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/Restriction
Applicant’s election, without traverse, of Group I (claims 1-11 and 24-26) in the reply filed on October 14, 2025, to the restriction requirement dated September 10, 2025, is hereby acknowledged.
Accordingly, claims 1-11 and 24-26 have been examined in the instant Office action whereas claims 12-23 have been withdrawn as drawn to a nonelected invention but remain pending with the present application.
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.
Claim 1, claims 2-11 and 24-26 that depend therefrom are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 112(b) as indefinite for failing to particularly point out and distinctly claim the subject matter which the inventor or a joint inventor regards as the invention.
Claim 1 recites the limitation "the hydrogen plant" in lines 19 and 20 of the claim. There is insufficient antecedent basis for this limitation in the claim. The “hydrogen plant” limitation in line 15 is an alternative component of the third limitation beginning in line 7 of the claim and, therefore, does not provide sufficient antecedence basis for the limitations in claims 19 and 20.
Claim 3 is indefinite for failing to particularly point out and distinctly claim the subject matter which the inventor or a joint inventor regards as the invention.
Claim 3 is indefinite because it recites broad range/limitation together with a narrow range/limitation that fall within the broad range or limitation (in the same claim 3). That is, this claim is indefinite because it does not clearly set forth the metes and bounds of the patent protection desired. See MPEP § 2173.05(c).
The claim recites the broad recitation for the “second pre-selected temperature” (between 10°C and 60°C) is followed by narrower statements of this range/limitation (e.g., “between 30°C and 50°C). Similarly, the same claim recites for the “first pre-selected temperature” a broad range of “greater 0°C or less than 40°C”, which is followed by narrower ranges (e.g., “between 15°C and 40°C”).
The claim is considered indefinite because there is a question or doubt as to whether the feature introduced by such narrower language is (a) merely exemplary of the remainder of the claim, and therefore not required, or (b) a required feature of the claims.
Appropriate correction is required by Applicant in a reply to this action.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 103
The following is a quotation of the appropriate paragraphs of 35 U.S.C. 102 that form the basis for the rejections under this section made in this Office action:
A person shall be entitled to a patent unless –
(a)(1) the claimed invention was patented, described in a printed publication, or in public use, on sale or otherwise available to the public before the effective filing date of the claimed invention.
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.
Claims 1-4, 8-11 and 24-26 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. §103 as unpatentable over Noureldin (US 2015/0377079 A1 to Noureldin et al., published December 31, 2015). .
Examiner notes that independent claim 1 recites the apparatus as either a hydrogen plant or an ammonia plant (or combined). This rejection over Noureldin is drawn to the hydrogen plant alternative.
Noureldin discloses a high-pressure process for pre-combustion and post-combustion carbon dioxide capture by way of carbon dioxide total subcritical condensation, separation of liquid carbon dioxide and high-pressure pumps, for super-efficient hydrogen-based fossil power generation that results in hydrogen production and a hydrogen recovery plant, wherein the an integrated site energy management system can include a hot-water system extending between the separation section of the acid gas removal system or plant and wherein a plurality of added heat exchanger units providing various advanced thermal coupling arrangements (abstract; Figure 1; [0038]; [0047]; [0048] of Noureldin). The hydrogen recovery plant in the carbon-based feedstock-gasification generation facility for power, steam, hydrogen and chilled water generation (cooling circuit), upgrades the hydrogen from the treated syngas leaving the acid gas removal plant wherein the plant generally includes a membrane pre-treatment section, gas separation membrane unit, a compressor and a pressure swing adsorption (PSA) unit ([0048]).
Particularly, in Figure 1, Noureldin discloses that downstream of the permeate compressor, the gas is first cooled in a first water cooler (about room temperature of less) and then consequently in a chilled water cooler (pre-selected temperature that is less than room temperature but higher than freezing temperature), wherein the stream leaving the permeate compressor after the coolers is then made free of liquids in the PSA feed knock-out drum, wherein the gas leaving the PSA feed knock-out drum then enters the PSA unit that separates the permeate gas into a high-purity hydrogen stream and a PSA tail gas stream, wherein the PSA tail gas is used as fuel for power generation in the power generation plant, and wherein the high-purity hydrogen stream is the final product of this hydrogen recovery plant and is available at the required pressure for the end user, such as an oil refinery ([0048] to [0052]; [0056]; [0205]; Figs. 1, 7, 8 and 22 of Noureldin).
Noureldin further discloses in Fig. 8 that, in the process described above, a hot stream of water is cooled by a cooling unit and a cold stream is heated by steam, wherein low-pressure steam is used to heat the treated syngas after it has been made free of liquids, wherein the stream leaving the permeate compressor is first cooled using cooling water and subsequently gets chilled using chilled water ([0051]; [0052]). The waste water stream produced by the plant is condensed/cooled and routed for further treatment in a bio-treatment plant, wherein the water can be fresh water from pre-treated soot water ([0056]; [0057]).
Although Noureldin does not expressly disclose an example of its apparatus that further contains a third heat exchanger for cooling a fluid as recited in present independent claim 1, Noureldin, as discussed above, does discloses apparatus that provide cooling water for producing/recovering hydrogen that have multiple heat exchangers and cooling mediums. Consequently, it would have been obvious to a person skilled in the art to at the time of the filing of the claimed invention to prepare an apparatus/system for hydrogen recovery, as taught in Noureldin, further having three or more heat exchangers/cooling mediums because Noureldin itself teaches that a preferred energy management system for the apparatus/system includes hot-water/cooling systems and gas separation, with a plurality of added heat exchanger units, which provide for various advanced thermal coupling arrangements, in accordance with the teachings of Noureldin (abstract; [0079]; [0171] to [0180]; [0200]; [0261]; [0300]; Figs. 17A, 17B, 18A and 18B).
Thus, the instant claims are unpatentable over Noureldin.
Potential Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 5-7 are objected to as dependent upon a rejected base claim but would be allowable if rewritten in independent form including all of the limitations of the base claim and any intervening claims (and also overcoming the claim indefiniteness issues presented, supra, in paragraph #5).
Noureldin does not teach or suggest its apparatus/system used for providing cooling water for the production of hydrogen/ammonia that contains both, an ammonia plant and a hydrogen plant, in accordance with present dependent claims 5-7.
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure.
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to JOHN J FIGUEROA whose telephone number is (571)272-8916. The examiner can normally be reached on 8:30 am -6:00 pm.
If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, JOSEPH DEL SOLE can be reached on 571-272-1098. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/JOHN J FIGUEROA/ Primary Examiner, Art Unit 1763
February 1, 2026