Archive
BIOENERGY. Latest granted patents 2016-2018. Biomass-to-liquids (Fischer-Tropsch)
Summary
Biomass to liquid (BTL) is a multi-step process where thermochemical energy is used to convert biomass into synthetic hydrocarbon fuels. One of the most common production methods for biomass conversion is Fischer-Tropsch (FT) synthesis. Formerly, FT synthesis was used to produce diesel and gasoline out of coal or natural gas. In recent times much effort has been put into adapting this technology to receive high-quality transportation fuel out of biomass. The FT process includes several steps: gasification of the biomass at temperatures in the range of 200-350°C and at moderate pressures, synthesis gas cleaning, FT synthesis, and finally, hydroprocessing and distillation of the liquid hydrocarbons. The chief advantage of synthetic fuel produced via FT synthesis is that it is more environmentally friendly as is contains lower concentrations of nitrogen, sulphur, and aromatics. On the downside, some of the properties of fuel derived from biomass, such as density, viscosity and cold flow properties do not immediately correspond to the established standards and need quite a bit of further processing to improve fuel quality. Some of the other problems most frequently discussed in the patent literature include low efficiency of the main processes, as well as environmental issues. The patents presented in this bulletin try to overcome some of the aforementioned problems.
A selection of patents related to biomass-to-liquids processes and published by patent offices around the globe in 2016-2018 is provided for review in the present bulletin. General research methodology can be found at on the Advanced Energy Technologies website. The present bulletin includes 134 patents, prepared by applicants from 15 countries and registered in 16 patent offices. The patent documents mention 99 applicants and 250 IPC subgroups.
Key Highlights
The bulletin contains statistical data on the distribution of patent documents by years, by patent offices and by applicant countries, applicant-related data (residents and non-residents), data on the most frequently mentioned International Patent Classification divisions (sections, classes, subclasses, groups, and subgroups). The top three patent offices that granted the largest number of patents were USPTO (US), CIPO (CA) and CNIPA (CN).
Based on the analysis of each of the patents, internal characteristics of unified indicators (technical problems, types of inventive solutions, belonging to one or other technological segment) were found, which allowed specific features for each of the indicators for the entire array of documents to be defined, for instance, to define the leading problems or technical solution types that were disclosed by the inventors the most. Document lists are provided for the ten most popular groups of patent documents with identical unified indicators, including their ID numbers and applicant names.
The following information can be found for the top 10 applicants: breakdown of patents by problems, IPC sections, patent offices, technological indicators, as well as the estimation of their share in the established intellectual property market. The 10 leading applicants by the number of patent documents were: RES USA LLC (US), Rentech Inc. (US), Sasol Technology (Pty) Ltd. (ZA), Shell Internationale Research Maatschappij B.V. (NL), IGTL Technology Ltd (GB), RV LIZENZ AG (CH), Saudi Basic Industries Corporation (SA), Wuhan Kaidi Engineering Technology Research General Institute Co., Ltd. (CN), Axens (FR), BIONEXT (FR).
The bulletin contains lists of the top 10 prominent patents having the highest bibliographical rating, the most extensive coverage of IPC sections, the shortest patent pending time.
A list of all of the documents reviewed, arranged by the top 10 groups of patent documents with identical unified indicators and by patent offices with the indication of the ID numbers of the granted patents are provided in the conclusive part of the bulletin.
Who needs this bulletin?
The proposed patent statistics bulletin allows the existing trends in the intellectual property market of the specified industrial sector to be timely traced, as well as the possibility of acquiring a carefully selected list of patent documents fully corresponding to the specified subject. The bulletin can be useful for inventors, engineers, scientific workers, and business representatives, who are focused on the development of unconventional gas biomass-to-liquids-technologies production technologies.
