Patents
US 10738254 B2: Process and system for recovering natural gas liquids (NGL) from flare gas using Joule-Thomson (J-T) cooling and membrane separation
- Granted
- 2020-08-11
- Filed
- 2018-08-06 application 16055874
- Type
- Utility · 26 claims
- Elsewhere
- Google Patents ↗ · USPTO patent document ↗ · USPTO Patent Center record ↗
Abstract
A process and system for recovering natural gas liquids (NGL) using a combination of J-T cooling and membrane separation. The process involves compressing, separating, and cooling a flare gas stream comprising at least methane and C3+ hydrocarbons prior to being introduced to a J-T valve. The cooled stream exiting the J-T valve is further separated, producing a NGL product stream and an uncondensed gas stream. The uncondensed gas stream is directed to a membrane separation step, which results in a C3+ hydrocarbon enriched stream and a C3+ hydrocarbon depleted stream. The C3+ hydrocarbon enriched stream may be recycled back to the process to recover more NGL.
Source: PVGPATDIS, file of 2026-04-10 (ipg200811.xml).
Assignees
| Assignee | Type | Place | Also on furp.org | Source |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Membrane Technology and Research, Inc. 62 patents | US company or organization | Newark, CA | MEMBRANE TECHNOLOGY AND RESEARCH, INC. State business registration EXACT high confidence: identical full name and state | PVGPATDIS, file of 2026-04-10 |
Inventors
| Inventor | Place | Patents | Person page | Source |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Kaaeid A. Lokhandwala | Fremont, CA | 10 | PVGPATDIS, file of 2026-04-10 | |
| Sachin Joshi | Mountain View, CA | 21 | PVGPATDIS, file of 2026-04-10 |
CPC categories
| Subclass | Category | First group | Source |
|---|---|---|---|
| C10L | Fuels not otherwise provided for; natural gas; synthetic natural gas obtained by processes not covered by subclasses c10g or c10k; liquified petroleum gas; use of additives to fuels or fires; fire-lighters | C10L3/101 | PVGPATDIS, file of 2026-04-10 |
| C07C | Acyclic or carbocyclic compounds | C07C7/005 | PVGPATDIS, file of 2026-04-10 |
| C10G | Cracking hydrocarbon oils; production of liquid hydrocarbon mixtures, e.g. by destructive hydrogenation, oligomerisation, polymerisation ; recovery of hydrocarbon oils from oil-shale, oil-sand, or gases; refining mixtures mainly consisting of hydrocarbons; reforming of naphtha; mineral waxes | C10G5/06 | PVGPATDIS, file of 2026-04-10 |
| F25J | Liquefaction, solidification or separation of gases or gaseous ; or liquefied gaseous; mixtures by pressure and cold treatment ; or by bringing them into the supercritical state | F25J3/0635 | PVGPATDIS, file of 2026-04-10 |
Cooperative Patent Classification, as currently assigned (one row per subclass).
Assignments and security interests
| Recorded | What | From | To | Reel/frame | Source |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2020-07-14 | Assignment Assignment of assignor's interest | JOSHI, SACHIN signed 2020-07-14 | MEMBRANE TECHNOLOGY AND RESEARCH, INC. NEWARK, CA | 53207/417 | ECORSEXC, file of 2026-09-25 |
| 2020-06-17 | Assignment Assignment of assignor's interest | LOKHANDWALA, KAAEID A. signed 2018-08-13 | MEMBRANE TECHNOLOGY AND RESEARCH, INC. NEWARK, CA | 52966/614 | ECORSEXC, file of 2026-09-25 |
Documents recorded with the USPTO Assignment Recordation Branch that list this patent. A security interest is a lender’s claim on the patent as collateral; a release ends it.
USPTO bulk data: PatentsView granted patents, disambiguated (PVGPATDIS) for patents, assignees, inventors, places and CPC categories; the USPTO Patent Assignment Dataset (ECORSEXC) for assignments and security interests. Patents filed in the last 20 years. No claims or full text. Links to other records are by name (and state): EXACT means the identical full name and state; FUZZY means a looser name match, with the confidence shown.