Patent ID: 7462211

Claim:
A method for separating solids from a gas-solids flow, comprising: a) flowing a gas-solids flow comprising a hydrocarbon gas from a reactor into a separation volume, the separation volume being external to the reactor; b) separating the gas-solids flow into a first flow portion and a second flow portion, the first flow portion comprising at least 0.5% of the gas in the gas-solids flow and having a higher density than the second flow portion; c) separating the first flow portion into a third flow portion and fourth flow portion, the third flow portion having a higher density than the fourth flow portion; d) maintaining the temperature of the first flow portion, second flow portion, and fourth flow portion at 250° F. or greater; e) merging the fourth flow portion with the second flow portion; f) capturing the solids of the third flow portion in a retaining volume; and g) transferring the captured solids from the retaining volume to the reactor.