Lawrence M Conaway Deceased716 9Th St, Niagara Falls, NY 14301

6576145, Jun 10, 2003

Jun 18, 2001

09/883718

Lawrence M. Conaway - Niagara Falls NY
Roger Noble - Tulsa OK
Michael Keller - Tulsa OK
David Caffey - Bixby OK

Continuum Environmental, LLC - Niagara Falls NY

C02F 172

210759, 210766, 210768, 210774, 210805, 210808

Method and apparatus for treating a mixture of mineral substrate particles and hydrocarbon compounds, especially tar sands and contaminated soils, to recover a hydrocarbon portion and a cleaned substrate portion. In a preferably continuous process, hydrocarbonaceous rock, sand, ore, or soil containing bitumen, petroleum, and/or kerogen is crushed or otherwise comminuted as needed to the particle size of sand or smaller. The comminuted ore is mixed with water to form a slurry, is heated to between 60Â C. and 100Â C. , and is blended with an oxidant in aqueous solution, preferably hydrogen peroxide. Both free interstitial hydrocarbons and those hydrocarbons bound electrostatically to the surfaces of clay-like particles in the ore are released from the mineral substrate.

6951248, Oct 4, 2005

Jul 12, 2002

10/195096

Lawrence M. Conaway - Niagara Falls NY, US
Roger Noble - Tulsa OK, US
Michael Keller - Tulsa OK, US
David Caffey - Bixby OK, US

Continuum Environmental, LLC - Niagara Falls NY

E21B043/24

166270, 1662726

A method for separating oil from geological formations by application of an aqueous oxidant. The oxidant breaks the interfacial attraction between the oil phase and the geological formation and also produces ketone moieties which assist in separating the oil phase from the mineral phase and also dissolve into the oil phase, thereby decreasing the viscosity. The method is especially useful in recovering heavy oil from geological formations wherein oil has been previously extracted to exhaustion by prior art methods.

2004012, Jul 8, 2004

Nov 17, 2003

10/715186

Lawrence Conaway - Niagara Falls NY, US
Michael Keller - Tulsa OK, US
Roger Noble - Tulsa OK, US

C02F001/72

210/759000

Method and apparatus for treating an ore comprising mineral substrate particles surrounded by hydrocarbon compounds, especially tar sand grains and contaminated soils, to recover a hydrocarbon portion and a cleaned substrate portion. In a preferably continuous process, hydrocarbonaceous rock, sand, ore, or soil containing bitumen, petroleum, and/or kerogen may be crushed or otherwise comminuted as needed to provide a particle size of sand or smaller. The ore is mixed with water to form a slurry. The slurry is heated to about 80 C. and is intensively sheared to condition the slurry for separation, preferably by shear-fracture of the hydrocarbon layers surrounding the particles in the grains. The conditioned slurry is blended with a peroxide in aqueous solution, preferably hydrogen peroxide, which enters the grains and is decomposed therein, creating bubbles of free oxygen within the grains which disrupt the hydrocarbon envelope. In decomposing, the peroxide increases the hydrophilicity of the particle surfaces. Both free and bound hydrocarbons in the ore are thereby released from the mineral substrate particles. The resulting hydrocarbon globules are separated from the substrate particles by flotation, accelerated by attached oxygen bubbles. Water and mineral tailings from the process are substantially free of hydrocarbon contamination and are environmentally suitable for landfill disposal.

2004022, Nov 11, 2004

Jun 10, 2004

10/865641

Lawrence Conaway - Niagara Falls NY, US
Michael Keller - Tulsa OK, US
Roger Noble - Tulsa OK, US

C02F001/72

210/759000

Method and apparatus for treating an ore comprising mineral substrate particles surrounded by hydrocarbon compounds, especially tar sand grains, process tailings, and contaminated soils, to recover a hydrocarbon portion and a cleaned substrate portion. In a preferably continuous process, hydrocarbonaceous rock, sand, ore, tailings, or soil containing bitumen, petroleum, and/or kerogen may be crushed or otherwise comminuted as needed to provide a particle size of sand or smaller. The ore is mixed with water to form a slurry, which may also contain alkali, for example, sodium hydroxide or sodium bicarbonate. The slurry is heated to about 80 C. and is intensively sheared to condition the slurry for separation, preferably by shear-fracture of the hydrocarbon layers surrounding the particles in the grains. The conditioned slurry is blended with a peroxide in aqueous solution, preferably hydrogen peroxide, which enters the grains and is decomposed therein, creating bubbles of free oxygen within the grains which disrupt the hydrocarbon envelope. In decomposing, the peroxide increases the hydrophilicity of the particle surfaces. Both free and bound hydrocarbons in the ore are thereby released from the mineral substrate particles. The resulting hydrocarbon globules are separated from the substrate particles by flotation, accelerated by attached oxygen bubbles. Alkali and/or peroxide may be added during the flotation process. Water and mineral tailings from the process are substantially free of hydrocarbon contamination and are environmentally suitable for landfill disposal.

2006010, May 18, 2006

May 21, 2003

10/442583

Lawrence Conaway - Niagara Falls NY, US
Michael Keller - Tulsa OK, US
Roger Noble - Tulsa OK, US
David Caffey - Bixby OK, US

B01F 11/00
B01F 7/00

366241000, 366165300, 366279000

A mixer especially suited for treating a mixture of mineral substrate particles and hydrocarbon compounds, especially tar sands and contaminated soils, to recover a hydrocarbon portion and a cleaned substrate portion. Hydrocarbonaceous rock, sand, ore, or soil containing bitumen, petroleum, and/or kerogen is crushed or otherwise comminuted as needed to the particle size of sand or smaller. The comminuted ore is mixed with water to form a slurry, is heated to between 60 C. and 100 C., and is agitated with an oxidant in aqueous solution, preferably hydrogen peroxide, in a flow-through mixer having a low axial flow rate and a high radial flow rate. Both free interstitial hydrocarbons and those hydrocarbons bound electrostatically to the surfaces of clay-like particles in the ore are released from the mineral substrate. Some of the released hydrocarbon compounds may be controllably cleaved by the oxidant to yield organic compounds having lower average molecular weights which are suitable for refining as oil after separation from the process water phase and the residual particulate mineral substrate. The water and mineral tailings from the process are substantially free of hydrocarbon contamination and are environmentally suitable for landfill disposal.

2013024, Sep 19, 2013

Mar 1, 2013

13/782073

- Niagara Falls, CA
Lawrence Conaway - Lewiston NY, US

C10G 1/04

585835, 208391, 196 1452, 422187

A method for recovering hydrocarbons from an aqueous hydrocarbonaceous slurry comprises pumping a mixture of the slurry and an oxidizing agent through a conduit, wherein the conduit comprises a plurality of stationary interior projections defining a non-linear path through the conduit, and thereby agitating the mixture to release the hydrocarbons from the slurry; and separating the hydrocarbons from the slurry.

6251290, Jun 26, 2001

Nov 30, 1999

9/451293

Lawrence M. Conaway - Niagara Falls NY

Continuum Environmental, Inc. - Niagara Falls NY

C02F 172
B09C 108

210759

A method for treating hydrocarbonaceous deposits to recover a petroleum-like hydrocarbon portion and a cleaned particulate substrate portion. Hydrocarbonaceous ore containing bitumen and/or kerogen is crushed or otherwise comminuted to the particle size of sand or smaller. The comminuted ore is mixed with water to form a slurry, is heated to between 60. degree. C. and 100. degree. C. , and is blended with an oxidant in aqueous solution, preferably hydrogen peroxide. Both free interstitial hydrocarbons and those hydrocarbons bound electrostatically to the surfaces of clay-like particles in the ore are released from the rock substrate in a putative electrophysical reaction in the presence of the oxidant. Some of the released bitumenous and kerogenic compounds are then controllably cleaved by the oxidant in a limited Fenton's reaction to yield organic compounds having lower average molecular weights which are suitable for refining as oil after separation from the process water phase and the residual rock substrate. The water and rock tailings from the process are substantially free of hydrocarbon contamination and are environmentally suitable for landfill disposal.

5928522, Jul 27, 1999

Nov 17, 1997

8/971514

Lawrence M. Conaway - Youngstown NY

Continuum Invironmental, Inc. - Youngstown NY

B09C 102
B09C 108
B01D 2126

210759

Refinery waste feedstock is screened to remove large particles and is diluted to less than 5% solids weight percent to form a slurry. The slurry is agitated and heated to 180. degree. F. or higher for a time sufficient to melt waxy petroleum solids, reduce the viscosity of the slurry, reduce the density of petroleum fractions within the slurry, and begin to break surface adhesion of petroleum to residual fines. The conditioned slurry is passed through a first disc/bowl centrifuge which separates more than 80% of the waste volume as a first liquid effluent containing most of the petroleum fractions from the original waste and which may be returned to the refinery for processing. The residual cake is diluted with hot water to form a second slurry and is treated with an amount of hydrogen peroxide for a time sufficient to lyse and/or liberate residual petroleum bound to inert fine particles and to oxidize toxic polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons to non-toxic derivatives. The second slurry is passed through a second disc/bowl centrifuge, yielding a second liquid effluent which may be combined with the first liquid effluent. The residual cake, containing about 0.