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 .
Continued Examination Under 37 CFR 1.114
A request for continued examination under 37 CFR 1.114, including the fee set forth in 37 CFR 1.17(e), was filed in this application after final rejection. Since this application is eligible for continued examination under 37 CFR 1.114, and the fee set forth in 37 CFR 1.17(e) has been timely paid, the finality of the previous Office action has been withdrawn pursuant to 37 CFR 1.114. Applicant's submission filed on 03/02/2026 has been entered.
Status of Claims
Claims 1-9, 11, and 12 are withdrawn, Claim 10 is canceled, Claims 13 and 18 are currently amended, Claims 14-17, 19, and 20 are as previously presented, and Claim 21 is new.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 103
The text of those sections of Title 35, U.S. Code not included in this action can be found in a prior Office action.
Claims 18-20 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over DE 2020111052620 U1, based on the machine translation and original document, in view of Shao et al in Metallurgical and Materials Transactions B.
DE 2020111052620 U1 (DE ‘262) teaches a plant for production of methanol and for the reduction of metal oxides (machine translation, page 1) as represented below in the annotated drawing from the original document:
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The plant includes the formation of methanol (9) from CO2 and H2 (page 4), which reads on the claimed methanol production unit; an electrolysis unit (6) to produce H2 and O2 (page 4), which reads on the claimed first electrolyzer; methanol is used to generate a reducing gas for the production of metallized iron ore (37) (pages 4 and 7), which reads on a reformation unit; methanol storage (18) (page 6); and a reduction reactor (20) (page 6). The reduction reactor is in fluid connection with the electrolyzer via 55, 23, and 24. The reduction reactor is in fluid connection with the methanol reformation unit 37 via 19, 19a, and 23. Line 39 is optional (page 7). However, DE ‘262 does not teach a direct reduction shaft that is a solid-gas countercurrent moving bed reactor having an exclusively hydrogen inlet as claimed.
Shao et al teaches operating a reduction shaft furnace with pure hydrogen gas (abstract) to produce direct reduced iron (page 451) as represented below in the drawing:
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Hydrogen breakthrough ironmaking technology for the production of steel involves a shaft furnace with pure H2 and an electric arc furnace (page 431). Since the pellets come from above and the gas is fed from below, the shaft furnace reads on a countercurrent moving bed reactor as claimed. It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to use the system of Shao et al with the system of DE ‘262, since Shao et al teaches this system is one of the most viable alternatives for industrial-scale production of primary steel with minor CO2 emissions (page 451).
Regarding Claim 19, DE ‘262 teaches the electrolyzer 6 is in fluid connection via 5, 23, and 24 with the direct reduction furnace 20 independent of the methanol production unit 9, methanol storage unit 18, and the methanol reformation unit 37.
Regarding Claim 20, DE ‘262 teaches the methanol production unit 9 is in fluid connection with the electrolyzer 6 via lines 1, 35a, and 40. The methanol storage 18 is in fluid connection with the methanol production unit 9 via 1. The methanol reformation unit 37 is in fluid connection with the methanol storage unit 18. The reduction shaft 20 is in fluid connection with the electrolyzer 6 via 23 and the methanol reformation unit via 24.
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 13-17 and 21 are allowed.
The following is a statement of reasons for the indication of allowable subject matter: DE 102011112093 A1 (DE ‘093) teaches a waste heat boiler that reads on the claimed methanol reformation unit as described in the previous office actions. However, DE ‘093 does not suggest the waste heat boiler, which uses catalytic cleavage to produce CO2 and H2 (page 7 of machine translation), is capable of performing steam reforming or partial oxidation as claimed.
DE ‘262 teaches a fission reactor that reads on the claimed methanol reformation unit. However, DE ‘262 does not suggest the fission reactor is capable of performing steam reforming or partial oxidation to produce CO2 and H2 as claimed.
Response to Arguments
Applicant’s arguments with respect to Claims 18-20 with respect to DE 2020111052620 U1 in view of Jiang et al have been considered but are moot because the new ground of rejection does not rely on Jiang et al applied in the prior rejection of record for any teaching or matter specifically challenged in the argument.
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure. Spreitzer et al in Steel Research International teaches reducing iron oxides with hydrogen. Patisson et al in Metals teaches using hydrogen to make steel from iron ore.
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Tima M. McGuthry-Banks
Primary Examiner
Art Unit 1733
/TIMA M. MCGUTHRY-BANKS/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 1733