DETAILED ACTION
Notice of Pre-AIA or AIA Status
The present application, filed on or after March 16, 2013, is being examined under the first inventor to file provisions of the AIA .
Status of the Claims
Claims 1, 6, 10, and 12-16 are amended. Claims 2-5 are as previously presented. Claims 57-63 are newly added. Claims 7-9, 11, and 17-56 are cancelled. Therefore, claims 1-6, 10, 12-16, and 57-63 are currently pending and have been considered below.
Response to Amendment
The amendment filed on January 14, 2026 has been entered.
Response to Arguments
Applicant’s arguments, see Pages 7-9, filed on 01/14/2026, with respect to the rejection(s) of claim(s) 1-8, 10-19, 21, and 55-56 under U.S.C. 103 have been fully considered and are persuasive. Therefore, the rejection has been withdrawn. However, upon further consideration, a new ground(s) of rejection is made in view of applicant’s amendment regarding the heat exchangers and their respective plurality of openings in the top closure lid and newly found prior art regarding these features.
It is the Examiner’s position that the newly found prior art reference Bell meets the newly added limitations and the other prior art references are left due to maintaining a prior art record.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 103
The following is a quotation of 35 U.S.C. 103 which forms the basis for all obviousness rejections set forth in this Office action:
A patent for a claimed invention may not be obtained, notwithstanding that the claimed invention is not identically disclosed as set forth in section 102, if the differences between the claimed invention and the prior art are such that the claimed invention as a whole would have been obvious before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to a person having ordinary skill in the art to which the claimed invention pertains. Patentability shall not be negated by the manner in which the invention was made.
The factual inquiries for establishing a background for determining obviousness under 35 U.S.C. 103 are summarized as follows:
1. Determining the scope and contents of the prior art.
2. Ascertaining the differences between the prior art and the claims at issue.
3. Resolving the level of ordinary skill in the pertinent art.
4. Considering objective evidence present in the application indicating obviousness or nonobviousness.
Claims 1-3, 6, 10, 12-14, and 57-60 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Ambrosek et al. (WO 2012174540 A1, hereinafter Ambrosek) in view of Meroueh et al. (US 20190153284 A1, hereinafter Meroueh) and Zou et al. (CN 112033082 A, hereinafter Zou) and Chen et al. (CN 108981438 A, hereinafter Chen) and Bell et al. (US 20110017196 A1, hereinafter Bell).
Regarding claim 1, Ambrosek discloses a thermal energy containment vessel (Abstract, “A thermal energy storage system”) comprising:
an elongated body defining an internal cavity (Para. 0032, “insulated containment 436 of the storage vessel.”, and Fig. 4, where the containment 436 is shown to be an elongated body) containing a bed of phase change material operable to store thermal energy (Para. 0028, “This storage is performed with a phase change thermal storage media 432 to greatly increase the heat (storage) capacity of the module”);
at least one heat source embedded in the phase change material (Para. 0029, “This thermal conductive endostructure 434 forms pathways of thermal communication throughout the thermal storage media 432, and facilitates thermal conduction that may then support thermal convection to provide more efficient and rapid heat transfer from the heat-in source, which in this embodiment are electric heating elements 430, throughout the thermal storage media 432.”), the heat source operable to heat and melt the phase change material to a molten state (Para. 0041, “In charge mode, the heating element 430 draws energy from a variety of forms and transfers that heat to the thermal conductive endostructure 534 and to the thermal storage media 432, heating the endostructure and changing the phase and heating the liquid media.”, where a molten state for the storage media 432 is achieved, Para. 0040, “The thermal storage media 432 (in this embodiment a salt mixture) is added so that upon melting, the media occupies essentially all of the available void space.”);
each of the plurality of heat exchangers configured to convey a working fluid through the tube bundle to absorb thermal energy from the molten phase change material (Para. 0038, “an energy transfer media, which may be introduced as steam, air, supercritical C(¾ or the like, entering the thermal storage module 402 at the energy transfer media input 438 to heat and maintain a constant media temperature as it exits at the energy transfer media output 440.”).
Ambrosek does not disclose:
a top closure lid defining a top of the thermal energy containment vessel comprising a plurality of openings;
a plurality of heat exchangers embedded in the phase change material, each of the plurality of heat exchangers aligned with a respective one of the plurality of openings of the top closure lid, each of the plurality of heat exchangers comprising a tube bundle configured to pass through the respective one of the plurality of openings in the top closure lid.
However, Meroueh discloses, in the similar field of thermal energy containment devices (Abstract, “storage of electricity in the form of thermal energy”), where the heat is electrically coupled to an electric power source (Para. 0113, “an electrical heater 28 converting electricity from the grid, renewable sources, or the power plant coupled to TERS, into thermal energy stored within the silicon”). It would have been obvious for one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filling date of the claimed invention to have modified the heater in Ambrosek to include a power source as taught by Meroueh.
One of ordinary skill in the art would have been motivated to make this modification in order to gain the advantage of allowing the thermal energy storage unit be capable of accepting energy from different sources, where excess energy can be sent to the storage unit to improve efficiency, as stated by Meroueh, Para. 0125, “electrical heating of the thermal energy storage medium, thereby allowing electricity produced by various energy sources to charge TERS such as wind turbines, photovoltaic farms or residential photovoltaic systems, fossil fuel power plants during times of low demand, excess electricity from the grid, etc.”.
Zou discloses, in the similar field of thermal energy containment devices (Page 1, last Para., “a cold storage strip capable of replacing cold storage pipe, cold storage assembly, refrigerator car and a refrigerating device.”), where there is a closure lid defining a top (Page 3, Para. 3 from end, “ 30 is a cover plate”), where a heat exchanger tube is removably insertable into the vessel through an opening in the top closure lid (Page 4, Para. 1, “Referring to FIG. 1 and FIG. 2, the first embodiment of the present invention provides a replaceable cold storage pipe of the cold storage strip 100; The cold storage strip 100 comprises: cold storage pipe sleeve 10, cold storage pipe 20”, where from Fig. 1, the cold storage pipe is 20 and it is replaceable, meaning that it can be removably insertable into the sleeve 10 that is construed as the thermal storage device; where the pipe 20 can be replaced through the hole in the cover 30 shown in Fig. 5). It would have been obvious for one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filling date of the claimed invention to have modified the heat exchangers in modified Ambrosek to be removably insertable or replaceable as taught by Zou.
One of ordinary skill in the art would have been motivated to make this modification in order to gain the advantage of preventing corrosion in the heat exchanger if the thermal storage medium were altered as the pipe can be replaced, where this allows a user to have access to more thermal storage mediums, as stated by Zou, Page 3, Para. 2, “advantages or beneficial effects: i) the cold storage strip is provided with the limiting component; the limiting component is used for detachably setting the cold storage pipe in the cold storage pipe sleeve; effectively solving the problem that the cold storage pipe is affected by cold storage agent corrosion to affect the stability of the cold storage strip structure and the transmission of cold quantity in the cold filling process”.
Regarding removability, it has also been held that mere making separable is an obvious modification to make. In re Dulberg, 289 F.2d 522, 523, 129 USPQ 348, 349 (CCPA 1961). It is the Examiner’s position that removing and replacing heat exchanger tubes is would still allow the heat exchanger tubes to do their function of gather thermal energy. The replaceability of a tube would be a mere matter of user design choice in extending the longevity of the system.
Further, Chen discloses, in the similar field of heat exchanger tubes (Abstract, “heat exchanger and heat exchange method, wherein the heat exchanger comprises a shell and a phase change heat tube bundle arranged in the shell”), where the tubes can be placed within individual cartridges (Page 4, last Para., “inner tube 12 is nested in the outer tube 6”) that include respective opening in a top closure lid of a vessel (Page 4, last Para., “the outer tube 6 of the outlet end is welded and fixed with the outer tube sheet 10”, where Fig. 2 shows that the pipes 12 extend past their cartridges 6 and the top closure lid 10, meaning that there are openings in the lid to accommodate the cartridges). It would have been obvious for one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filling date of the claimed invention to have modified the heating elements in modified Ambrosek to include an outer cartridge as taught by Chen; where combined with the teaching from Zou, the cartridge of Chen could be removably insertable into the vessel through the cover 30 in order to prolong the lifespan of the heat storage unit through removal of corroded cartridges.
One of ordinary skill in the art would have been motivated to make this modification in order to gain the advantage of being able to more directly connect a phase change material to a heat exchanger tube, where the amount and location of the phase change material can be customized, as stated by Chen, Page 5, Para. 2 from end, “outer phase-change material chamber 11 uses multi-chamber (cavity ≥ 3) structure, the cavity wall with inner pipe 12 outer wall and outer tube 6 inner wall are fixed by welding, and the number thereof can be phase change/heat storage power storage heat exchanger to flexibly set so as to effectively improve the phase-change work flexibility of the heat exchanger.”.
Bell discloses, in the similar field of thermal energy containment vessels (Abstract, “A containment vessel for a thermal energy storage system”), where a top closure lid defines a top of the thermal containment vessel and has a plurality of openings (Para. 0115, “When the heat exchanger 501 is lowered into the support frame 540, the upper ends of the support columns 542-548 are received in the engagement sleeves 556. The support columns 542-548 may be further secured therein by bolts (not shown) which pass through the engagement sleeves 556 and upper ends of the support columns 542-548.”, where the heat exchanger is lowered into a plurality of opening created by the support frames 540, where the support frames that include the openings are all connected to a top closure lid, Para. 0116, “One aspect of the combination of the heat exchangers 501-508, heat exchanger support frames 540 and the roof truss assembly 400 is that for seismic stability, each of the heat exchangers frames may be constrained to prevent movement in the horizontal direction by the roof truss assembly 400”, where the roof truss 400 is connected to the support frames, where the roof truss can be covered, Para. 0122, “assembly of the roof truss assembly 400 are complete, a layer of batt insulation 470 is applied to the upper surface of the bottom sheet of the roof truss assembly 400, and the caps 530 of the heat exchangers 501-508.”), where a plurality of heat exchangers embedded in phase change material (Para. 0013, “one or more heat exchangers immersed in the molten salt in the vessel. In like manner, during nighttime or overcast days, the thermal energy is transferred from the vessel of molten salt to the power generator by the circulation of the heat transfer fluid therebetween.”, where salt can change from solid to molten when storing energy) are aligned with the plurality of openings in the closure lid (Para. 0115, “When the heat exchanger 501 is lowered into the support frame 540, the upper ends of the support columns 542-548 are received in the engagement sleeves 556. The support columns 542-548 may be further secured therein by bolts (not shown) which pass through the engagement sleeves 556 and upper ends of the support columns 542-548.”), where each of the plurality of heat exchangers comprises a tube bundle that passes through the plurality of openings (Para. 0111, “The heat exchanger 501 is comprised of a plurality of heat exchanger tubes 520, which are sealed by welding, for example, to a header plate 522. The tubes 520 may be U-tubes, i.e., formed into U-shapes, and joined at their respective ends to the header plate 522. The tubes may be supported and aligned along their lengths by several tube alignment sheets 524, 526, and 528. A cap 530 is joined to the header plate 522, and is provided with an inlet port 532, and outlet port 534, and internal passageways to direct the heat transfer fluid into and out of the U-tubes 520.”, where the tubes all pass through the openings as they are attached to the header plate 522, where the header plate includes engagement sleeves 556 that enter into the opening created by the support frames 540). It would have been obvious for one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filling date of the claimed invention to have modified the heat exchangers and phase change material in modified Ambrosek to include the tube bundle and openings as taught by Bell.
One of ordinary skill in the art would have been motivated to make this modification in order to gain the advantage of being able to use openings in a closure lid to allow for the heat exchangers to have vertical movement, where this allows for a range of operating temperatures to occur without damaging the heat exchangers as the exchangers can expand and contract, as stated by Bell, Para. 0116, “One aspect of the combination of the heat exchangers 501-508, heat exchanger support frames 540 and the roof truss assembly 400 is that for seismic stability, each of the heat exchangers frames may be constrained to prevent movement in the horizontal direction by the roof truss assembly 400, while simultaneously being permitted to expand and contract in the vertical direction due to their exposure to the range of operating temperatures of the salt contained in the vessel 101.”.
Regarding claim 2, modified Ambrosek teaches the apparatus according to claim 1, as set forth above, discloses wherein the working fluid comprises water (Ambrosek, Para. 0040, “The
geometry shown suggests that the energy transfer media may be a liquid, such as water,
which would be turned into a vapor.”).
Regarding claim 3, modified Ambrosek teaches the apparatus according to claim 2, as set forth above, discloses wherein the vessel is configured to convert the water from a liquid state entering the vessel to steam exiting the vessel (Ambrosek, Para. 0040, “The geometry shown suggests that the energy transfer media may be a liquid, such as water, which would be turned into a vapor.”).
Regarding claim 6, modified Ambrosek teaches the apparatus according to claim 1, as set forth above, discloses where each tube bundle of each of the plurality of heat exchangers is vertical elongated and parallel to each other so working fluid flows vertically inside the tube bundle (Teaching from Bell, Para. 0111, “The heat exchanger 501 is comprised of a plurality of heat exchanger tubes 520, which are sealed by welding, for example, to a header plate 522. The tubes 520 may be U-tubes, i.e., formed into U-shapes, and joined at their respective ends to the header plate 522. The tubes may be supported and aligned along their lengths by several tube alignment sheets 524, 526, and 528.”, where Fig. 8 shows the vertical tube bundles).
Modified Ambrosek does not disclose:
wherein the body of the vessel is vertically elongated and cylindrical in shape, and each tube bundle of each of the plurality of heat exchangers is vertically elongated and parallel to each other such that the working fluid flows vertically through the bed of molten phase change material inside each tube bundle.
However, Meroueh discloses where the body of the vessel is vertically elongated and cylindrical (Para. 0062, “FIG. lB presents the inlets of heat transfer fluid into the heat transfer fluid containing tube 1 and outer PCM shell 2. FIG. lC presents the annular design of the device, wherein the PCM is encased 3 to surround the heat transfer fluid tube in the center.”, where Fig. 1A shows that the vessel is vertically elongated and cylindrical), where the heat exchanger tubes are vertically elongated and parallel to each other so that water flows vertically within the phase change material (Para. 0063, “The PCM surrounds the tubes 5 in which HTF flows up to collect latent heat from the PCM during phase change.”). It would have been obvious for one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filling date of the claimed invention to have modified the vessel and heat exchanger tubes in modified Ambrosek to be positioned as taught by Meroueh.
One of ordinary skill in the art would have been motivated to make this modification in order to gain the advantage of allowing a user to have an easier time installing additional objects like insulation, as stated by Meroueh, Para. 0124, “Insulation that may easily be inserted and removed vertically shall be placed between the contained silicon and ring of pipes during hours of active storage.”.
Regarding claim 10, modified Ambrosek teaches the apparatus according to claim 1, as set forth above, discloses wherein each of the plurality of heat exchangers comprises a head disposed within the respective one of the plurality of openings of the top closure lid of the vessel, a top end of the tube bundle extending through and coupled to the head (Teaching from Bell, Para. 0111, “The heat exchanger 501 is comprised of a plurality of heat exchanger tubes 520, which are sealed by welding, for example, to a header plate 522. The tubes 520 may be U-tubes, i.e., formed into U-shapes, and joined at their respective ends to the header plate 522. The tubes may be supported and aligned along their lengths by several tube alignment sheets 524, 526, and 528. A cap 530 is joined to the header plate 522, and is provided with an inlet port 532, and outlet port 534, and internal passageways to direct the heat transfer fluid into and out of the U-tubes 520.”, where the heat exchangers all have a head or cap 530 which is within the opening when viewed vertically, where the tube end of the tube bundle is connected to the head/cap through the inlet and outlet ports).
Regarding claim 12, modified Ambrosek teaches the apparatus according to claim 1, as set forth above.
Modified Ambrosek does not disclose:
wherein the each tube bundle of each of the plurality of heat exchangers comprises a plurality of heat exchanger tubes configured so that the working fluid makes multiple passes through the bed of molten phase change material so that the working fluid becomes successively heated to higher and higher temperatures with each pass.
However, Meroueh discloses where the heat exchanger tubes can include multiple passes through the phase change material to increase the temperature (Para. 0104, “FIG. 14A is a vertical section showing the possible finned tube arrangement through which heat transfer fluid flows, allowing higher heat flux from the thermal energy storage medium to be transferred to said fluid by additional conduction heat transfer from the fins.”, where the increasing heat flux would make the fluid temperature increase as it passes through each undulating section). It would have been obvious for one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filling date of the claimed invention to have modified the structure and shape of the heat exchanger tubes in modified Ambrosek to include the feature as taught by Meroueh.
One of ordinary skill in the art would have been motivated to make this modification in order to gain the advantage of being able to increase heat transfer to the fluid within the heat exchanger, where this change in shape improves the heat flux supplied, as stated by Meroueh, Para. 0104, “FIG. 14A is a vertical section showing the possible finned tube arrangement through which heat transfer fluid flows, allowing higher heat flux from the thermal energy storage medium to be transferred to said fluid by additional conduction heat transfer from the fins.”.
Regarding claim 13, modified Ambrosek teaches the apparatus according to claim 12, as set forth above, discloses wherein some of the heat exchanger tubes of each tube bundle are upflow tubes and some of the heat exchanger tubes of each tube bundle are downflow tubes (Teaching from Meroueh, Para. 0104, “FIG. 14A is a vertical section showing the possible finned tube arrangement through which heat transfer fluid flows, allowing higher heat flux from the thermal energy storage medium to be transferred to said fluid by additional conduction heat transfer from the fins.”, where the undulating tube structure would include upflow and downflow sections).
Regarding claim 14, modified Ambrosek teaches the apparatus according to claim 13, as set forth above, discloses wherein some of the upflow tubes of each tube bundle are fluidly coupled to a corresponding downflow tube member by a cross-flow conduit (Teaching from Meroueh, Para. 0104, “FIG. 14A is a vertical section showing the possible finned tube arrangement through which heat transfer fluid flows, allowing higher heat flux from the thermal energy storage medium to be transferred to said fluid by additional conduction heat transfer from the fins.”, where the undulating tube structure would include upflow and downflow sections are the linear sections, where a cross flow conduit is the U shape curve that connects the linear sections).
Modified Ambrosek does not disclose:
the cross-flow conduit attached to an upper tube support plate.
However, Chen discloses where a support plate is attached to the tube cartridges (Page 5, Para. 3, “phase change heat tube bundle 14 through baffle plate 4 disposed within the housing 5 in an array, and are respectively welded and fixed on outer tube plate 10 and tube plate 15”). It would have been obvious for one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filling date of the claimed invention to have modified the tube cartridges in modified Ambrosek to include multiple baffle plates attached to those cartridges as taught by Chen.
One of ordinary skill in the art would have been motivated to make this modification in order to gain the advantage of being able to fix the tubes so that their positioning is stabilized, as stated by Chen, Page 5, Para. 3, “phase change heat tube bundle 14 through baffle plate 4 disposed within the housing 5 in an array, and are respectively welded and fixed on outer tube plate 10 and tube plate 15”.
Regarding the specific positioning of the baffles at a cross flow conduit location, it has been held that mere making adjustable is an obvious modification to make. In re Stevens, 212 F.2d 197, 101 USPQ 284 (CCPA 1954). Since Chen already shows that multiple baffles can fix tube cartridges together, the adjusting of the baffle position would still be able to achieve the same end result of fixing tube cartridges. As a result, it is the Examiner’s position that adjusting the baffle position would be a mere matter of user design choice.
Regarding claim 57, modified Ambrosek teaches the apparatus according to claim 1, as set forth above.
Modified Ambrosek does not disclose:
wherein the vessel comprises a closed bottom end opposite the top closure lid.
However, Bell discloses where the vessel has a closed bottom end opposite the top closure lid (Para. 0023, “a liner comprising a liner bottom disposed upon the bottom wall of the vessel”, and Para. 0024, “Each of the plates of the liner bottom may be joined to the bottom wall of the vessel.”). It would have been obvious for one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filling date of the claimed invention to have modified the vessel in modified Ambrosek to include a closed bottom as taught by Bell.
One of ordinary skill in the art would have been motivated to make this modification in order to gain the advantage of being able to use the liner to allow for expansion and contraction of the phase change material, as stated by Bell, Para. 0024, “The liner contained within the vessel is constructed so as to be able to expand and contract under the loading thereof with the molten salt”.
Regarding claim 58, modified Ambrosek teaches the apparatus according to claim 57, as set forth above, discloses wherein the closed bottom end of the vessel comprises a bottom closure plate that is free of penetrations (Teaching from Bell, Para. 0024, “Each of the plates of the liner bottom may be joined to the bottom wall of the vessel.”).
Regarding claim 59, modified Ambrosek teaches the apparatus according to claim 1, as set forth above, discloses further comprising: each of the plurality of heat exchangers comprises a fluid inlet passageway for introducing the working fluid into the tube bundle and a fluid outlet passageway for allowing the working fluid to exit the tube bundle; and for each of the plurality of heat exchangers, each of the fluid inlet and fluid outlet passageways extending through the respective one of the plurality of openings (Teaching from Bell, Para. 0111, “The heat exchanger 501 is comprised of a plurality of heat exchanger tubes 520, which are sealed by welding, for example, to a header plate 522. The tubes 520 may be U-tubes, i.e., formed into U-shapes, and joined at their respective ends to the header plate 522. The tubes may be supported and aligned along their lengths by several tube alignment sheets 524, 526, and 528. A cap 530 is joined to the header plate 522, and is provided with an inlet port 532, and outlet port 534, and internal passageways to direct the heat transfer fluid into and out of the U-tubes 520.”, where the inlet and outlet ports are connected to the cap that is connected to the header plate, where the header plate is within the opening created by the support frame 540).
Regarding claim 60, modified Ambrosek teaches the apparatus according to claim 59, as set forth above, discloses wherein each of the plurality of heat exchangers comprises a head disposed within the respective one of the plurality of openings of the top closure lid that closes the respective one of the plurality of openings and through which the fluid inlet and outlet passageways extend (Teaching from Bell, Para. 0111, “The heat exchanger 501 is comprised of a plurality of heat exchanger tubes 520, which are sealed by welding, for example, to a header plate 522. The tubes 520 may be U-tubes, i.e., formed into U-shapes, and joined at their respective ends to the header plate 522. The tubes may be supported and aligned along their lengths by several tube alignment sheets 524, 526, and 528. A cap 530 is joined to the header plate 522, and is provided with an inlet port 532, and outlet port 534, and internal passageways to direct the heat transfer fluid into and out of the U-tubes 520.”, where the head that closes the plurality of openings is construed as the cap).
Claims 4 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Ambrosek et al. (WO 2012174540 A1, hereinafter Ambrosek) in view of Meroueh et al. (US 20190153284 A1, hereinafter Meroueh) and Zou et al. (CN 112033082 A, hereinafter Zou) and Chen et al. (CN 108981438 A, hereinafter Chen) and Bell et al. (US 20110017196 A1, hereinafter Bell) in further view of Wikholm (US 4003367 A1).
Regarding claim 4, modified Ambrosek teaches the apparatus according to claim 2, as set forth above.
Modified Ambrosek does not disclose:
wherein the vessel is configured to receive the water in a liquid state at a first temperature and discharge the water in a liquid state at a second temperature higher than the first temperature.
However, Wikholm discloses, in the similar field of thermal energy transfer to a working fluid (Abstract, “solar water heater comprises a unitary housing structure providing a thermally insulated storage compartment”), where the input to be heated can be water in a liquid state at a first temperature and the output can be water in a liquid at a higher second temperature (Section 1, lines 5-8, “A storage type solar water heater comprises essentially a collector which is heated directly by solar radiation, and a storage tank to which heat is conveyed from the collector by forced or natural circulation of a heat exchange liquid, commonly water”, meaning that the thermal energy from the sun is used to raise the temperature of water, where it stays in the liquid state). It would have been obvious for one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filling date of the claimed invention to have modified the input and output working fluid in modified Ambrosek to have the features as taught by Wikholm.
One of ordinary skill in the art would have been motivated to make this modification in order to gain the advantage of being able to use the device to heat water in regions of the world where ample solar energy is present, but where low grade heat for domestic use is needed, as stated by Wikholm, Section 1, lines 9-13, “Such heaters are widely used in certain hot regions of the world that receive considerable quantities of sunshine, and are used primarily for obtaining low grade heat for domestic use or for use in hotels and hospitals.”.
Claims 5 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Ambrosek et al. (WO 2012174540 A1, hereinafter Ambrosek) in view of Meroueh et al. (US 20190153284 A1, hereinafter Meroueh) and Zou et al. (CN 112033082 A, hereinafter Zou) and Chen et al. (CN 108981438 A, hereinafter Chen) and Bell et al. (US 20110017196 A1, hereinafter Bell) in further view of Reynolds (US 20150000277 A1).
Regarding claim 5, modified Ambrosek teaches the apparatus according to claim 2, as set forth above.
Modified Ambrosek does not disclose:
wherein the vessel is configured to receive saturated steam at first steam temperature and discharge the steam in a superheated state at a second temp higher than the first steam temperature.
However, Reynolds discloses, in the similar field of thermal energy storage systems (Abstract, “thermal energy storage system”), where the input to be heated can be saturated at a first temperature and the output can be superheated steam at a higher second temperature (Para. 0032, “The first steam from the steam generator 302 is supplied to a superheater 308. The hot HTF2 is supplied from the central receiver system 100 to the superheater 308, which uses the thermal energy of the HTF2 to further heat the first steam to provide a higher energy steam, which may be referred to herein as a second steam. The second steam is then supplied to a steam turbine 310, which operates a generator 312 to produce electricity…The first steam may be superheated steam, or a combination of wet steam and superheated steam. The second steam may be saturated steam or wet steam, superheated steam, or a combination of wet steam and superheated steam. However, the second steam has higher energy than the first steam.”; where the pressure is constant and this means that the a saturated first steam and a superheated second steam would result in the second steam having a higher temperature and greater energy). It would have been obvious for one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filling date of the claimed invention to have modified the input and output working fluid of modified Ambrosek to include the features as taught by Reynolds.
One of ordinary skill in the art would have been motivated to make this modification in order to gain the advantage of being able to increase the energy of steam to become superheated steam, which is beneficial for use in generating electricity, as stated by Reynolds, Para. 0032, “uses the thermal energy of the HTF2 to further heat the first steam to provide a higher energy steam, which may be referred to herein as a second steam. The second steam is then supplied to a steam turbine 310, which operates a generator 312 to produce electricity”.
Claims 15-16 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Ambrosek et al. (WO 2012174540 A1, hereinafter Ambrosek) in view of Meroueh et al. (US 20190153284 A1, hereinafter Meroueh) and Zou et al. (CN 112033082 A, hereinafter Zou) and Chen et al. (CN 108981438 A, hereinafter Chen) and Bell et al. (US 20110017196 A1, hereinafter Bell) in further view of Wanni et al. (JP 2011515648 A, hereinafter Wanni).
Regarding claim 15, modified Ambrosek teaches the apparatus according to claim 14, as set forth above.
Modified Ambrosek does not disclose:
wherein the tube bundle further comprises a lower tube support plate coupled to a bottom end of the heat exchanger tubes, and the lower tube support plate is not fixedly attached to the body of the vessel so as to be slideably removable from the cavity with the tube cartridge.
However, Wanni discloses, in the similar field of heat exchanger bundles (Abstract, “Tube bundles (10) for shell and tube type heat exchangers have a support system”), where similar baffles are connected to tubes, where the baffles are not fixedly attached to the body of the vessel (Page 4, Para. 3 from end, “A plurality of rod baffles 106 are disposed about every 150 mm along the length of the heat exchanger tube 102. Each rod baffle 106 is formed as an annular ring 108 that supports the end of a support rod 110 that extends across the ring 108.”, where Fig. 4 shows that the baffles are not attached to the body of a vessel). It would have been obvious for one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filling date of the claimed invention to have modified the baffles in modified Ambrosek to include the baffles that are not fixedly attached to the body of the vessel as taught by Wanni; where the combined invention with the teaching from Roesler would have the tube cartridges being removable and since the baffles are not attached to the vessel, would also be removable.
One of ordinary skill in the art would have been motivated to make this modification in order to gain the advantage of having a baffle design that reduces the vibration induced by a flow of liquid passing through the heat exchanger tubes, as stated by Wanni, Page 4, Para. 3 from end, “Each rod baffle 106 is formed as an annular ring 108 that supports the end of a support rod 110 that extends across the ring 108. As shown, support rods 110 extend across the bundle in the lane between tubes 102. With this configuration, vibrations induced by the flow of liquid through the bundle can be reduced. In this system, the size tolerance of each support rod 110 must be carefully designed.”.
Regarding the specific positioning of the baffles at a lower end position, it has been held that mere making adjustable is an obvious modification to make. In re Stevens, 212 F.2d 197, 101 USPQ 284 (CCPA 1954). Since Wanni already shows that multiple baffles can fix tube together, the adjusting of the baffle position would still be able to achieve the same end result of fixing tubes. As a result, it is the Examiner’s position that adjusting the baffle position would be a mere matter of user design choice.
Regarding claim 16, modified Ambrosek teaches the apparatus according to claim 15, as set forth above, discloses wherein the upflow tube members of each tube bundle are fluidly coupled to a corresponding downflow tube member by a cross-flow conduit (Teaching from Meroueh, Para. 0104, “FIG. 14A is a vertical section showing the possible finned tube arrangement through which heat transfer fluid flows, allowing higher heat flux from the thermal energy storage medium to be transferred to said fluid by additional conduction heat transfer from the fins.”, where the undulating tube structure would include upflow and downflow sections are the linear sections, where a cross flow conduit is the U shape curve that connects the linear sections) attached to the lower tube support plate (Teaching from Wanni, regarding the specific positioning of the baffles at a lower end position, it has been held that mere making adjustable is an obvious modification to make. In re Stevens, 212 F.2d 197, 101 USPQ 284 (CCPA 1954). Since Wanni already shows that multiple baffles can fix tube together, the adjusting of the baffle position would still be able to achieve the same end result of fixing tubes. As a result, it is the Examiner’s position that adjusting the baffle position would be a mere matter of user design choice.).
Claims 61-63 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Ambrosek et al. (WO 2012174540 A1, hereinafter Ambrosek) in view of Bell et al. (US 20110017196 A1, hereinafter Bell).
Regarding claim 61, Ambrosek discloses a thermal energy containment vessel (Abstract, “A thermal energy storage system”) comprising:
a vessel body defining an internal cavity (Para. 0032, “insulated containment 436 of the storage vessel.”, and Fig. 4, where the containment 436 is shown to be a vessel) containing a phase change material operable to store thermal energy (Para. 0028, “This storage is performed with a phase change thermal storage media 432 to greatly increase the heat (storage) capacity of the module”);
at least one heat source embedded in the phase change material (Para. 0029, “This thermal conductive endostructure 434 forms pathways of thermal communication throughout the thermal storage media 432, and facilitates thermal conduction that may then support thermal convection to provide more efficient and rapid heat transfer from the heat-in source, which in this embodiment are electric heating elements 430, throughout the thermal storage media 432.”), the heat source configured to heat and melt the phase change material (Para. 0041, “In charge mode, the heating element 430 draws energy from a variety of forms and transfers that heat to the thermal conductive endostructure 534 and to the thermal storage media 432, heating the endostructure and changing the phase and heating the liquid media.”, where a molten state for the storage media 432 is achieved, Para. 0040, “The thermal storage media 432 (in this embodiment a salt mixture) is added so that upon melting, the media occupies essentially all of the available void space.”); and
each of the plurality of heat exchangers configured to convey a working fluid through the tube bundle to absorb thermal energy from the molten phase change material (Para. 0038, “an energy transfer media, which may be introduced as steam, air, supercritical C(¾ or the like, entering the thermal storage module 402 at the energy transfer media input 438 to heat and maintain a constant media temperature as it exits at the energy transfer media output 440.”).
Ambrosek does not disclose:
a top closure lid defining a top of the thermal energy containment vessel and coupled to a top end of the vessel body, the top closure lid comprising a plurality of openings;
a plurality of heat exchangers, each of the plurality of heat exchangers aligned with a respective one of the plurality of openings of the top closure lid and configured to convey a working fluid therethrough to absorb thermal energy from the phase change material, each of the plurality of heat exchangers comprising:
a tube bundle embedded in the phase change material;
a fluid inlet passageway for intruding the working fluid into the tube bundle; and
a fluid outlet passageway for allowing the working fluid to exit the tube bundle;
each of the fluid inlet and fluid outlet passageways extending through the respective one of the plurality of openings.
However, Bell discloses, in the similar field of thermal energy containment vessels (Abstract, “A containment vessel for a thermal energy storage system”), where a top closure lid defines a top of the thermal containment vessel and has a plurality of openings (Para. 0115, “When the heat exchanger 501 is lowered into the support frame 540, the upper ends of the support columns 542-548 are received in the engagement sleeves 556. The support columns 542-548 may be further secured therein by bolts (not shown) which pass through the engagement sleeves 556 and upper ends of the support columns 542-548.”, where the heat exchanger is lowered into a plurality of opening created by the support frames 540, where the support frames that include the openings are all connected to a top closure lid, Para. 0116, “One aspect of the combination of the heat exchangers 501-508, heat exchanger support frames 540 and the roof truss assembly 400 is that for seismic stability, each of the heat exchangers frames may be constrained to prevent movement in the horizontal direction by the roof truss assembly 400”, where the roof truss 400 is connected to the support frames, where the roof truss can be covered, Para. 0122, “assembly of the roof truss assembly 400 are complete, a layer of batt insulation 470 is applied to the upper surface of the bottom sheet of the roof truss assembly 400, and the caps 530 of the heat exchangers 501-508.”), where a plurality of heat exchangers embedded in phase change material (Para. 0013, “one or more heat exchangers immersed in the molten salt in the vessel. In like manner, during nighttime or overcast days, the thermal energy is transferred from the vessel of molten salt to the power generator by the circulation of the heat transfer fluid therebetween.”, where salt can change from solid to molten when storing energy) are aligned with the plurality of openings in the closure lid (Para. 0115, “When the heat exchanger 501 is lowered into the support frame 540, the upper ends of the support columns 542-548 are received in the engagement sleeves 556. The support columns 542-548 may be further secured therein by bolts (not shown) which pass through the engagement sleeves 556 and upper ends of the support columns 542-548.”), where each of the plurality of heat exchangers comprises a tube bundle embedded in the phase change material where there is a fluid inlet passageway for intruding the working fluid into the tube bundle, a fluid outlet passage for allowing the working fluid to exit the tube bundle, and where the inlet and outlet passages extend through the respective openings (Para. 0111, “The heat exchanger 501 is comprised of a plurality of heat exchanger tubes 520, which are sealed by welding, for example, to a header plate 522. The tubes 520 may be U-tubes, i.e., formed into U-shapes, and joined at their respective ends to the header plate 522. The tubes may be supported and aligned along their lengths by several tube alignment sheets 524, 526, and 528. A cap 530 is joined to the header plate 522, and is provided with an inlet port 532, and outlet port 534, and internal passageways to direct the heat transfer fluid into and out of the U-tubes 520.”, where the tubes all pass through the openings as they are attached to the header plate 522, where the header plate includes engagement sleeves 556 that enter into the opening created by the support frames 540, where the inlet and outlet passageways extend through the openings by going out through the cap 530), where a working fluid is conveyed to absorb thermal energy from the phase change material (Para. 0111, “A cap 530 is joined to the header plate 522, and is provided with an inlet port 532, and outlet port 534, and internal passageways to direct the heat transfer fluid into and out of the U-tubes 520.”, where the heat transfer fluid is inserted into molten salt to absorb the thermal energy). It would have been obvious for one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filling date of the claimed invention to have modified the heat exchangers and phase change material in Ambrosek to include the tube bundle and openings as taught by Bell.
One of ordinary skill in the art would have been motivated to make this modification in order to gain the advantage of being able to use openings in a closure lid to allow for the heat exchangers to have vertical movement, where this allows for a range of operating temperatures to occur without damaging the heat exchangers as the exchangers can expand and contract, as stated by Bell, Para. 0116, “One aspect of the combination of the heat exchangers 501-508, heat exchanger support frames 540 and the roof truss assembly 400 is that for seismic stability, each of the heat exchangers frames may be constrained to prevent movement in the horizontal direction by the roof truss assembly 400, while simultaneously being permitted to expand and contract in the vertical direction due to their exposure to the range of operating temperatures of the salt contained in the vessel 101.”.
Regarding claim 62, modified Ambrosek teaches the apparatus according to claim 61, as set forth above.
Modified Ambrosek does not disclose:
wherein the internal cavity has a closed bottom end.
However, Bell discloses where the internal cavity has a closed bottom (Para. 0023, “a liner comprising a liner bottom disposed upon the bottom wall of the vessel”, and Para. 0024, “Each of the plates of the liner bottom may be joined to the bottom wall of the vessel.”). It would have been obvious for one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filling date of the claimed invention to have modified the vessel in modified Ambrosek to include a closed bottom as taught by Bell.
One of ordinary skill in the art would have been motivated to make this modification in order to gain the advantage of being able to use the liner to allow for expansion and contraction of the phase change material, as stated by Bell, Para. 0024, “The liner contained within the vessel is constructed so as to be able to expand and contract under the loading thereof with the molten salt”.
Regarding claim 63, modified Ambrosek teaches the apparatus according to claim 62, as set forth above, discloses wherein the closed bottom end of the internal cavity is formed by a bottom closure plate that is free of penetrations (Teaching from Bell, Para. 0024, “Each of the plates of the liner bottom may be joined to the bottom wall of the vessel.”).
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure. Makoto et al. (JP 4126236 B2) discloses a similar undulating tube structure located within a cartridge.
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to KEVIN GUANHUA WEN whose telephone number is (571)272-9940 and whose email is kevin.wen@uspto.gov. The examiner can normally be reached Monday-Friday 10:00 am - 6:00 pm.
Examiner interviews are available via telephone, in-person, and video conferencing using a USPTO supplied web-based collaboration tool. To schedule an interview, applicant is encouraged to use the USPTO Automated Interview Request (AIR) at http://www.uspto.gov/interviewpractice.
If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Ibrahime Abraham can be reached on 571-270-5569. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
Information regarding the status of published or unpublished applications may be obtained from Patent Center. Unpublished application information in Patent Center is available to registered users. To file and manage patent submissions in Patent Center, visit: https://patentcenter.uspto.gov. Visit https://www.uspto.gov/patents/apply/patent-center for more information about Patent Center and https://www.uspto.gov/patents/docx for information about filing in DOCX format. For additional questions, contact the Electronic Business Center (EBC) at 866-217-9197 (toll-free). If you would like assistance from a USPTO Customer Service Representative, call 800-786-9199 (IN USA OR CANADA) or 571-272-1000.
/KEVIN GUANHUA WEN/Examiner, Art Unit 3761
07/24/2026
Prosecution Insights