Lyten, Inc.

Lytoil, Inc.

Philip David Fulmer

Bryce H Anzelmo

Hossein-Ali Ghezelbash

Joe Griffith Cruz

Thomas Riso

Ryan Balmores

Michael Wayne Stowell, Jr

Ranjeeth Kalluri

Scott Ray Mobley

A thermal cracking apparatus and method includes a body having an inner volume with a longitudinal axis, where a reaction zone surrounds the longitudinal axis. A feedstock process gas is flowed into the inner volume and longitudinally through the reaction zone during thermal cracking operations. A power control system controls electrical power to an elongated heating element, which is disposed within the inner volume. During thermal cracking operations, the elongated heating element is heated to a molecular cracking temperature to generate the reaction zone, the feedstock process gas is heated from the elongated heating element, the power control system uses a feedback parameter for adjusting the electrical power to maintain the molecular cracking temperature at a substantially constant value, and the heat thermally cracks molecules of the feedstock process gas that are within the reaction zone into constituent components of the molecules.

Cracking of a process gas

A process gas (such as a hydrocarbon gas) is flowed through a thermal cracking apparatus to crack the process gas into constituent components (such as hydrogen gas and solid carbon nano-particles, e.g., carbon nano-onions, necked carbon nano-onions, carbon nanospheres, graphene, graphite, highly ordered pyrolytic graphite, single walled nanotubes, and/or multi-walled nanotubes). The thermal cracking apparatus has an elongated heating element disposed within an inner volume along a longitudinal axis thereof. The elongated heating element heats the process gas as it flows within a longitudinal elongated reaction zone to thermally crack molecules of the process gas into the constituent components of the molecules.

Methods and apparatus for refining feedstocks, such as crude or synthetic oil, and like feedstocks, are disclosed herein. In some embodiments, a reactor for refining a feedstock includes: a chamber having an inner volume to hold a liquid feedstock, a feedstock inlet port, a process gas inlet port, and an outlet port; a gas diffuser housed within the chamber and coupled to the process gas inlet port; and a radical generator coupled in fluid communication with the inner volume via the gas diffuser. In some embodiments, a method for refining feedstock includes: providing liquid feedstock to an inner volume of a reactor; flowing a radicalized process gas from a radical generator into the inner volume and into contact with the feedstock via a gas diffuser to fractionate the feedstock and produce one or more fractions of product in a vaporous mixture; and collecting a desired product from the vaporous mixture.

Modular refining reactor and refining methods

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San Jose, CA, United States of America

Philip David Fulmer