Method and apparatus for cracking of a process gas

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-11053121-B2
Application number	US-201816164077-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Oct 18, 2018
Priority date	Mar 27, 2017
Publication date	Jul 6, 2021
Grant date	Jul 6, 2021

Abstract

A nanoparticle or agglomerate which contains connected multi-walled spherical fullerenes coated in layers of graphite. In different embodiments, the nanoparticles and agglomerates have different combinations of: a high mass fraction compared to other carbon allotropes present, a low concentration of defects, a low concentration of elemental impurities, a high Brunauer, Emmett and Teller (BET) specific surface area, and/or a high electrical conductivity. Methods are provided to produce the nanoparticles and agglomerates at a high production rate without using catalysts.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. An apparatus, comprising:
a body having a longitudinal axis, the body comprising:
a reaction tube configured to receive a hydrocarbon gas; and
a heating element disposed along the longitudinal axis within the reaction tube, the heating element configured to emit heat to thermally crack the hydrocarbon gas at a cracking temperature;

a cap assembly fluidly connected to an end of the reaction tube;
a lower portion fluidly connected to the cap assembly; and
an outlet fluidly coupled to the lower portion, the outlet configured to output a plurality of carbon aggregates generated in response to thermally cracking the hydrocarbon gas at the cracking temperature.

2. The apparatus of claim 1 , wherein the plurality of carbon aggregates has a ratio of carbon to other elements, except Hydrogen, greater than 99.9%.

3. The apparatus of claim 1 , wherein any one or more of the plurality of carbon aggregates has a first Raman peak at approximately 750 cm −1 and a second Raman peak at approximately 1580 cm −1 .

4. The apparatus of claim 1 , wherein any one or more of the plurality of carbon aggregates comprises one or more multi-walled spherical fullerenes.

5. The apparatus of claim 1 , wherein any one or more of the plurality of carbon based aggregates has a dimension approximately between 1 micron and 500 microns.

6. The apparatus of claim 1 , wherein the plurality of carbon aggregates includes one or more graphene-based layers or structures.

7. The apparatus of claim 1 , wherein the plurality of carbon aggregates has a specific surface area approximately between 10 m 2 /g and 200 m 2 /g.

8. The apparatus of claim 1 , further comprising a pellet formed by compression of at least some of the plurality of carbon aggregates.

9. The apparatus of claim 1 , wherein the hydrocarbon gas configured to be flowed at a rate approximately between 1 slm and 10 slm.

10. The apparatus of claim 1 , wherein the cracking temperature is approximately between 1600° C. and 2200° C.

11. The apparatus of claim 6 , wherein a ratio of graphene-based layers or structures and the multi-walled spherical fullerenes is approximately between 10% and 80%.

12. The apparatus of claim 1 , further comprising:
a cooling fluid inlet coupled to a first side of the reaction tube;
a cooling fluid outlet coupled to a second side of the reaction tube; and
a cooling fluid region disposed along a surface of the reaction tube, the cooling fluid region configured to circulate a cooling fluid within a portion of the reaction tube.

13. The apparatus of claim 12 , wherein the cooling fluid is configured to cool the cracked hydrocarbon gas to a temperature below approximately 1000° C.

14. The apparatus of claim 1 , further comprising a gas inlet fluidly coupled to the reaction tube, the gas inlet configured to flow a gas mixture into the reaction tube.

15. The apparatus of claim 14 , wherein the gas mixture includes the hydrocarbon gas.

16. The apparatus of claim 14 , wherein the gas inlet further comprises a control valve, the control valve configured to control a time period during which the hydrocarbon gas is present within the reaction tube.

17. The apparatus of claim 1 , wherein the lower portion is coaxially coupled to the cap assembly.

18. The apparatus of claim 1 , wherein the reaction tube further comprises a reaction zone defined by the heat emitted from the heating element.

19. The apparatus of claim 1 , wherein the lower portion includes at least a portion of the heating element.

20. The apparatus of claim 1 , wherein the heat emitted from the heating element is adjustable.

Assignees

• Lyten Inc

Inventors

• Cook Daniel
• Ghezelbash Hossein-Ali
• Anzelmo Bryce H
• Tanner David
• Singh Shreeyukta

Classifications

• B22F1/0547

  Nanofibres or nanotubes · CPC title

• C01P2006/12

  Surface area · CPC title

• C01P2004/62

  Submicrometer sized, i.e. from 0.1-1 micrometer · CPC title

• C01B32/154 Primary

  Preparation · CPC title

• C01P2002/82

  by IR- or Raman-data · CPC title