth in the drug, severed an artery and bled to death.
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| Number | Title | Issue Date |
| 8177885 | Gas separation process using membranes with permeate sweep to remove COfrom gaseous fuel combustion exhaust A gas separation process for treating exhaust gases from the combustion of gaseous fuels, and gaseous fuel combustion processes including such gas separation. The invention involves routing a first portion of the exhaust stream to a carbon dioxide capture step, whil... | 05/15/2012 |
| 8168685 | Process for the production of methanol including one or more membrane separation steps Disclosed herein is a methanol production process that includes a membrane separation step or steps. Using the process of the invention, the efficiency of methanol production from syngas is increased by reducing the compression requirements of the process and/or imp... | 05/01/2012 |
| 8128787 | Membrane-augmented distillation with pressure change to separate solvents from water Processes for removing water from organic solvents, such as ethanol. The processes include distillation in two columns operated at sequentially higher pressure, followed by treatment of the overhead vapor by one or two membrane separation steps. ... | 03/06/2012 |
| 8128733 | Efficient gas-separation process to upgrade dilute methane stream for use as fuel A membrane-based gas separation process for treating gas streams that contain methane in low concentrations. The invention involves flowing the stream to be treated across the feed side of a membrane and flowing a sweep gas stream, usually air, across the permeate s... | 03/06/2012 |
| 8123943 | Pervaporation assembly The invention is a pervaporation process and pervaporation equipment, using a series of membrane modules, and including inter-module reheating of the feed solution under treatment. The inter-module heating is achieved within the tube or vessel in which the modules a... | 02/28/2012 |
| 8114255 | Membrane-augmented distillation with compression to separate solvents from water Processes for removing water from organic solvents, such as ethanol. The processes include distillation in two columns operated at sequentially higher pressure, followed by treatment of the overhead vapor by one or two membrane separation steps. ... | 02/14/2012 |
| 8034168 | Combustion systems and power plants incorporating parallel carbon dioxide capture and sweep-based membrane separation units to remove carbon dioxide from combustion gases Disclosed herein are combustion systems and power plants that incorporate sweep-based membrane separation units to remove carbon dioxide from combustion gases. In its most basic embodiment, the invention is a combustion system that includes three discrete units: a c... | 10/11/2011 |
| 8025715 | Process for separating carbon dioxide from flue gas using parallel carbon dioxide capture and sweep-based membrane separation steps A gas separation process for treating flue gases from combustion processes, and combustion processes including such gas separation. The invention involves routing a first portion of the flue gas stream to be treated to a carbon dioxide capture step, while simultaneo... | 09/27/2011 |
| 8016923 | Combustion systems, power plants, and flue gas treatment systems incorporating sweep-based membrane separation units to remove carbon dioxide from combustion gases Disclosed herein are combustion systems, power plants, and flue gas treatment systems that incorporate sweep-based membrane separation units to remove carbon dioxide from combustion gases. In its most basic embodiment, the invention is a combustion system that inclu... | 09/13/2011 |
| 7964020 | Gas separation process using membranes with permeate sweep to remove COfrom combustion gases A gas separation process for treating flue gases from combustion processes, and combustion processes including such gas separation. The invention involves flowing the flue gas stream to be treated across the feed side of a membrane, flowing a sweep gas stream, usual... | 06/21/2011 |
| 7946431 | Ultrafiltration process An inorganic membrane suitable for ultrafiltration or nanofiltration, and methods for making and using the membrane. The membrane has a organic polymer deposited on the feed surface, but is not able to perform separations by solution-diffusion. ... | 05/24/2011 |
| 7918921 | Gas separation membrane module assembly with residue manifold A gas-separation membrane module assembly and a gas-separation process using the assembly. The assembly includes a set of tubes, each containing gas-separation membrane elements, arranged within a housing. The housing contains tube sheets that divide the space withi... | 04/05/2011 |
| 7784621 | Ultrafiltration membrane and process An inorganic membrane suitable for ultrafiltration or nanofiltration, and methods for making and using the membrane. The membrane has a organic polymer deposited on the feed surface, but is not able to perform separations by solution-diffusion. ... | 08/31/2010 |
| 7758754 | Pervaporation process and assembly The invention is a pervaporation process and pervaporation equipment, using a series of membrane modules, and including inter-module reheating of the feed solution under treatment. The inter-module heating is achieved within the tube or vessel in which the modules a... | 07/20/2010 |
| 7758670 | Four-port gas separation membrane module assembly A gas-separation membrane assembly, and a gas-separation process using the assembly. The assembly incorporates multiple gas-separation membranes in an array within a single vessel or housing, and is equipped with two permeate ports, enabling permeate gas to be withd... | 07/20/2010 |
| 7732173 | Ethanol recovery process A process for producing and recovering light alcohols, particularly ethanol, alcohol mixtures containing ethanol, and ABE mixtures (alcohol mixtures containing acetone, butanol and ethanol), using a combination of steps including fermentation, first membrane separat... | 06/08/2010 |
| 7604681 | Three-stage membrane gas separation process A process for removing carbon dioxide or nitrogen from gas, especially natural gas. The process uses three membrane separation stages without compression between the second and third stages. ... | 10/20/2009 |
| 7537641 | Natural gas treatment process for stimulated well A process and equipment for treating natural gas produced by a well that has recently been stimulated, and that contains an undesirably high concentration of the fracturing gas used to stimulate the well. The process involves treating the gas by membrane separation,... | 05/26/2009 |
| 7510594 | Gas separation membrane module assembly A gas-separation membrane module assembly and a gas-separation process using the assembly. The assembly includes a set of tubes, each containing gas-separation membranes, arranged within a housing. The housing contains a tube sheet that divides the space within the ... | 03/31/2009 |
| 7490725 | Reverse osmosis membrane and process A reverse osmosis membrane, and methods for making and using the membrane. The membrane has a continuous, defect-free, non-porous, hydrophilic coating that reduces the susceptibility to fouling. ... | 02/17/2009 |
| 7479227 | Liquid-phase separation of low molecular weight organic compounds A process for separating a component from a low molecular weight organic mixture by pervaporation. The process uses fluorinated membranes and is particularly useful for treating mixtures containing light organic components, such as methane, propylene or n-butane. | 01/20/2009 |
| 7404843 | Gas separation membrane module assembly A gas-separation membrane module assembly and a gas-separation process using the assembly. The assembly includes a set of tubes, each containing gas-separation membranes, arranged within a housing. The housing contains tube sheets that divide the space within the ho... | 07/29/2008 |
| 6899743 | Separation of organic mixtures using gas separation or pervaporation and dephlegmation A process for treating mixtures of organic components, including azeotropic mixtures. The process includes a gas- or liquid-phase membrane separation step in conjunction with a dephlegmation step to treat at least a portion of the permeate vapor from the pervaporati... | 05/31/2005 |
| 6896717 | Gas separation using coated membranes A membrane-based process for separating mixtures of target gases if the gas mixture also contains C3+ hydrocarbon vapors. The process uses gas-separation membranes having a base membrane and a coating layer. The base membrane incorporates a selective laye... | 05/24/2005 |
| 6846909 | Zein recovery using non-porous membranes A membrane process for treating zein solutions to increase the zein concentration in the solution. The process uses a non-porous membrane that preferentially permeates the solvent and rejects the zein. Optionally, the process can be operated as a diafiltration proce... | 01/25/2005 |
| 6789288 | Natural gas dehydration process and apparatus A process and corresponding apparatus for dehydrating gas, especially natural gas. The process includes an absorption step and a membrane pervaporation step to regenerate the liquid sorbent. ... | 09/14/2004 |
| 6755975 | Separation process using pervaporation and dephlegmation A process for treating liquids containing organic compounds and water. The process includes a pervaporation step in conjunction with a dephlegmation step to treat at least a portion of the permeate vapor from the pervaporation step. The process yields a membrane res... | 06/29/2004 |
| 6648944 | Carbon dioxide removal process A process and apparatus for separating carbon dioxide from gas, especially natural gas, that also contains C3+ hydrocarbons. The invention uses two or three membrane separation steps, optionally in conjunction with cooling/condensation under pr... | 11/18/2003 |
| 6592749 | Hydrogen/hydrocarbon separation process, including PSA and membranes An improved process for separating hydrogen from hydrocarbons. The process includes a pressure swing adsorption step, a compression/cooling step and a membrane separation step. The membrane step uses a rubbery polymeric membrane selective for all C1 | 07/15/2003 |
| 6592650 | Gas separation using organic-vapor-resistant membranes and PSA A process for separating a gas from a gas mixture containing an organic compound gas or vapor by a hybrid separation combining adsorption with membrane gas separation, using membranes selective for the gas over the organic compound. The membranes use a se... | 07/15/2003 |
| 6589303 | Hydrogen production by process including membrane gas separation An improved process and process train for hydrogen separation and production from gas streams containing hydrogen and light hydrocarbons. The process includes both recovery of hydrogen already in the stream by membrane separation and PSA, and production o... | 07/08/2003 |
| 6579341 | Nitrogen gas separation using organic-vapor-resistant membranes A process for separating nitrogen from a multicomponent gas mixture containing nitrogen and a hydrocarbon, such as natural gas or associated gas, using gas-separation membranes selective for nitrogen over the hydrocarbon. The membranes use a selective lay... | 06/17/2003 |
| 6572678 | Natural gas separation using nitrogen-selective membranes of modest selectivity A process for treating natural gas or other methane-rich gas to remove excess nitrogen and optionally excess carbon dioxide, water vapor or hydrogen sulfide. The invention relies on gas separation by membranes, using nitrogen/methane selective membranes. ... | 06/03/2003 |
| 6572679 | Gas separation using organic-vapor-resistant membranes in conjunction with organic-vapor-selective membranes A process for treating a gas mixture containing at least an organic compound gas or vapor and a second gas, such as natural gas, refinery off-gas or air. The process uses two sequential membrane separation steps, one using membrane selective for the organ... | 06/03/2003 |
| 6572680 | Carbon dioxide gas separation using organic-vapor-resistant membranes A process for separating carbon dioxide from a multicomponent gas mixture containing carbon dioxide and a hydrocarbon, such as natural gas or associated gas, using gas-separation membranes selective for carbon dioxide over the hydrocarbon. The membranes u... | 06/03/2003 |
| 6565626 | Natural gas separation using nitrogen-selective membranes A process for treating natural gas or other methane-rich gas to remove excess nitrogen and carbon dioxide simultaneously. The invention relies on membrane separation using nitrogen/methane and carbon dioxide/methane selective membranes. The gas can typica... | 05/20/2003 |
| 6544316 | Hydrogen gas separation using organic-vapor-resistant membranes A process for separating hydrogen from a multicomponent gas mixture containing hydrogen and a hydrocarbon, using gas-separation membranes selective for hydrogen over the hydrocarbon. The membranes use a selective layer made from a polymer having repeating... | 04/08/2003 |
| 6525236 | Membrane-augmented manufacture of cumene A process for manufacturing cumene by reacting propylene with benzene, including treating a vent stream from the reaction zone, to recover propylene for return to the reactor. The process involves using a gas separation membrane to separate propylene from... | 02/25/2003 |
| 6428606 | Membrane gas separation process with compressor interstage recycle A process for treating a gas stream containing an organic component and a second gas. The process uses at least two compression stages, followed by membrane separation, with recirculation of the membrane permeate streams to different points in the compres... | 08/06/2002 |
| 6425267 | Two-step process for nitrogen removal from natural gas A process for treating natural gas or other methane-rich gas to remove excess nitrogen. The invention relies on membrane separation using methane-selective membranes, but does not require the membranes to be operated at very low temperatures. We have foun... | 07/30/2002 |
