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 .
Response to Amendment
This is a final office action in response to Applicant's remarks and amendments filed on 2/5/2026. Claims 1-4 and 12 are currently amended. Claims 1-20 pending review in this action.
The 35 U.S.C. 112, 35 U.S.C. 102 and 35 U.S.C. 103 rejections in the previous Office Action are withdrawn.
New grounds of rejection necessitated by Applicant's amendments are presented below.
Response to Arguments
Applicant’s arguments with respect to amended claim 1 have been considered but are moot because the arguments do not apply to any reference being used in the current rejection.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 102
Claim(s) 1-2 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Liang (CN109585879A – foreign copy and machine translation attached).
Regarding Claim 1, Liang discloses a method for operating a power module for generating electricity [pars. 0035-38; Fig. 1] comprising:
a) catalytically dehydrogenating a hydrogenated liquid organic hydrogen carrier (LOHC) to produce hydrogen by means of a dehydrogenation unit;
b) generating electricity by means of a fuel cell unit employing said hydrogen, wherein said fuel cell is a solid oxide fuel cell unit [par. 0035]; and
c) redirecting heat generated by said fuel cell by means of thermal energy transfer employing a heat transfer fluid (HTF) in thermal communication with said dehydrogenation unit and said fuel cell unit (i.e., via high-temperature heat exchanger) [par. 0035];
wherein said fuel cell unit is operated within a temperature range of between 400 to 600oC [par. 0037], and wherein said thermal energy produced by said fuel cell is the source of heat for operating said dehydrogenation unit [par. 0035].
Regarding Claim 2, Liang discloses [par. 0035,0037; Fig. 1] further comprising:
a) recovering thermal energy generated during a hydrogen electrochemical conversion reaction in said fuel cell unit by means of a first heat transfer fluid (first HTF) (outside air) in thermal communication with said fuel cell unit; and
b) transferring said thermal energy to said dehydrogenation unit by means of said first HTF in thermal communication with said dehydrogenation unit [par. 0037];
wherein said first HTF is circulated between said fuel cell and said dehydrogenation unit by means of a first HTF exchange loop [par. 0037]; and
wherein said first HTF exchange loop optionally includes a heat exchanger [par. 0037].
Claim(s) 6 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Liang, as applied to claim 2 above.
Regarding Claim 6, Liang teaches the combined thermal efficiency and power energy efficiency can reach more than 80% [par. 0008], but fails to explicitly teach wherein at least 90% of said thermal energy recovered from said fuel cell unit is transferred to said dehydration unit. However, it would have been obvious for an ordinary skilled artisan to have recovered at least 90% of said thermal energy recovered from said fuel cell unit to said dehydration unit in order in order to improve heat discharge efficiency of the fuel cell without undue experimentation and with a reasonable expectation of success [MPEP 2144.05(II)].
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 3-5 and 7-20 are allowed.
Conclusion
Applicant's amendment necessitated the new ground(s) of rejection presented in this Office action. Accordingly, THIS ACTION IS MADE FINAL. See MPEP § 706.07(a). Applicant is reminded of the extension of time policy as set forth in 37 CFR 1.136(a).
A shortened statutory period for reply to this final action is set to expire THREE MONTHS from the mailing date of this action. In the event a first reply is filed within TWO MONTHS of the mailing date of this final action and the advisory action is not mailed until after the end of the THREE-MONTH shortened statutory period, then the shortened statutory period will expire on the date the advisory action is mailed, and any nonprovisional extension fee (37 CFR 1.17(a)) pursuant to 37 CFR 1.136(a) will be calculated from the mailing date of the advisory action. In no event, however, will the statutory period for reply expire later than SIX MONTHS from the mailing date of this final action.
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to HAROON S SHEIKH whose telephone number is (571)270-0302. The examiner can normally be reached 9-6.
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HAROON S. SHEIKH
Primary Examiner
Art Unit 1751
/Haroon S. Sheikh/ Primary Examiner, Art Unit 1751
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