University of Texas System

Teco-westinghouse Motor Company

Organic Fuels Algae Technologies, LLC

Michael D Werst

Robert Hebner

Mukul Mani Sharma

Kent R Davey

Raymond C Zowarka

Siddharth B Pratap

Peter B Kipp

Frank Seibert

Rhykka L Connelly

Xueqing Feng

Martin Poenie

Hsing-Pang Liu

Clay Hearn

Michael Worthington

Kerry A Kinney

Bryan Bunkowski

Lynn E Katz

Jon Hahne

Jim Weldon

Robert Pearsall

Described herein are methods and system that use electromagnetic heating to heat wellbores and the fluids therein. The heating is achieved by placing one or more permanent magnets in the wellbore and moving a metallic component and/or the one or more permanent magnets relative to each other. This generates eddy currents in the metallic component, which heat the metallic component. This heat is transferred to the fluids in the wellbore from the metallic component by convection. In some embodiments, permanent magnets are installed in the tubing to induce eddy current heating in a well by converting the linear motion of a sucker rod to rotary motion of a conducting tube using a lead or ball screw. The heater may directly integrate with existing pump jack equipment with little or no additional infrastructure required.

Downhole induction heater and coupling system for oil and gas wells

Rotors with trapped-field magnet (TFM) bulks, machines with TFM rotors, and methods of activating and/or using machines with TFM rotors.

Rotating machines using trapped field magnets and related methods

The development and application of a novel non-polar oil recovery process utilizing a non-dispersive solvent extraction method to coalesce and recover oil from a bio-cellular aqueous slurry is described herein. The process could apply to recovery of algal oil from a lysed or non-lysed algae slurry, recovery of Omega fatty acids from a bio-cellular aqueous feed, recovery of Beta-carotene from a bio-cellular aqueous feed and for the removal from produced water in oil production and similar type applications. The technique of the present invention utilizes a microporous hollow fiber (MHF) membrane contactor. The non-polar oil recovery process described herein can be coupled to a collecting fluid (a non-polar solvent such as heptane, a biodiesel mixture or the previously extracted oil) that is circulated through the hollow fiber membrane. In cases where the biodiesel mixture or the previously extracted oil is used the solvent recovery step (e.g. distillation) can be eliminated.

Non-dispersive process for insoluble oil recovery from aqueous slurries

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Manor, TX, United States of America

Michael D Werst