A system and method is provided for upgrading a continuously flowing process stream including heavy crude oil (HCO). A reactor receives the process stream in combination with water, at an inlet temperature within a range of about 60 C. to about 200 C. The reactor includes one or more process flow tubes having a combined length of about 30 times their aggregated transverse cross-sectional dimension, and progressively heats the process stream to an outlet temperature T(max)1 within a range of between about 260 C. to about 400 C. The reactor maintains the process stream at a pressure sufficient to ensure that it remains a single phase at T(max)1. A controller selectively adjusts the rate of flow of the process stream through the reactor to maintain a total residence time of greater than about 1 minute and less than about 25 minutes.

The invention relates to a process to convert hydrocarbons into hydrogen and a separate carbon phase, whereby in step a) the hydrocarbons are contacted with a molten salt, preferably comprising Zinc Chloride, at temperatures preferably above 500 C. and in step b) a solid or liquid carbon phase is separated from the molten salt at a lower temperature, preferably below 150 C. The molten salt is then preferably re-heated to the desired temperature and recycled to step a). The process avoids the emission of CO.sub.2, making the hydrogen produced in this way a zero CO.sub.2 emission fuel and which also produces a carbon product produced having a use value.

A method of producing petrochemicals using a hydrocarbon fuel cell includes the steps of operating the fuel cell to produce electricity, thermal energy, and one or more exhaust stream, the one or more exhaust stream comprising at least a carbon-containing gas and water, reacting at least a portion of the exhaust stream with the reactant stream of natural gas to produce one or more petrochemical streams in a reactor, and heating one or more reactants using at least a portion of at least one of the electricity and the thermal energy.

The invention relates to a process for removal of unwanted, in particular acidic, gas constituents, for example carbon dioxide and hydrogen sulfide, from a crude synthesis gas containing metal carbonyls by gas scrubbing with a scrubbing medium. According to the invention water is added directly into the feed conduit of the methanol water mixture containing metal sulfides before the introduction thereof into the methanol-water separating column and/or water is injected directly into the methanol-water separating column at at least one point. This avoids deposits or encrustations of metal sulfide particles in the methanol-water separating column.

Processes for producing high biogenic concentration Fischer-Tropsch liquids derived from the organic fraction of municipal solid wastes (MSW) feedstock that contains a relatively high concentration of biogenic carbon (derived from plants) and a relatively low concentration of non-biogenic carbon (derived from fossil sources) wherein the biogenic content of the Fischer-Tropsch liquids is the same as the biogenic content of the feedstock.

Novel redox based systems for fuel and chemical production with in-situ CO.sub.2 capture are provided. A redox system using one or more chemical intermediates is utilized in conjunction with liquid fuel generation via indirect Fischer-Tropsch synthesis, direct hydrogenation, or pyrolysis. The redox system is used to generate a hydrogen rich stream and/or CO.sub.2 and/or heat for liquid fuel and chemical production. A portion of the byproduct fuels and/or steam from liquid fuel and chemical synthesis is used as part of the feedstock for the redox system.

An apparatus and method for reclaiming and filtering helium for reuse in analytical instruments. The method includes inputting the output gas stream from a gas chromatograph split vent and subjecting the input gas stream to a mini-particulate filter. The gas stream is also subjected to a molecular sieve filter and a finishing filter to isolate the helium carrier gas. The finishing filter removes trace contaminants that are not caught in the previous filters. The method utilizes a pump and controller to maintain a constant pressure, preferably between 80 and 100 psi, to avoid back-flow contamination and to ensure movement of the gas stream through the filters. Additionally, the use of a relief valve prevents back pressure from entering into the gas chromatograph. The filtered helium gas may be stored for future use or re-introduced directly to the input carrier gas stream of a gas chromatograph.

A system and method for oxygen transport membrane enhanced Integrated Gasifier Combined Cycle (IGCC) is provided. The oxygen transport membrane enhanced IGCC system is configured to generate electric power and optionally produce a fuel/liquid product from coal-derived synthesis gas or a mixture of coal-derived synthesis gas and natural gas derived synthesis gas.

A method of removing carbon dioxide from an atmosphere and generating hydrogen includes capturing carbon dioxide from the atmosphere in an alkaline capture solution, sending the alkaline capture solution to a series of electrolyzers in a CO.sub.2-rich path, wherein each electrolyzer cell raises the acidity of the input CO.sub.2-rich solution to produce an acidified CO.sub.2-rich solution, removing carbon dioxide from the acidified CO.sub.2-rich solution at a carbon removal unit to produce a CO.sub.2-poor solution, sending the CO.sub.2-poor solution to the series of electrolyzers in a return path, wherein each electrolyzer raises the alkalinity of the return CO.sub.2-poor solution to produce a basified CO.sub.2-poor solution, wherein a difference in pH between the CO.sub.2-rich solution and the CO.sub.2-poor solution within each electrolyzer is less than 3, and returning the basified CO.sub.2-poor solution to the carbon dioxide capture unit operation.

Processes for producing high biogenic concentration Fischer-Tropsch liquids derived from the organic fraction of municipal solid wastes (MSW) feedstock that contains a relatively high concentration of biogenic carbon (derived from plants) and a relatively low concentration of non-biogenic carbon (derived from fossil sources) wherein the biogenic content of the Fischer-Tropsch liquids is the same as the biogenic content of the feedstock.