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.
PatentStorm News
Make the Most of Our Site
See this month's Top Inventors and Most Cited Patents.
Stay on top of the latest innovations by subscribing to an RSS feed.
Registered users: Manage your profile.
| Number | Title | Issue Date |
| 7409835 | Backup system and method for production of pressurized gas Systems and methods are disclosed for a gas production system to efficiently maintain a pressure of a gaseous output stream within a tight pressure range when the system changes normal operation to backup operation. In one preferred embodiment, during normal operati... | 08/12/2008 |
| 7299656 | Cryogenic rectification system for neon production A cryogenic rectification system employing a phase separator, which may include one or more trays, in conjunction with a double column air separation plant, wherein some shelf liquid is subcooled and phase separated to produce crude neon vapor, and the remaining liq... | 11/27/2007 |
| 7285154 | Xenon recovery system A first aspect of a process of recovering xenon from feed gas includes: providing an adsorption vessel containing adsorbent having a Xe/N2 selectivity ratio 50% and... | 10/23/2007 |
| 7284362 | Integrated air separation and oxygen fired power generation system An integrated air separation and oxygen fired power generation system includes an air separation unit and a gas turbine including an air compressor to provide compressed air for the air separation unit. The system further includes a gas turbine expander and at least... | 10/23/2007 |
| 7284395 | Cryogenic air separation plant with reduced liquid drain loss A cryogenic air separation plant and method of operation wherein, after an interruption in operation, liquid from the sump of a lower pressure column and liquid from the sump of a higher pressure column is passed to a condenser, preferably an argon column top conden... | 10/23/2007 |
| 7272955 | Cooling apparatus and process An integrated cooling apparatus and process which includes a source of compressed gas; a cooling unit for cooling the compressed gas to form cooled compressed gas by heat exchange with water having a first purity, thereby producing a stream of cooled compressed gas ... | 09/25/2007 |
| 7266948 | Method and device for separating gases and/or liquids Method and device for separating gases and/or liquids in a vertical column (1). The top product (4) of the column (1) is cooled and partly recycled. The bottom product (3) of the column (1) is heated and partly recycled. Cooling an... | 09/11/2007 |
| 7263859 | Process and apparatus for cooling a stream of compressed air Process and apparatus for cooling a compressed gas stream which utilizes one or more elongated vessels having a substantially vertical orientation. Each vessel has one compartment for indirect heat exchange between the compressed gas stream and a cooling stream and ... | 09/04/2007 |
| 7228715 | Cryogenic air separation process and apparatus A low temperature air separation process and apparatus for producing pressurized gaseous product in an air separation unit using a system of distillation columns which include cooling a compressed air stream in a heat exchange line to form a compressed cooled air st... | 06/12/2007 |
| 7197894 | Integrated process and air separation process An integrated process and air separation process including the steps of: Work expanding at least one first pressurized gas 39 derived from a first process at a first site 1, using work generated by the expansion of the at least one pressurized gas to d... | 04/03/2007 |
| 7143606 | Combined air separation natural gas liquefaction plant In an integrated process and apparatus for the separation of air by cryogenic distillation and liquefaction of natural gas in which at least part of the refrigeration required to liquefy the natural gas is derived from at least one cryogenic air distillation plant c... | 12/05/2006 |
| 7137274 | System for liquefying or freezing xenon Apparatus for producing liquid or solid xenon comprises a duct 12 having an inlet 14 for receiving gaseous xenon and an outlet 16 for outputting gaseous xenon at a reduced temperature to a nozzle located in a vacuum chamber 60. A housing ... | 11/21/2006 |
| 7114352 | Cryogenic air separation system for producing elevated pressure nitrogen A cryogenic air separation system for producing elevated pressure nitrogen wherein a portion of the nitrogen product fed to the product compressor downstream of the primary heat exchanger is withdrawn as refrigerant nitrogen from the product compressor, preferably f... | 10/03/2006 |
| 7055333 | High pressure CO purification and supply system A batch process and apparatus for producing a pressurized liquid carbon dioxide stream includes distilling a feed stream of carbon dioxide vapor off of a liquid carbon dioxide supply; introducing the carbon dioxide vapor feed stream into at least one purifying filte... | 06/06/2006 |
| 7045554 | Method for improved Fischer-Tropsch catalyst stability and higher stable syngas conversion The present invention is generally related towards methods for preparing and using a more stable synthesis catalysts. In particular, the present invention is directed towards treating synthesis catalysts with low levels of oxygen to deactivate the smaller more unsta... | 05/16/2006 |
| 7003359 | Multiple process plant product lines from a common set of engineered components A method for process plant design which comprises (a) preparing a detailed design for a process plant in a product line including a detailed design of at least one engineered component and (b) preparing a detailed design for another process plant in a different prod... | 02/21/2006 |
| 6992112 | Selective removal of oxygen from syngas The present invention is an improvement in the preparation of liquid hydrocarbons from natural gas/methane, oxygen and/or steam. In particular, the present invention relates to processes for the production of synthesis gas, reducing the oxygen concentration from the... | 01/31/2006 |
| 6912872 | Method and apparatus for producing a purified liquid The present invention provides generally a method and apparatus for purifying a liquid. More particularly, purification of a bulk liquid is performed by introducing a liquid stream to a purification vessel, which comprises both a distillation chamber for forming a p... | 07/05/2005 |
| 6871513 | Process and installation for separation of air by cryogenic distillation integrated with an associated process In a process for separation of air by cryogenic distillation integrated with an associated process, air is separated in a separation unit (1), fluid is sent from the separation unit to an associated process, steam (3) is derived from the associated pro... | 03/29/2005 |
| 6848269 | Process and apparatus for the recovery of krypton and/or xenon Krypton and/or xenon is separated crudely from a mixture comprising oxygen and at least one rare gas selected from the group consisting of krypton and xenon in a process comprising feeding said mixture or a mixture derived therefrom to a rare gas recovery system and... | 02/01/2005 |
| 6829907 | Process and apparatus for the recovery of krypton and/or xenon Krypton and/or xenon is separated crudely from a mixture comprising oxygen and at least one rare gas selected from the group consisting of krypton and xenon in a process comprising feeding said mixture or a mixture derived therefrom to a rare gas recovery system and... | 12/14/2004 |
| 6718794 | Method and apparatus for generating energy The invention concerns a method for generating energy, which consists in conveying to an air separation apparatus (5) air from a compressor (1) coupled to an expansion machine (3). A nitrogen-enriched gaseous flow (11) containing between ... | 04/13/2004 |
| 6612129 | Process and apparatus for producing krypton and/or xenon by low-temperature fractionation of air In a process and apparatus used to produce krypton and/or xenon by low-temperature fractionation of air, compresses and clean charge air (1) is introduced into a rectification system for nitrogen-oxygen separation. The rectification system includes at lea... | 09/02/2003 |
| 6607582 | Method of feeding, with impure nitrogen, the combustion chamber of a gas turbine combined with an air distillation unit, and corresponding electricity generation plant The air distillation unit (2) has a low-pressure column (11C) which operates clearly above atmospheric pressure. The waste nitrogen coming from this column serves to purge, under low pressure, the air purification adsorbers (10A, 10B) in order to desorb t... | 08/19/2003 |
| 6581411 | Plant for producing high pressure oxygen by air distillation This plant comprises N (N>1) air distillation units (1) in parallel, each one of which comprises a main air compressor (3) driven by a steam turbine (4); an air distillation apparatus (8) producing liquid oxygen and/or liquid nitrogen; at least one pump (... | 06/24/2003 |
| 6574988 | Process and plant for producing argon by cryogenic distillation In a process for separating argon-enriched gas, the gas is purified of oxygen in a first column (1) and then a stream (15) removed from the top of the first column is sent into a stripping column (2). The product (21) is withdrawn as bottoms therefrom.... | 06/10/2003 |
| 6434973 | Process and unit for the production of a fluid enriched in oxygen by cryogenic distillation A plant for the separation of air includes at least three columns, including an auxiliary column and two other columns, of which at least one is fed with air and of which that operating at the lowest pressure operates between 2 and 10 bar. A flow between ... | 08/20/2002 |
| 6430962 | Production method for oxygen In a production method for oxygen, liquid oxygen is taken out from a rectification column of an air separation unit, and is compressed by a pump so that the pressure thereof exceeds the critical pressure. Then, the oxygen is led into a heat exchanger and ... | 08/13/2002 |
| 6397632 | Gryogenic rectification method for increased argon production A cryogenic rectification method for increasing the recovery of argon produced in an argon column of a cryogenic air separation plant wherein liquid nitrogen is mixed with higher pressure column kettle liquid to produce a liquid refrigeration mixture to d... | 06/04/2002 |
| 6393867 | Installation producing low voltage electricity integrated in a unit separating gas from air In a combined plant consisting of a fluid production apparatus (P) having a main air compressor (44) and a fluid-consuming unit (2), a gas derived from the unit is expanded in a turbine (10, 20, 30, 40, 150) or another device capable of generating mechani... | 05/28/2002 |
| 6378333 | Cryogenic system for producing xenon employing a xenon concentrator column A system for producing xenon concentrate suitable for further refining wherein a xenon concentrator column processes liquid from the sump of a lower pressure column and additionally produces oxygen gas for recovery or recycle to the lower pressure column.... | 04/30/2002 |
| 6351971 | System and method for producing high purity argon A process and system for producing a high purity argon product with high argon recovery from an air feed stream utilizing a low ratio argon distillation column, a high ratio argon distillation column and a vacuum pressure swing adsorption. unit in combina... | 03/05/2002 |
| 6351970 | Method for extracting xenon The invention relates to a method for extracting xenon and eventually also krypton from a liquid oxygen (LOX) charge, as it accrues in a cryogenic air separation system (LZA) during a rectification of the air, mostly as a bottom product of a low-pressure,... | 03/05/2002 |
| 6327873 | Cryogenic rectification system for producing ultra high purity oxygen A cryogenic rectification system comprising an upstream krypton/xenon knockout column and a downstream oxygen upgrader column wherein the knockout column processes a crude feed for removal of heavy components including hydrocarbons and the upgrader column... | 12/11/2001 |
| 6314757 | Cryogenic rectification system for processing atmospheric fluids A cryogenic rectification system comprising a rare gas concentrator column for producing a liquid having an enhanced concentration of krypton and xenon, and which processes atmospheric fluids and also produces gaseous oxygen and liquid nitrogen.... | 11/13/2001 |
| 6295840 | Pressurized liquid cryogen process A cryogenic air separation process wherein one or more pressurized product streams enriched in oxygen, nitrogen and argon are produced by cryogenic distillation. One or more of the product streams are pressurized above the operating pressure of the distil... | 10/02/2001 |
| 6286336 | Cryogenic air separation system for elevated pressure product A cryogenic air separation system particularly useful for producing elevated pressure product wherein additional reflux is generated by a heat pump circuit operating between the upper portion and an intermediate location of the lower pressure column of a ... | 09/11/2001 |
| 6276171 | Integrated apparatus for generating power and/or oxygen enriched fluid, process for the operation thereof In an integrated power generation system, part of the air from a gas turbine compressor is separated in a single nitrogen wash column to remove oxygen and the gaseous nitrogen produced at the top of the column is sent back to a point upstream of the expan... | 08/21/2001 |
| 6269659 | Method and installation for air distillation with production of argon A method for air distillation with production of argon using an air distilling installation (1) comprising an air distilling apparatus (2) in particular with double column, and at least one column for producing impure argon. The installation has dimension... | 08/07/2001 |
| 6247333 | Process for supplying impure oxygen to a synthesis-gas production unit Impure oxygen containing 70 to 98% oxygen and less than 2% argon is supplied to a synthesis-gas production unit (3a) which supplies hydrogen to an ammonia-production unit (7a). The same air-separation device (1a) can supply the nitrogen (9) to the ammonia... | 06/19/2001 |
