Praxair Technology, Inc.

Matthew Lincoln Wagner

Vasilis Papavassiliou

Diego Fernandez Echegaray

Thomas John Bergman, Jr

Kazuo Kiyonaga

Antonio Augusto M Velloso

John Erling Anderson

Douglas Charles Heiderman

Roger W Day

Christopher Leger

William Robert Williams

Donald Walter Kirkwood

Amer Wahid Akhras

Donald Walter Welsh Kirkwood

Antonio Augusto Velloso

Arthur Wellington Francis, Jr

This invention is directed towards an improved process for the selective gas phase oxidation of a organic reactant using a metal oxide redox catalyst, wherein the organic reactant and air feeds are at a substantially continuous level, the improvement comprising adding a fluctuating flow of oxygen at alternating relatively high and relatively low levels. The invention also teaches means by which a gas may be provided to a reaction process on a fluctuating basis.

Oxygen enrichment process for air based gas phase oxidations which use metal oxide redox catalysts

The invention comprises a reactor having a source of a first hot reactant gas, a mixing chamber in which said first hot reactant gas mixes with a second reactant gas to form a reactant gas mixture, but wherein substantially no reaction takes place and a reaction zone wherein said mixture undergoes vapor phase reaction. A process for using the reactor is also disclosed.

Hot gas reactor and process for using same

Method for production of hydroxylamine sulfate in the conventional process for the synthesis of caprolactam

This invention is directed to a method for predicting the flammability of complex mixtures using critical variables of structural groups comprising training data from the critical variables of each structural groups, the critical variables comprising compositional and thermochemical data from each of the structural groups to produce a neural network model; testing the trained data from the neural network model; and validating the trained and tested data from the neural network to accurately predict the flammability limit of an analogous complex mixture having similar structural groups.

Method for predicting flammability limits of complex mixtures

Method for production of hydroxylammonium phosphate in the synthesis of caprolactam

The amount of a ballast gas needed, to prevent combustion, deflagration, and/or detonations during a liquid phase reaction of molecular oxygen and a flammable process liquid, is reduced by using a ballast gas other than nitrogen. The ballast gas is selected to have a boiling point lower than the boiling point of the flammable process liquid and selected to produce a higher limiting oxygen value (LOV) in a mixture with the flammable process liquid vapor and molecular oxygen than the LOV for the corresponding mixture substituting just nitrogen for the inerting gas.

Ballast gas use in liquid phase oxidation

A process is described for producing nitric acid involving oxidizing ammonia gas to form dinitrogen tetroxide gas, reacting the dinitrogen tetroxide with water in an absorption zone to form aqueous nitric acid and nitric oxide gas, removing a nitric acid/nitric oxide stream from the absorption zone and feeding the stream into a nitric acid bleaching zone, removing impurities from the nitric acid in the bleaching zone to form nitric acid product and adding supplemental oxygen gas to one or more of the reaction streams to increase nitric acid production and or strength. The improvement involves injecting the supplemental oxygen into a nitric acid-containing process stream to form a gas bubble/liquid mixture in the stream, the mixture forming a fine dispersion of gas bubbles having diameters of less than about 0.1 mm. According to the invention, increased interfacial surface is created between the gas bubbles and the liquid mixture to facilitate removal of impurities from the liquid phase and shifting of the reaction.

Method and production of nitric acid

A system provides an oxygen-bearing gas and a gaseous reactant stream to a fluidized bed reactor. A sparger causes an entraining of the oxygen bearing gas into the reactant gas stream. A feed line couples the sparger to the reactor's fluidized bed and introduces the reactant gas stream and entrained oxygen-bearing gas directly into contact with the fluidized bed. A controller controls both the amount of oxygen-bearing gas and the gaseous reactant so that, at the point of feed injection, the fluidized bed catalyst does not experience an oxygen deficiency. To assure safety, the reactant content of the combined feed and oxygen stream is maintained above an upper flammability limit, preferably with a safety margin of at least 25%. In one embodiment, the system enables the production of acrylonitriles from a feed stream comprising ammonia, propylene and oxygen.

Method and apparatus for direct oxygen injection with a reactant stream

This invention is directed to a method for producing ethylene oxide comprising feeding ethylene, high purity oxygen and a ballast gas with a recycle gas in a catalyst filled reactor to form a gaseous mixture; passing the gaseous mixture from the reactor to a recovery unit to selectively separate ethylene oxide and carbon dioxide containing gas; passing at least a portion of the carbon dioxide containing gas to a stripping unit to selectively separate carbon dioxide and a waste gas; passing at least a portion of the waste gas to purge and another portion for recycling as the recycle gas; and recovering ethylene oxide from the recovery unit.

High purity oxygen for ethylene oxide production

A method for producing vinyl acetate using ethylene, acetic acid and argon containing oxygen that maximizes selectivity and minimizes ethylene loses to purge.

Method for producing vinyl acetate

A system provides an oxygen-bearing gas and gaseous reactant stream to a fluidized bed reactor using a sparger to entrain the oxygen-bearing gas into the reactant gas stream. A feed line couples the sparger to the reactor's fluidized bed and introduces the reactant gas stream and entrained oxygen-bearing gas directly into contact with the fluidized bed. A controller controls and maintains both the amount of oxygen-bearing gas and the gaseous reactant above an upper flammability limit, preferably with a safety margin of at least 10%.

Growing community of inventors

White Plains, NY, United States of America

Matthew Lincoln Wagner