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Alan George Wonders, Longview US

Alan George Wonders, Longview, TX US

Patent application numberDescriptionPublished
20090155143Optimized Liquid-Phase Oxidation - Disclosed is an optimized process and apparatus for more efficiently and economically carrying out the liquid-phase oxidation of an oxidizable compound. Such liquid-phase oxidation is carried out in a bubble column reactor that provides for a highly efficient reaction at relatively low temperatures. When the oxidized compound is para-xylene and the product from the oxidation reaction is crude terephthalic acid (CTA), such CTA product can be purified and separated by more economical techniques than could be employed if the CTA were formed by a conventional high-temperature oxidation process.06-18-2009
20090218052DRYER CONFIGURATION FOR PRODUCTION OF POLYESTER PARTICLES - A dryer system configured for use in a polyester polymer production process. In one embodiment, the dryer system can be utilized in a non-solid-state polymer production process to dry the polymer particles prior to crystallization.09-03-2009
20090221785PRODUCTION OF NON-SOLID-STATED POLYESTER PARTICLES HAVING SOLID-STATED PROPERTIES - A process for producing non-solid-stated polyester polymer particles having one or more properties similar to polyester polymer particles that have undergone solid-state processing.09-03-2009
20090317306Optimized Liquid-Phase Oxidation - Disclosed is an optimized process and apparatus for more efficiently and economically carrying out the liquid-phase oxidation of an oxidizable compound. Such liquid-phase oxidation is carried out in a bubble column reactor that provides for a highly efficient reaction at relatively low temperatures. When the oxidized compound is para-xylene and the product from the oxidation reaction is crude terephthalic acid (CTA), such CTA product can be purified and separated by more economical techniques than could be employed if the CTA were formed by a conventional high-temperature oxidation process.12-24-2009
20100087675Dicarboxylic Acid Production with Minimal Wastewater Generation - The invention provides improved energy content in and shaft power recovery from off-gas from xylene oxidation reactions while at the same time minimizing wastewater treatment cost. More shaft power is produced using off-gas than is required to drive the main air compressor, even with preferred, relatively low oxidation temperatures. Simultaneously, an amount of wastewater greater than byproduct water from oxidation of xylene is kept in vapor form and treated along with off-gas pollutants in a self-sustaining (self-fueling) gas-phase thermal oxidative destruction unit. Optionally, off-gas is combined from multiple xylene oxidation reactors, comprising primary and/or secondary oxidation reactors and forming TPA and/or IPA. Optionally, air compressor condensate and caustic scrubber blowdown are used in a TPA process or as utility water, effectively eliminating normal flow of liquid wastewater effluent from a TPA plant. Optionally, PET off-gas containing the water of PET formation is treated in a shared thermal oxidative destruction unit, effectively eliminating normal flow of liquid wastewater effluent from a combined pX-to-TPA-to-PET plant.04-08-2010
20100113712STEAM HEATED POLYESTER PRODUCTION PROCESS - Processes for making polyesters in a polyester production facility are disclosed, that include the steps of: forming a reaction medium comprising at least one monomer that includes terephthalic acid (TPA) and/or an ester derivative of TPA; subjecting at least a portion of the reaction medium to one or more chemical reactions in the polyester production facility to thereby produce the polyester; generating high-pressure steam having a pressure of at least 5 megapascals; heating one or more process fluid streams of the polyester production facility by indirect heat exchange with the high-pressure steam, wherein the process fluid streams include any stream that is formed predominately of the reaction medium and/or the at least one monomer; heating a heat transfer medium (HTM) via indirect heat exchange with the high-pressure steam to thereby form heated HTM; and heating at least a portion of the process fluid streams by indirect heat exchange with the heated HTM.05-06-2010
20100113713STEAM HEATED POLYESTER PRODUCTION PROCESS - Processes for making polyesters in a polyester production facility are disclosed, that include the steps of forming a reaction medium comprising at least one monomer that includes terephthalic acid (TPA) and/or an ester derivative of TPA; subjecting at least a portion of the reaction medium to one or more chemical reactions in the polymer production facility to thereby produce the polyester; and heating the reaction medium at one or more locations in the polyester production facility, wherein at least 50 percent of the total energy input employed for the heating of the reaction medium is provided by indirect heat exchange between the reaction medium and steam.05-06-2010
20100113714INTEGRATED STEAM HEATING IN POLYESTER PRODUCTION PROCESS - Processes for making polyesters in a polyester production facility are disclosed, that include the steps of: forming a reaction medium comprising at least one monomer that includes terephthalic acid (TPA) and/or an ester derivative of TPA; subjecting at least a portion of the reaction medium to one or more chemical reactions in the polyester production facility to thereby produce the polyester; heating at least a portion of the reaction medium via indirect heat exchange with high-pressure steam, wherein the heating causes at least a portion of the high-pressure steam to condense and thereby provide pressurized condensed water; flashing at least a portion of the pressurized condensed water to thereby produce lower-pressure steam; and heating one or more process fluid streams of the polyester production facility via indirect heat exchange with at least a portion of the lower-pressure steam, wherein the process fluid streams include any stream that is formed predominately of the reaction medium and/or the at least one monomer.05-06-2010
20100113735Integrated Co-Production of Dicarboxylic Acids - The invention provides improved energy content in and shaft power recovery from off-gas from xylene oxidation reactions while at the same time minimizing wastewater treatment cost. More shaft power is produced using off-gas than is required to drive the main air compressor, even with preferred, relatively low oxidation temperatures. Simultaneously, an amount of wastewater greater than byproduct water from oxidation of xylene is kept in vapor form and treated along with off-gas pollutants in a self-sustaining (self-fueling) gas-phase thermal oxidative destruction unit. Optionally, off-gas is combined from multiple xylene oxidation reactors, comprising primary and/or secondary oxidation reactors and forming TPA and/or IPA. Optionally, air compressor condensate and caustic scrubber blowdown are used in a TPA process or as utility water, effectively eliminating normal flow of liquid wastewater effluent from a TPA plant. Optionally, PET off-gas containing the water of PET formation is treated in a shared thermal oxidative destruction unit, effectively eliminating normal flow of liquid wastewater effluent from a combined pX-to-TPA-to-PET plant.05-06-2010
20100113736INTEGRATED STEAM HEATING IN POLYESTER PRODUCTION PROCESS - Integrated processes for making polyesters are disclosed, that include the steps of: (a) producing an aromatic polycarboxylic acid in a monomer production facility; (b) producing a polyester in a polyester production facility, wherein the producing of the polyester comprises the substeps of: (i) forming a polyester reaction medium comprising at least a portion of the aromatic polycarboxylic acid from the monomer production facility, (ii) subjecting at least a portion of the polyester reaction medium to one or more chemical reactions to thereby produce the polyester, (iii) heating the polyester reaction medium at one or more locations in the polyester production facility via indirect heat exchange with high-pressure steam, wherein the heating causes at least a portion of the high-pressure steam to condense and thereby provide pressurized condensed water, and (iv) flashing at least a portion of the pressurized condensed water to thereby produce lower-pressure steam; and (c) using at least a portion of the lower-pressure steam to provide thermal energy to the monomer production facility.05-06-2010
20100113824Dicarboxylic Acid Production with Self-Fuel Oxidative Destruction - The invention provides improved energy content in and shaft power recovery from off-gas from xylene oxidation reactions while at the same time minimizing wastewater treatment cost. More shaft power is produced using off-gas than is required to drive the main air compressor, even with preferred, relatively low oxidation temperatures. Simultaneously, an amount of wastewater greater than byproduct water from oxidation of xylene is kept in vapor form and treated along with off-gas pollutants in a self-sustaining (self-fueling) gas-phase thermal oxidative destruction unit. Optionally, off-gas is combined from multiple xylene oxidation reactors, comprising primary and/or secondary oxidation reactors and forming TPA and/or IPA. Optionally, air compressor condensate and caustic scrubber blowdown are used in a TPA process or as utility water, effectively eliminating normal flow of liquid wastewater effluent from a TPA plant. Optionally, PET off-gas containing the water of PET formation is treated in a shared thermal oxidative destruction unit, effectively eliminating normal flow of liquid wastewater effluent from a combined pX-to-TPA-to-PET plant.05-06-2010
20100113825Dicarboxylic Acid Production with Direct Fired Off-Gas Heating - The invention provides improved energy content in and shaft power recovery from off-gas from xylene oxidation reactions while at the same time minimizing wastewater treatment cost. More shaft power is produced using off-gas than is required to drive the main air compressor, even with preferred, relatively low oxidation temperatures. Simultaneously, an amount of wastewater greater than byproduct water from oxidation of xylene is kept in vapor form and treated along with off-gas pollutants in a self-sustaining (self-fueling) gas-phase thermal oxidative destruction unit. Optionally, off-gas is combined from multiple xylene oxidation reactors, comprising primary and/or secondary oxidation reactors and forming TPA and/or IPA. Optionally, air compressor condensate and caustic scrubber blowdown are used in a TPA process or as utility water, effectively eliminating normal flow of liquid wastewater effluent from a TPA plant. Optionally, PET off-gas containing the water of PET formation is treated in a shared thermal oxidative destruction unit, effectively eliminating normal flow of liquid wastewater effluent from a combined pX-to-TPA-to-PET plant.05-06-2010
20100113826Dicarboxylic Acid Production with Enhanced Energy Recovery - The invention provides improved energy content in and shaft power recovery from off-gas from xylene oxidation reactions while at the same time minimizing wastewater treatment cost. More shaft power is produced using off-gas than is required to drive the main air compressor, even with preferred, relatively low oxidation temperatures. Simultaneously, an amount of wastewater greater than byproduct water from oxidation of xylene is kept in vapor form and treated along with off-gas pollutants in a self-sustaining (self-fueling) gas-phase thermal oxidative destruction unit. Optionally, off-gas is combined from multiple xylene oxidation reactors, comprising primary and/or secondary oxidation reactors and forming TPA and/or IPA. Optionally, air compressor condensate and caustic scrubber blowdown are used in a TPA process or as utility water, effectively eliminating normal flow of liquid wastewater effluent from a TPA plant. Optionally, PET off-gas containing the water of PET formation is treated in a shared thermal oxidative destruction unit, effectively eliminating normal flow of liquid wastewater effluent from a combined pX-to-TPA-to-PET plant.05-06-2010
20100143217Optimized Liquid-Phase Oxidation - Disclosed is an optimized process and apparatus for more efficiently and economically carrying out the liquid-phase oxidation of an oxidizable compound. Such liquid-phase oxidation is carried out in a bubble column reactor that provides for a highly efficient reaction at relatively low temperatures. When the oxidized compound is para-xylene and the product from the oxidation reaction is crude terephthalic acid (CTA), such CTA product can be purified and separated by more economical techniques than could be employed if the CTA were formed by a conventional high-temperature oxidation process.06-10-2010
20100145095OPTIMIZED LIQUID-PHASE OXIDATION - Disclosed is an optimized process and apparatus for more efficiently and economically carrying out the liquid-phase oxidation of an oxidizable compound. Such liquid-phase oxidation is carried out in a bubble column reactor that provides for a highly efficient reaction at relatively low temperatures. When the oxidized compound is para-xylene and the product from the oxidation reaction is crude terephthalic acid (CTA), such CTA product can be purified and separated by more economical techniques than could be employed if the CTA were formed by a conventional high-temperature oxidation process.06-10-2010
20100305357Optimized Liquid-Phase Oxidation - Disclosed is an optimized process and apparatus for more efficiently and economically carrying out the liquid-phase oxidation of an oxidizable compound. Such liquid-phase oxidation is carried out in a bubble column reactor that provides for a highly efficient reaction at relatively low temperatures. When the oxidized compound is para-xylene and the product from the oxidation reaction is crude terephthalic acid (CTA), such CTA product can be purified and separated by more economical techniques than could be employed if the CTA were formed by a conventional high-temperature oxidation process.12-02-2010
20110034664POLYESTER COMPOSITION WITH MODIFIER HYDROXYL COMPOUND - A process for producing non-solid-stated polyester polymer particles having one or more properties similar to polyester polymer particles that have undergone solid-state processing.02-10-2011
20110070445PRODUCTION OF NON-SOLID-STATED POLYESTER PARTICLES HAVING SOLID-STATED PROPERTIES - A process for producing non-solid-stated polyester polymer particles having one or more properties similar to polyester polymer particles that have undergone solid-state processing.03-24-2011

Patent applications by Alan George Wonders, Longview, TX US