Hydroprocessing Reactor Patents: Who Leads, Filing Trends 2026
- A single leader files at scale. the top-ranked assignee holds 38 records against a fifth-place count of just 2, with a long tail of single- and two-filer entrants behind it.
- Filing peaked in 2021 at 16 records and has since flattened toward the 2022 midpoint of 9, suggesting the core reactor-internals claim space is largely staked out rather than still expanding.
- Almost all activity sits inside catalysis, not separations. B01J covers 100% of the 75 records in scope, while C10G hydrocarbon-oil processing appears in 37.3% and B01D separation equipment in only 22.7%.
What this landscape covers
Hydroprocessing reactor internals govern how a refinery converts crude fractions into cleaner fuels: catalyst bed distribution, quench zone design, hot spot control and the grading strategy used to manage pressure drop over a run. This landscape covers 75 published records filed between 2015 and 2026 that combine reactor or trickle-bed architecture with these operating-condition claims, filtered to IPC classes B01J8, C10G49 and B01J19.
Publication typically lags filing by roughly 18 months, so the most recent year's count understates real filing activity. Family-level counting is used where possible in the assignee ranking, which neutralises continuation filings and multi-jurisdiction duplicates that would otherwise inflate a single applicant's apparent output.
Let an AI agent run this analysis on your own technology
Pick a task. Every answer cites the patents behind it.
Filing trend and technology composition
Two views of the same 75-record dataset: annual filing volume, and the IPC subclasses those records fall into. Because a single record can carry more than one IPC class, the composition shares add up to more than 100% of the record total.
A 2021 peak followed by a flattening trend
Filings rose to a peak of 16 in 2021, then eased back toward 9 at the 2022 midpoint. That pattern reads as flat-to-declining rather than a technology still in a growth phase — though the most recent one or two years are understated by publication lag and should not be read as a hard drop-off.
Concentrated in catalysis, thinner in separations and heat exchange
B01J (chemical and physical processes, catalysis) touches every one of the 75 records in scope, confirming the search is anchored correctly on catalytic reactor internals. C10G (hydrocarbon oil refining) appears in 37.3% of records and B01D (separation processes) in 22.7%, while B01F mixing equipment, F28D heat exchange and B23P metalworking each cover a small minority — these thinner classes are where reactor-adjacent mechanical claims sit.
Shares are the percentage of the 75 records in scope. A patent can carry several IPC classes, so the shares add up to more than 100%.
Go deeper on Hydroprocessing Reactors and Internals with Eureka
This page is one run against one query. Ask Eureka your own question about hydroprocessing reactors and internals and every answer comes back with the patent numbers behind it.
Try EurekaThe most-cited prior art in this space
US6299759B1 — Hydroprocessing reactor and process with gas and liquid quench
A method and reactor system for catalytic hydrotreating and hydrocracking liquid hydrocarbon feedstock, using a plurality of successive reaction zones each with its own hydroprocessing catalyst bed, at least one hydrotreating zone upstream of at least one hydrocracking zone, with hydrogen gas introduced for flow through and over the catalyst beds to manage the hydrogen exotherm.Cited 130 times within this corpus — the single most-cited record by a wide margin, and the natural reference point for any multi-zone quench architecture filed after it.
| # | Publication no. | Patent title | Citations |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | US6299759B1 | Hydroprocessing reactor and process with gas and liquid quench | 130 |
| 2 | US20120305446A1 | Controlling temperature within a catalyst bed in a reactor vessel | 20 |
| 3 | US10589244B1 | Hydroprocessing reactor internals having reduced height | 13 |
| 4 | US20120269699A1 | Method of fabricating a mixing chamber and a reactor relating thereto | 13 |
| 5 | US20130064731A1 | Fixed-bed catalyst support for a hydroprocessing reactor | 12 |
| 6 | WO1999041329A1 | Hydroprocessing reactor and process with liquid quench | 11 |
| 7 | US10668442B1 | Hydroprocessing reactor internals having reduced height | 5 |
| 8 | US9199213B2 | Fixed-bed catalyst support for a hydroprocessing reactor | 3 |
| 9 | WO2024086807A1 | Multi-zone filtration device for a down-flow hydroprocessing reactor | 1 |
| 10 | EP4221880A1 | Hydroprocessing reactor internals having reduced height | 1 |
Citation counts are drawn from the searched corpus and favour older filings; treat them as a signal of influence on later applicants rather than a measure of current commercial importance.
Each row carries its publication number; clicking a row searches Eureka by that number.
Put your own technology through the same analysis
Eureka on the web
When you want the answer in the next five minutes.
The agent works the prompt against patents and technical literature, citing every source.
Run your analysis now →MCP server & REST API
When it has to run inside your own pipeline.
Patent search, landscape analysis and assignee resolution as MCP tools. Drop them into any agent framework, or call REST directly.
Browse MCP servers →What the numbers mean for a filing decision
Three read-throughs from the assignee, trend and citation data — useful for deciding where a new filing is likely to face dense prior art versus where the space is still open.
One filer dominates, five others hold single-digit counts
The top-ranked assignee's 38 records dwarf the fifth-ranked assignee's 2, and the ranking itself only covers six named entities. That gap signals a mature filer with an entrenched position in core quench-zone and catalyst-bed claims, with everyone else filing opportunistically rather than building a portfolio.
Filing has cooled since its 2021 peak
Annual filings rose to 16 in 2021 before easing back to 9 by the 2022 midpoint, with no assignee showing positive year-over-year momentum in the latest tracked year. That pattern is consistent with a claim space that has already been substantially staked out at the reactor-architecture level.
One 2001 patent anchors the citation graph
US6299759B1's multi-zone gas-and-liquid quench design is cited 130 times in this corpus, more than six times the next most-cited record. New filings on quench-zone architecture are very likely to be examined against it.
Eureka can read the same corpus for gaps instead of for coverage: under-claimed branches adjacent to hydroprocessing reactors and internals, with the prior art for and against each one.
Who is filing, and where the gaps sit
The assignee ranking returned by this dataset covers six companies, spanning legacy refining majors and individual named inventors. It is not a top-50 or top-100 list — it is the complete ranking this search surfaces.
A single major refiner leads by a wide margin
The top-ranked assignee's 38 records set it apart from every other name in the ranking, consistent with a company that has treated reactor internals as a core, defensible claim area over multiple filing cycles rather than a one-off contribution.
A steep drop-off after the leader
Fifth place holds only 2 records, and the ranking includes individually named inventors alongside corporate assignees. That mix suggests parts of this space, particularly mechanical fabrication details, are still being filed by small teams rather than dominated by refining majors.
Co-filing is essentially absent
Only one co-assignee pairing appears in the dataset, between two individually named inventors. Corporate assignees in this space are filing independently rather than through joint ventures or shared R&D arrangements, at least as far as this record set shows.
| Assignee | Recent year | YoY |
|---|---|---|
| UOP LLC | 0 | — |
| Chevron U.S.A. Inc. | 0 | -100% |
| Mobil Oil Corporation | 0 | — |
| DAILY JEFFREY N | 0 | — |
| KILLEN RALPH EVANS | 0 | — |
| BOYAK CRAIG | 0 | — |
Where to take this analysis
The dataset points to a mature, top-heavy filing landscape with a cooling trend. The next steps depend on whether the goal is freedom-to-operate, portfolio benchmarking or spotting an underused claim angle.
Map claims against the leader's portfolio
With one assignee holding 38 of the records in scope, any new filing on quench-zone or catalyst-bed architecture should be checked against that portfolio specifically, not just the general prior art.
Explore assignee portfolios in EurekaProbe the thinner IPC classes
B01F mixing, F28D heat exchange and B23P metalworking each cover a small minority of the 75 records, which is where narrower, less-contested claims are more likely to sit.
Run a white-space search in EurekaCommon questions on hydroprocessing reactor patents
One assignee leads this dataset clearly, holding 38 of the records in the six-company ranking returned for this search, compared with just 2 records at fifth place. That gap indicates a company that has built a sustained, defensible position across quench zone and catalyst bed claims over multiple filing years rather than a single breakthrough filing. Anyone assessing freedom-to-operate in this space should start by mapping that leader's specific claim scope before looking at the smaller filers.
Filings peaked at 16 in 2021 and eased back to 9 by the 2022 midpoint, with no assignee showing positive year-over-year momentum in the most recent tracked year. That pattern points to a flat-to-declining trend rather than continued growth. Recent-year counts are understated by the roughly 18-month lag between filing and publication, so the very latest year should not be read as a firm data point.
US6299759B1, assigned to Mobil Oil Corporation, claims a hydroprocessing reactor system with successive reaction zones — at least one hydrotreating zone upstream of a hydrocracking zone — using gas and liquid quench to manage the hydrogen exotherm across catalyst beds. It is cited 130 times within this corpus, far more than any other record tracked here. Any new filing on multi-zone quench architecture is likely to be examined against it, making it a key reference point for both drafting and clearance work.
The technology composition data shows B01F mixing equipment, F28D heat exchange and B23P metalworking each cover only a small share of the 75 records in scope, well behind the dominant B01J catalysis and C10G refining classes. These thinner classes cover mechanical aspects of reactor internals — mixing chamber fabrication, integrated heat exchange, and catalyst support manufacture — that sit adjacent to the heavily claimed core architecture. A first claim in one of these areas is more likely to find open space than another quench-zone geometry claim.
The assignee ranking for this search covers six companies, ranging from a leader with 38 records down to a fifth-place count of 2, but the ranking and the 75-record total are measured in different units so a precise concentration percentage cannot be stated from this data. What is clear is the shape: one dominant filer, a short middle tier, and named individual inventors filling out the tail. That shape is more typical of a mature, staked-out technology area than an emerging one.
Research Hydroprocessing Reactors and Internals in depth with Eureka
Go past this page: query the whole hydroprocessing reactors and internals corpus yourself, in your own scope.
Every answer comes back with patent numbers you can open.
Disclaimer. This page is generated from Patsnap Eureka data drawn from a limited snapshot of global patent and scientific-literature records, and is provided for general information and reference only.
Patent data carries inherent limitations: recent filings (typically the most recent 18–24 months) are under-counted due to standard publication lag; counts may be reported at either a patent-family or a patent-record basis and are not always directly comparable; classification, applicant-name, and citation data may contain errors, duplicates, or omissions; and the underlying search query defines and constrains the scope shown. As a result, the analysis may be incomplete or inaccurate and may not reflect the full technology landscape.
Nothing on this page constitutes an exhaustive prior-art, novelty, freedom-to-operate, or validity search, nor does it constitute legal, financial, investment, or professional advice, and it should not be relied upon as such. Any patent, commercial, or strategic decision should be verified independently and reviewed with qualified patent, legal, and domain professionals. Patsnap makes no warranties, express or implied, as to the accuracy, completeness, or fitness for any particular purpose of the information presented.
Machine translation. Assignee and organisation names originally recorded in Chinese, Japanese or Korean have been rendered into English by an AI translation step so that the tables stay readable. These renderings are best-effort and may not match a company’s registered English name; the original name is what the underlying patent record carries, and it is what any Eureka query launched from this page uses.