Air Products and Chemicals, Inc.

Michael S Chen

Charles S Block

Olaf J Noichl

William P Hegarty

Marshall L Spector

David Charles Winchester

Sun-Nan Hong

William R Ernst

Gary S Roth

Thomas J Edwards

Philip J Cook

William A Steyert, Deceased

Steven P Pastore

Corning F Painter

Rakesh Agrawal

Shivaji Sircar

Dale D Dixon

William F Burgoyne, Jr

Robert M Thorogood

Arthur Ramsden Smith

Eugene J Greskovich

Stephen P Goff

James VanOmmeren

Pradip Rao

William Joseph Mazzafro

Harold H Gunardson

James C Bronfenbrenner

Jerome L Glazer

Pierre L Brian

Robert Michael Eng

James T Edwards

Michael T Heffelfinger

W Patrick Hegarty

Dipak J Sampat

By Lila Steyer, Executrix

Charles G Wensley

M Moniz

Melinda B Ulrich

Thomas Joseph Ward

Suresh M Vora

A direct ironmaking process in which coal and oxygen are used directly for reducing ore and smelting the resulting sponge iron wherein a high-temperature ion transport membrane process recovers oxygen for use in the ironmaking process. Heat for oxygen recovery is provided by combustion of medium-BTU fuel gas generated by the ironmaking process and/or by heat exchange with hot gas provided by the ironmaking process. The ironmaking and oxygen recovery processes can be integrated with a combined cycle power generation system to provide an efficient method for the production of iron, oxygen, and electric power.

High temperature oxygen production for ironmaking processes

In a process for preparing poly(vinyl alcohol), an improved method for separating the methanol/acetate azeotropes that result from said process. The azeotropes are separated by selective adsorption of methanol on an adsorbent followed by regeneration of the adsorbent with hot methanol vapor.

Separation of azeotropes in poly(vinyl alcohol) process

The present invention is an improvement to the conventional process for the production of phthalic anhydride. In particular, the present invention enables the crude phthalic anhydride product to be recovered in a more efficient manner.

Elevated pressure phthalic anhydride process

A process is provided for extracting high purity oxygen from a gas generator turbine exhaust stream by passing the turbine exhaust over the feed side of solid electrolyte membrane selective to the permeation of oxygen over other components of the exhaust stream to separate the oxygen from the exhaust stream, and removing the oxygen product stream from the permeate side of the membrane. The reject exhaust stream is then passed through a power generating turbine to recover net power.

Oxygen recovery from turbine exhaust using solid electrolyte membrane

A process is provided for extracting high purity oxygen from gas turbine exhaust streams by passing the gas turbine exhaust over the feed side of solid electrolyte membrane selective to the permeation of oxygen over other components of the exhaust stream to separate the oxygen from the exhaust stream, and removing the oxygen product stream from the permeate side of the membrane.

An integrated process for utilizing waste heat from a glass making furnace. The hot off-gas from the furnace is initially partially cooled, then fed to a reformer. In the reformer, the partially cooled off-gas is further cooled against a hydrocarbon which is thus reformed into a synthesis gas, which is then fed into the glass making furnace as a fuel. The further cooled off-gas is then recycled back to absorb the heat from the hot off-gas to perform the initial cooling.

Thermally efficient melting and fuel reforming for glass making

A process is provided for recovering oxygen from an externally fired power generating gas turbine system in which a hot, compressed air stream from a compressor to be expanded through a turbine expander to generate power is first passed over the feed side of a solid electrolyte membrane selective to the permeation of oxygen over other components of the air while a positive oxygen ionic potential is maintained on the membrane to separate oxygen from the stream, and removing the oxygen from the permeate side of the membrane before the residual air is expanded through the turbine expander to generate power.

Oxygen extraction from externally fired gas turbines

A process is provided for purifying argon gas, especially an argon gas stream obtained by cryogenically separating air, wherein the argon gas is heated and compressed, and then permeated through a solid electrolyte membrane selective to the permeation of oxygen over other components of the gas, and removing oxygen from the argon by selective permeation of oxygen through the membrane. The purified argon can then be distilled to remove other components such as nitrogen.

Process for removing oxygen from crude argon

A process for preparing an alkyl-tert-alkyl ether wherein an olefin having a double bond on a tertiary carbon atom and a primary alcohol are reacted in the presence of a catalyst under conditions sufficient to produce an azeotropic alcohol/ether/hydrocarbon mixture containing the alkyl-tert-alkyl ether. The azeotropic alcohol/ether/hydrocarbon mixture is subjected to a cyclic liquid phase adsorption process sequence to selectively remove the alcohol. The resulting non-azeotropic ether/hydrocarbon stream can then be easily separated by distillation to provide the desired alkyl-tert-alkyl ether product and a hydrocarbon product. The cyclic adsorption process employed to separate the alcohol from the ether/hydrocarbon mixture comprises introducing the alcohol/ether/hydrocarbon mixture into a plurality of adsorption colums containing an alcohol selective adsorbent, wherein each respective absorption column undergoes successive steps of adsorption and desorption.

Process for preparing alkyl tert-alkyl ethers

The present invention is an integrated process for the production of glass utilizing combustion heat to melt glassmaking materials in a glassmaking furnace. The fuel combusted to produce heat sufficient to melt the glassmaking materials is combusted with oxygen-enriched oxidant to reduce heat losses from the offgas of the glassmaking furnace. The process further reduces heat losses by quenching hot offgas from the glassmaking furnace with a process stream to retain the heat recovered from quench in the glassmaking process with subsequent additional heat recovery by heat exchange of the fuel to the glassmaking furnace, as well as the glassmaking materials, such as batch and cullet. The process includes recovery of a commercially pure carbon dioxide product by separatory means from the cooled, residual offgas from the glassmaking furnace.

Thermally efficient melting for glass making

An apparatus and process are described for the cooling and condensing of sulfur and water vapors from a Claus gas below the sulfur freezing point (248.degree. F.) at low pressure (&lt;30 psia), so that solid sulfur and condensed water are simultaneously removed from the Claus gas without solid sulfur plugging of the separation equipment and with efficient separation of the sulfur from water.

Water condenser/separator systems for Claus processes

The present invention is an improved process for separating alcohols from ethers and/or hydrocarbon raffinate in an etherification process. The excess alcohol reactant, which forms azeotrope mixtures with the product ethers and C.sub.4 -C.sub.7 raffinate, is removed by passing the liquid azeotrope mixture over a pervaporation membrane which effectively breaks the azeotrope and permeates the alcohol with high flux and high selectivity. In a typical etherification process, one or more pervaporation membrane units can be located ahead of the ether/raffinate distillation step, in conjunction with the distillation step with a liquid side draw, after the distillation step, or a combination of any of the above. The present invention also provides an improved process for separating alcohols from ethers and/or hydrocarbon raffinate in an ether decomposition process for the production of high purity iso-alkene products. In this embodiment, one or more pervaporation membranes are used to recover alcohols from the decomposition product stream.

Pervaporation process for separating alcohols from ethers

A modified activated sludge system is provided wherein wastewater containing BOD.sub.5 and phosphate values is admixed in an initial zone with biomass-containing recycled sludge to form a mixed liquor under conditions effecting sorption of BOD.sub.5 in the biomass. Subsequently, said mixed liquor is subjected to aeration in an oxidation zone under conditions for effecting oxidation of BOD.sub.5, such that oxidizing agent is incorporated into the oxidation zone at a rate not substantially exceeding the rate of oxidation. By such operation, considerable savings in power requirements for oxygen transfer to the mixed liquid are had, while developing and maintaining a dense non-bulking biomass having the properties of good removal of phosphate from the wastewater influent.

Biological wastewater treating system

An improved method of recovering sulfur from a hydrogen sulfide-containing gas stream which removes water concurrently with the condensation of sulfur and which can be operated at high pressure.

High pressure process for sulfur recovery from a hydrogen sulfide

A process and system are set forth for improving the recovery of sulfur from an oxygen-enriched Claus process by introducing a liquid sulfur stream into the reaction furnace zone to moderate oxygen-induced high temperatures which allow oxygen-enrichment and attendant throughput in the Claus process to higher levels than heretobefore practiced and alternatively to quench the reaction furnace effluent to maintain a hydrogen sulfide dioxide ratio of 2:1.

Growing community of inventors

Zionsville, PA, United States of America

Michael S Chen