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 .
Election/Restrictions
Claim 1-12 withdrawn from further consideration pursuant to 37 CFR 1.142(b) as being drawn to a nonelected Invention I, there being no allowable generic or linking claim. Election was made without traverse in the reply filed on June 06th, 2025. Applicant’s election without traverse of Invention II in the reply filed on June 06th, 2025 is acknowledged.
Specification
The disclosure is objected to because of the following informalities:
Pg. 9, paragraph 26: “A portion of the compressed, cooled recycle stream is them recycled to the main heat exchanger 70” should read “A portion of the compressed, cooled recycle stream is then recycled to the main heat exchanger 70”
Appropriate correction is required.
Claim Objections
Claim 18 is objected to because of the following informalities:
Line 4: “remove water vapor the oxygen-rich effluent stream” should read “remove water vapor from the oxygen-rich effluent stream”
Appropriate correction is required.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 112
The following is a quotation of 35 U.S.C. 112(b):
(b) CONCLUSION.—The specification shall conclude with one or more claims particularly pointing out and distinctly claiming the subject matter which the inventor or a joint inventor regards as the invention.
The following is a quotation of 35 U.S.C. 112 (pre-AIA ), second paragraph:
The specification shall conclude with one or more claims particularly pointing out and distinctly claiming the subject matter which the applicant regards as his invention.
Claims 13-19 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 112(b) or 35 U.S.C. 112 (pre-AIA ), second paragraph, as being indefinite for failing to particularly point out and distinctly claim the subject matter which the inventor or a joint inventor (or for applications subject to pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, the applicant), regards as the invention.
The term “substantially” in claim 13 is a relative term which renders the claim indefinite. The term “substantially” is not defined by the claim, the specification does not provide a standard for ascertaining the requisite degree, and one of ordinary skill in the art would not be reasonably apprised of the scope of the invention. The degree to which the hydrogen-rich effluent stream is free of oxygen is rendered indefinite by the use of the term “substantially”. For purposes of examination, the Examiner will interpret any degree of oxygen removal from the hydrogen-rich effluent stream to result in the steam being substantially free of oxygen.
Claim 15, lines 2-3 recite, “a distillation column subsystem” which is unclear to the Examiner as to how the distillation column subsystem of claim 15 relates to the previously claimed distillation column arrangement of claim 13 from which claim 15 depends. For purposes of examination, the Examiner will interpret the distillation column subsystem and the distillation column arrangement to be the same components. The Examiner recommends changing “a distillation column subsystem” in lines 2-3 of claim 15 to “the distillation column arrangement”.
Claim 15, line 8 recites, “argon containing overhead stream” which is unclear to the Examiner as to how the argon containing overhead stream of line 8 of claim 15 relates to the previously claimed argon containing overhead stream of lines 5-6 of claim 15. For purposes of examination, the Examiner will interpret the argon containing overhead stream of lines 5-6 and line 8 to be the same components. The Examiner recommends changing “argon containing overhead stream” in line 8 of claim 15 to “the argon containing overhead stream”.
Claim 15 recites the limitation "the argon containing waste stream" in line 9. There is insufficient antecedent basis for this limitation in the claim. The Examiner recommends changing “the argon containing waste stream" in line 9 of claim 15 to “an argon containing waste stream".
Claim 15, line 11 recites, “a first portion of ultra-high purity oxygen bottoms” which is unclear to the Examiner as to how the first portion of ultra-high purity oxygen bottoms of line 11 of claim 15 relates to the previously claimed ultra-high purity oxygen bottoms of lines 5 of claim 15. For purposes of examination, the Examiner will interpret the first portion of ultra-high purity oxygen bottoms of line 11 to be a first portion of the ultra-high purity oxygen bottoms of line 5 of claim 15. The Examiner recommends changing “a first portion of ultra-high purity oxygen bottoms” in line 11 of claim 15 to “a first portion of the ultra-high purity oxygen bottoms”.
Claim 15, line 15 recites, “a second portion of ultra-high purity oxygen bottoms” which is unclear to the Examiner as to how the second portion of ultra-high purity oxygen bottoms of line 15 of claim 15 relates to the previously claimed ultra-high purity oxygen bottoms of lines 5 of claim 15. For purposes of examination, the Examiner will interpret the second portion of ultra-high purity oxygen bottoms of line 15 to be a second portion of the ultra-high purity oxygen bottoms of line 5 of claim 15. The Examiner recommends changing “a second portion of ultra-high purity oxygen bottoms” in line 15 of claim 15 to “a second portion of the ultra-high purity oxygen bottoms”.
Claim 16 recites the limitation "the warmed nitrogen boil-off stream" in lines 1-2. There is insufficient antecedent basis for this limitation in the claim. The Examiner recommends changing “the warmed nitrogen boil-off stream " in lines 1-2 of claim 16 to “a warmed nitrogen boil-off stream".
Claim 16 recites the limitation "the compressed nitrogen recycle stream" in line 3. There is insufficient antecedent basis for this limitation in the claim. The Examiner recommends changing “the compressed nitrogen recycle stream " in line 3 of claim 16 to “a compressed nitrogen recycle stream".
Claim 17 recites the limitation "the step of removing hydrogen in a catalyst or adsorbent subsystem to produce an oxygen-rich effluent stream" in lines 2-3. There is insufficient antecedent basis for this limitation in the claim. The Examiner recommends changing “the step of removing hydrogen in a catalyst or adsorbent subsystem to produce an oxygen-rich effluent stream " in lines 2-3 of claim 17 to “a step of removing hydrogen in a catalyst or adsorbent subsystem to produce an oxygen-rich effluent stream".
Claim 18 recites the limitation "the step of drying the oxygen-rich effluent stream to produce a dried, oxygen rich effluent stream" in lines 1-2. There is insufficient antecedent basis for this limitation in the claim. The Examiner recommends changing “the step of drying the oxygen-rich effluent stream to produce a dried, oxygen rich effluent stream " in lines 1-2 of claim 18 to “a step of drying an oxygen-rich effluent stream to produce a dried, oxygen rich effluent stream ".
Claim 19 recites the limitation "the de-ionized water stream" in line 2. There is insufficient antecedent basis for this limitation in the claim. The Examiner recommends changing “the de-ionized water stream” in line 2 of claim 19 to “a de-ionized water stream”.
Claims 14-15 and 17-19 are also rejected by virtue of their dependency on claim 13.
Claim 16 is also rejected by virtue of its dependency on claim 15.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 103
In the event the determination of the status of the application as subject to AIA 35 U.S.C. 102 and 103 (or as subject to pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 102 and 103) is incorrect, any correction of the statutory basis (i.e., changing from AIA to pre-AIA ) for the rejection will not be considered a new ground of rejection if the prior art relied upon, and the rationale supporting the rejection, would be the same under either status.
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 13 and 19 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Golbach et al. (US 20220349069), hereinafter Golbach in view of Smith (WO 9008295), hereinafter Smith and Tomita (JP 2003262463), hereinafter Tomita.
Regarding claim 13, Golbach discloses a method for co-producing an ultra-high purity oxygen product stream and an ultra-high purity hydrogen product stream from a stream of feed water (Fig. 1, system 10, hydrogen stream 24, oxygen stream 26; Abstract, A method for producing ultra-pure hydrogen is provided which includes heating water for stripping argon from the water; and separating the argon-stripped water into an oxygen stream and a hydrogen stream, wherein the hydrogen stream includes an ultra-pure hydrogen stream. A related system for producing an ultra-pure hydrogen stream is also provided which includes a container in which argon is stripped from water by steam; at least one electrolyzer cell to be contacted by the argon-stripped water; wherein the at least one electrolyzer cell provides an oxygen stream and a hydrogen stream with an argon content less than 0.25 ppm; Pg. 1, paragraph 14, As the FIGURE shows, the ultra-pure hydrogen stream 24 can be subjected to further processing according to the present inventive embodiments; Pg. 2, paragraph 16, In certain embodiments the oxygen stream comprises and ultra-pure oxygen stream) comprising:
purifying the stream of feed water to produce a purified, water stream (Fig. 1, water purification unit 14, water 16; Pg. 1, paragraph 12, water purification unit 14 positioned upstream of and in fluid communication with the column 12 receives water 16, such as for example tap water. The purification unit 14 removes minerals, contaminants and other particulate matter from the tap water 16 to produce demineralized water);
directing the purified, water stream to one or more electrolysis units configured to produce one or more crude oxygen streams and one or more crude hydrogen streams (Fig 1, PEM water electrolysis unit 22; Pg. 1, paragraph 13, Thereafter, the argon-stripped water is delivered from the stripping column 12 through a pipe 20 or other conduit to a PEM water electrolysis unit 22 to split the water into a hydrogen (H2) stream 24 and an oxygen (O2) stream 26; Further, the PEM water electrolysis unit 22 has the same structure as the claimed one or more electrolysis units and is capable of functioning in the manner claimed);
removing oxygen impurities from the one or more crude hydrogen streams using a catalyst to produce a hydrogen-rich effluent stream substantially free of oxygen (Fig. 1, H2 purification unit (deoxidizer); As best understood, see 112(b) rejections above).
However, Golbach does not disclose the stream of feedwater to be de-ionized; and
drying the hydrogen-rich effluent stream to produce the ultra-high purity hydrogen product stream.
Smith teaches the stream of feedwater to be de-ionized (Pg. 15, feed water 1 at near ambient pressure and temperature is passed through a water filtration, deionisation and degassing module (a) which is connected at 2 to the inlet an intermediate pressure feed pump (b) delivering of at its outlet 3 water under intermediate pressure (typically 35 bar) to a water electrolysis module (c)); and
drying the hydrogen-rich effluent stream to produce the ultra-high purity hydrogen product stream (Pg. 15, Oxygen and hydrogen gas are generated by electrolysis at intermediate pressure, are cooled to near ambient temperature, and dried and have trace impurities removed in module (c) and then pass respectively along lines 4 and 10 to an oxygen module (d) and a hydrogen liquefaction module (f)).
Therefore, it would have been obvious before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the method of Golbach of claim 1 to include the steps of de-ionizing and degassing the feed stream to produce a purified, de-ionized water stream and drying the hydrogen-rich effluent stream to produce the ultra-high purity hydrogen product stream as taught by Smith. One of ordinary skill in the art would have been motivated to make this modification to remove impurities from the feed stream and the crude hydrogen stream to allow for the efficient production of an ultra-high purity hydrogen stream.
Further, Golbach as modified does not disclose separating argon and other impurities from the one or more crude oxygen streams in a distillation column arrangement configured to produce the ultra-high purity oxygen stream.
Tomita teaches separating argon and other impurities from the one or more crude oxygen streams in a distillation column arrangement configured to produce the ultra-high purity oxygen stream (Fig. 1, high-pressure rectification column 30, low-pressure rectification column 40; Pg. 3, paragraphs 14-16, FIG. 1 is a schematic configuration diagram showing an example of an ultrahigh-purity oxygen production apparatus of the present invention. In the present invention, oxygen containing trace impurities as a raw material is usually supplied as liquid oxygen. The present invention is particularly suitable when using as a raw material liquid oxygen or the like produced by an air separation device or one having a composition similar to that, as trace impurities in that case, methane (content about 100 ppm), argon (Content about 0.4 %), Nitrogen (content about 10 ppm) and the like. As shown in FIG. 1, liquid oxygen is supplied to the high-pressure rectification column 30 through a path L1 via a valve V1, but liquid oxygen is supplied from an air separation device, a liquid oxygen storage tank or the like (not shown). It Further, it may be supplied via a preliminary refining device for removing impurities such as components that are difficult to remove by the manufacturing apparatus of the present invention and solid components such as dust; Further, the high-pressure rectification column 30 and the low-pressure rectification column 40 have the same structure as the claimed distillation column arrangement and are capable of functioning in the manner claimed).
Therefore, it would have been obvious before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the method of Golbach as modified to include the step of separating argon and other impurities from the one or more crude oxygen streams in a distillation column arrangement configured to produce the ultra-high purity oxygen stream as taught by Tomita. One of ordinary skill in the art would have been motivated to make this modification to provide an ultra-high purity oxygen stream with a purity of about 99.9999% to meet the increasing demand of ultra-high purity oxygen (Tomita, Pg. 2, paragraph 2).
Regarding claim 19, Golbach as modified discloses the method of claim 13 (see the combination of references used in the rejection of claim 13 above), wherein the step of purifying the stream of feed water further comprises degassing the de-ionized water stream in an aeration unit configured to remove dissolved gases from the de-ionized water stream to produce the purified, deionized water stream (Smith, Pg. 15, feed water 1 at near ambient pressure and temperature is passed through a water filtration, deionisation and degassing module (a) which is connected at 2 to the inlet an intermediate pressure feed pump (b) delivering of at its outlet 3 water under intermediate pressure (typically 35 bar) to a water electrolysis module (c)). Further, the limitations of claim 19 are the result of the modification of references used in the rejection of claim 13 above.
Claims 14 and 17 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Golbach as modified by Smith and Tomita as applied to claim 13 above, and further in view of Luo et al. (CN 104498983), hereinafter Luo.
Regarding claim 14, Golbach as modified discloses the method of claim 13 (see the combination of references used in the rejection of claim 13 above).
However, Golbach does not disclose further comprising the steps of:
removing hydrogen from the one or more crude oxygen streams to produce an oxygen-rich effluent stream; and
drying the oxygen-rich effluent stream to remove water vapor and produce a dried oxygen-rich effluent stream.
Lou teaches further comprising the steps of:
removing hydrogen from the one or more crude oxygen streams to produce an oxygen-rich effluent stream (Abstract, C, catalytic dehydrogenation burning and removing impurity of electrolytic oxygen in step B after preheating the catalytic dehydrogenation device, using palladium or platinum as catalyst, through catalytic reaction and combustion, remove hydrogen and combustible gas); and
drying the oxygen-rich effluent stream to remove water vapor and produce a dried oxygen-rich effluent stream (Abstract, D, drying: drying in the drier after cooling by the cooler removing electrolytic oxygen impurities. using molecular sieve isobaric temperature swing adsorption technology and removing the water).
Therefore, it would have been obvious before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the method of Golbach as modified to include the steps of removing hydrogen from the one or more crude oxygen streams to produce an oxygen-rich effluent stream and drying the oxygen-rich effluent stream to remove water vapor and produce a dried oxygen-rich effluent stream as taught by Luo. One of ordinary skill in the art would have been motivated to make this modification to produce oxygen which meets the standard GBT 14599-2008 for ultra-high purity oxygen (Luo, Pg. 3, paragraph 2).
Golbach as modified further discloses wherein the distillation column arrangement is configured to receive the dried, oxygen-rich effluent stream and produce the ultra-high purity oxygen stream (Tomita, Pg. 3, paragraph 16, As shown in FIG. 1, liquid oxygen is supplied to the high-pressure rectification column 30 through a path L1 via a valve V1, but liquid oxygen is supplied from an air separation device, a liquid oxygen storage tank or the like (not shown); Further, the high-pressure rectification column 30 and the low-pressure rectification column 40 have the same structure as the claimed distillation column arrangement and are capable of functioning in the manner claimed). Further, the recitation “wherein the distillation column arrangement is configured to receive the dried, oxygen-rich effluent stream and produce the ultra-high purity oxygen stream” is a result of the modification of references use din the rejection of claim 13 above.
Regarding claim 17, Golbach as modified discloses the method of claim 13 (see the combination of references used in the rejection of claim 13 above).
However, Golbach does not disclose further comprising the step of heating the one or more crude oxygen streams before the step of removing hydrogen in a catalyst or adsorbent subsystem to produce an oxygen-rich effluent stream.
Lou teaches further comprising the step of heating the one or more crude oxygen streams before the step of removing hydrogen in a catalyst or adsorbent subsystem to produce an oxygen-rich effluent stream (Abstract, A, electrolyzing water to produce oxygen, water electrolysis for removing dissolved gas in the industrial electrolytic device, obtaining industrial electrolytic oxygen; B, preheating electrolytic oxygen obtained in step A to preheat; C, catalytic dehydrogenation burning and removing impurity of electrolytic oxygen in step B after preheating the catalytic dehydrogenation device, using palladium or platinum as catalyst, through catalytic reaction and combustion, remove hydrogen and combustible gas).
Therefore, it would have been obvious before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the method of Golbach as modified to include the step of heating the one or more crude oxygen streams before the step of removing hydrogen in a catalyst or adsorbent subsystem to produce an oxygen-rich effluent stream as taught by Luo. One of ordinary skill in the art would have been motivated to make this modification to produce oxygen which meets the standard GBT 14599-2008 for ultra-high purity oxygen (Luo, Pg. 3, paragraph 2).
Claims 15-16 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Golbach as modified by Smith and Tomita as applied to claim 13 above, and further in view of Prentice et al. (US 20050210916), hereinafter Prentice.
Regarding claim 15, Golbach as modified discloses the method of claim 13 (see the combination of references used in the rejection of claim 13 above).
However, Golbach as modified does not disclose wherein the step of separating argon and other impurities from the dried, oxygen-rich effluent stream in a distillation column subsystem further comprises:
rectifying the dried, oxygen-rich effluent stream against a descending liquid stream of reflux to produce an ultra-high purity oxygen bottoms and an argon containing overhead stream extracted from the distillation column proximate a top section of the distillation column;
condensing argon containing overhead stream against a stream of liquid nitrogen to produce a nitrogen boil-off stream and the argon containing waste stream in a
condenser disposed proximate the top section of the distillation column;
reboiling a first portion of ultra-high purity oxygen bottoms against a nitrogen recycle stream in a reboiler disposed proximate the bottom section of the distillation column;
a main heat exchange; and
cooling the nitrogen recycle stream in the main heat exchanger via indirect heat exchange with the nitrogen boil-off stream from the condenser.
Tomita teaches wherein the step of separating argon and other impurities from the dried, oxygen-rich effluent stream in a distillation column subsystem (Pg. 3, paragraphs 14-16, FIG. 1 is a schematic configuration diagram showing an example of an ultrahigh-purity oxygen production apparatus of the present invention. In the present invention, oxygen containing trace impurities as a raw material is usually supplied as liquid oxygen. The present invention is particularly suitable when using as a raw material liquid oxygen or the like produced by an air separation device or one having a composition similar to that, as trace impurities in that case, methane (content about 100 ppm), argon (Content about 0.4 %), Nitrogen (content about 10 ppm) and the like. As shown in FIG. 1, liquid oxygen is supplied to the high-pressure rectification column 30 through a path L1 via a valve V1, but liquid oxygen is supplied from an air separation device, a liquid oxygen storage tank or the like (not shown). It Further, it may be supplied via a preliminary refining device for removing impurities such as components that are difficult to remove by the manufacturing apparatus of the present invention and solid components such as dust) further comprises:
rectifying the dried, oxygen-rich effluent stream against a descending liquid stream of reflux to produce an ultra-high purity oxygen bottoms and an argon containing overhead stream extracted from the distillation column proximate a top section of the distillation column (Fig. 1, line L4, line L7; Pg. 4, paragraph 23, Oxygen introduced from the transfer path L3 descends while the gas component rises in the rectification section 41 in the low-pressure rectification column 40, as in the case of the high-pressure rectification column 30, and the reflux liquid and gas-liquid. By repeating evaporation and condensation while contacting, the rectification section 41 Low boiling point impurities are concentrated on the upper side of a and 41b, and products are concentrated on the lower side. Therefore, by extracting the product from the product storage section 42c of the reboiler 42 at the bottom of the low-pressure rectification column 40 via the route L4, it is possible to produce ultra-high purity product oxygen; Pg. 4, paragraph 25, A path L7 is connected to the condenser 43, and an overhead gas containing a low-boiling-point component that is not concentrated is extracted, cold heat is recovered by the heat exchanger 21, and then discharged as exhaust gas through the valve V10);
condensing argon containing overhead stream against a stream of liquid nitrogen to produce a nitrogen boil-off stream and the argon containing waste stream in a condenser disposed proximate the top section of the distillation column (Fig. 1, line L13, condenser 43; Pg. 4, paragraph 25, On the other hand, a condenser 43 is provided at the top of the low pressure rectification column 40, and a part of the top gas is liquefied by the refrigerant introduced from the path L25 to generate a reflux liquid. A path L7 is connected to the condenser 43, and an overhead gas containing a low-boiling-point component that is not concentrated is extracted, cold heat is recovered by the heat exchanger 21, and then discharged as exhaust gas through the valve V10);
reboiling a first portion of ultra-high purity oxygen bottoms against a nitrogen recycle stream in a reboiler disposed proximate the bottom section of the distillation column (Fig. 1, line L15; Pg. 4, paragraph 27-29, First, nitrogen gas is supplied to the heating section 32b of the reboiler 32 of the high pressure rectification column 30 to liquefy itself, and the liquefied liquid nitrogen is passed through the paths L21 and L22 having the valve V21. Refrigerant reservoir 3 of condenser 33 Supply to 3a. At the valve V21, the liquid level, the flow rate, and the pressure (decompression) are adjusted. Then, the nitrogen gas vaporized in the condenser 33 is supplied to the low pressure rectification column 40 through the route L23. Is supplied to the heating section 42b of the reboiler 42. The liquid nitrogen liquefied here is passed through a path L25 having a valve V24, It is supplied to the refrigerant reservoir 43a of the condenser 43 of the low-pressure rectification tower 40. At the valve V22, the liquid level, the flow rate, and the pressure (decompression) are adjusted. The nitrogen gas vaporized in the condenser 43 is guided to the heat exchanger 21 via the path L13 and heated by heat exchange. The nitrogen gas from the heat exchanger 21 is compressed by the recycle compressor 22 via the route L14. The compressed nitrogen gas is guided again to the heat exchanger 21 via the path L15, and is cooled by heat exchange. This is supplied to the heating unit 32b of the reboiler 32 and circulated. Regarding the above recycling route, the valve V2 is used. It is also possible to provide the bypass path L26 having a vale V23 and adjust the heat balance of each tower by the valve V23. By having such heat quantity balance adjusting means, in particular, the rectification balance of each column at the time of startup can be easily achieved);
a main heat exchanger (Fig. 1, heat exchanger 21); and
cooling the nitrogen recycle stream in the main heat exchanger via indirect heat exchange with the nitrogen boil-off stream from the condenser (Fig. 1, compressor 22; Pg. 4, paragraph 28, The nitrogen gas vaporized in the condenser 43 is guided to the heat exchanger 21 via the path L13 and heated by heat exchange. The nitrogen gas from the heat exchanger 21 is compressed by the recycle compressor 22 via the route L14. The compressed nitrogen gas is guided again to the heat exchanger 21 via the path L15, and is cooled by heat exchange. This is supplied to the heating unit 32b of the reboiler 32 and circulated).
Therefore, it would have been obvious before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the method of Golbach as modified to include the steps of rectifying the dried, oxygen-rich effluent stream against a descending liquid stream of reflux to produce an ultra-high purity oxygen bottoms and an argon containing overhead stream extracted from the distillation column proximate a top section of the distillation column; condensing argon containing overhead stream against a stream of liquid nitrogen to produce a nitrogen boil-off stream and the argon containing waste stream in a condenser disposed proximate the top section of the distillation column; reboiling a first portion of ultra-high purity oxygen bottoms against a nitrogen recycle stream in a reboiler disposed proximate the bottom section of the distillation column; a main heat exchange; and cooling the nitrogen recycle stream in the main heat exchanger via indirect heat exchange with the nitrogen boil-off stream from the condenser as taught by Tomita. One of ordinary skill in the art would have been motivated to make this modification to provide an ultra-high purity oxygen stream with a purity of about 99.9999% to meet the increasing demand of ultra-high purity oxygen (Tomita, Pg. 2, paragraph 2).
Golbach as modified further does not disclose cooling the dried, oxygen-rich effluent stream in a main heat exchanger via indirect heat exchange with a second portion of ultra-high purity oxygen bottoms.
Prentice teaches cooling a feed stream in the main heat exchanger via indirect heat exchanger with an oxygen product stream (Fig. 1, main heat exchanger 22 stream 28, stream 30, stream 34; Pg. 1, paragraph 7, A stream 28 of LOX is removed and fed to the cold end of the main heat exchanger 22 where it is vaporised by indirect heat exchange against the feed air to produce a stream 30 of low pressure GOX. The second portion 32 is fed to the warm end of the main heat exchanger 22 where it is cooled by indirect heat exchange against vaporising LOX to produce a stream 34 of cooled compressed feed air).
Therefore, it would have been obvious before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the method of Golbach as modified to include the step cooling the dried, oxygen-rich effluent stream in a main heat exchanger via indirect heat exchange with a second portion of ultra-high purity oxygen bottoms as taught by Prentice. One of ordinary skill in the art would have been motivated to make this modification take advantage of available heat exchange capacity in the process stream to improve overall system efficiencies.
Regarding claim 16, Golbach as modified discloses the method of claim 15 (see the combination of references used in the rejection of claim 15 above), further comprising the step of compressing the warmed nitrogen boil-off stream exiting the main heat exchanger using a recycle compressor to form the compressed nitrogen recycle stream (Tomita, Fig. 1, compressor 22; Pg. 4, paragraph 28, The nitrogen gas vaporized in the condenser 43 is guided to the heat exchanger 21 via the path L13 and heated by heat exchange. The nitrogen gas from the heat exchanger 21 is compressed by the recycle compressor 22 via the route L14. The compressed nitrogen gas is guided again to the heat exchanger 21 via the path L15, and is cooled by heat exchange. This is supplied to the heating unit 32b of the reboiler 32 and circulated). Further, the limitations of claim 16 are the result of the modification of references used in the rejection of claim 15 above.
Claim 18 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Golbach as modified by Smith and Tomita as applied to claim 13 above, and further in view of Harrison et al. (US Patent No. 12,162,757), hereinafter Harrison.
Regarding claim 18, Golbach as modified discloses the method of claim 13 (see the combination of references used in the rejection of claim 13 above).
However, Golbach as modified does not disclose wherein the step of drying the oxygen-rich effluent stream to produce a dried, oxygen rich effluent stream further comprises separating the oxygen-rich effluent stream to remove a condensate and then drying the resulting vapor stream to remove water vapor the oxygen-rich effluent stream.
Harrison teaches wherein the step of drying the oxygen-rich effluent stream to produce a dried, oxygen rich effluent stream further comprises separating the oxygen-rich effluent stream to remove a condensate and then drying the resulting vapor stream to remove water vapor the oxygen-rich effluent stream (Fig. 1, oxygen-water phase separation supply vessel 56, oxygen demister vessel 70; Col. 1, lines 32-39, In the electrolyzer 66, the water is dissociated into hydrogen and oxygen, with the oxygen being flowed from the electrolyzer 66 in line 68 to the oxygen-water phase separation and supply vessel. The oxygen entering the oxygen water phase separation and supply vessel passes through the feed water therein and is discharged as an overhead stream in oxygen discharge line 72 containing oxygen demister vessel 70 and flow control valve 74).
Therefore, it would have been obvious before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the method of Golbach as modified wherein the step of drying the oxygen-rich effluent stream to produce a dried, oxygen rich effluent stream further comprises separating the oxygen-rich effluent stream to remove a condensate and then drying the resulting vapor stream to remove water vapor the oxygen-rich effluent stream as taught by Harrison. One of ordinary skill in the art would have been motivated to make this modification to prevent freeze-ups and blockages within the distillation columns to improve overall system efficiencies and reduce potential damage to the system.
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure.
Haase (US Patent No. 8,161,748) discloses a similar method for co-producing an ultra-high purity oxygen product stream and an ultra-high purity hydrogen product stream from a stream of feed water.
Ito et al. (JP 2003328172) discloses a similar method for co-producing an ultra-high purity oxygen product stream and an ultra-high purity hydrogen product stream from a stream of feed water.
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to DEVON T MOORE whose telephone number is 571-272-6555. The examiner can normally be reached M-F, 7:30-5.
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/DEVON MOORE/Examiner, Art Unit 3763 August 01st, 2025
/FRANTZ F JULES/Supervisory Patent Examiner, Art Unit 3763