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 .
Information Disclosure Statement
The information disclosure statement (IDS) submitted on 06/07/2023 has been considered by the examiner.
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 1-18 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.
In regard to claim 1, the term “fully” in line 6 (fully stirring) and line 10 (reaction fully) is a relative term which renders the claim indefinite. The term “fully stirring” or “fully reacting” 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.
Claims 19 and 18 recites the limitation "the drying" in step 4. There is insufficient antecedent basis for this limitation in the claim. There is no drying step recited in step (4). For the purposes of examination, this drying step is interested as the drying step recited in step (1).
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 1-18 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Yang (CN-115477550-A) in view of Choi (KR-101785242) and Chaney (US Patent No. 2,817,582).
In regard to claims 1 and 9, Yang is directed to a method for preparing an N-P compound fertilizer and a fertilizer prepared by the method (e.g. content of phosphate, nitrogen, and phosphorous can be improved, and a phosphate fertilizer can be prepared) [para. 0021] from incinerated sewage sludge ash (e.g. ash obtained from firing municipal sludge) [0010], comprising the following steps:
(1) obtaining ISSA [abstract];
(2) mixing an acid solution with the ISSA to obtain a mixed solution (e.g. uniformly mixing the ash with a hydrochloric acid solution) [0010];
(3) subjecting the mixed solution to a reaction (e.g. reaction of sewage sludge ash with strong acid) and conducting centrifugation on an obtained reacted mixed solution, which necessarily avoids the formation of colloids by separating the solid and liquid components, thereby obtaining a phosphorus-rich supernatant and an ISSA residue (e.g. centrifuging, and taking supernatant to obtain a phosphorus-rich extracting) [0010];
(4) regulating the pH value of the phosphorus-rich supernatant (e.g. phosphorus-rich extracting solution) using a base (e.g. calcium hydroxide) conducting a reaction fully (e.g. reacting) and conducting centrifugation, thereby obtaining a precipitate (e.g. evaporating, concentrating) [0011]
(5) subjecting the precipitate to drying to obtain the fertilizer [0011].
Yang does not explicitly teach the steps of:
(1) weighing the ISSA, drying to a constant weight, and cooling in an airtight environment;
(2) heating the step (2) mixture and mixing with nitric acid
(3) subjecting the mixed solution of step (3) to stirring in a constant-temperature stirring device
(4) an aqueous ammonia with a mass fraction of 15% to 25% in step (4) under stirring to obtain a white turbid liquid the white turbid liquid, thereby obtaining a white precipitate; and
(5) pulverizing, and sieving by a 100-mesh sieve the precipitate of step (5)
Choi is directed to a similar method for recovering phosphorous from sewage sludge ash [abstract] including steps of:
(1) weighing the ISSA (e.g. the sewage sludge was incinerated and the bottom material was measured) [0057], drying to a constant weight (e.g. removing most of the water to a water content of less than 5%) [0017], and cooling in an airtight environment (e.g. in an incinerator) [0016];
(2) heating the step (2) mixture and mixing with nitric acid (e.g. the ash is treated with an acid at least one acid selected from the group consisting of sulfuric acid, hydrochloric acid and nitric acid) [0020], wherein the reaction of acid with the ash necessarily generated heat as an exothermic reaction;
(3) subjecting the mixed solution of step (3) to stirring in a constant-temperature stirring device and (e.g. the ash and the acid are mixed by stirring at 5 to 1000 rpm to be uniformly mixed) [0022];
(4) using an ammonium compound as a precipitant [0032] in an amount of 2M under stirring (e.g. in a mixing tank) [examples] and in the case where the reaction with nitric acid and ammonium in Choi necessarily results in ammonium nitrate, a white precipitate (e.g. white liquid in water) is obtained (e.g. ammonium nitrate is a white crystalline solid).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to perform the method disclosed by Yang utilizing the specific parameters described by Choi. One of ordinary skill in the art would have been motivated to do so because hydrochloric acid and sulfuric acid are suitable acids as describe by Choi [0020] for the acid treatment step and the simple substitution of one known acid for another would obtain predictable results. Furthermore, Choi demonstrates the use of an ammonia compound as precipitant to recover phosphorus in MAP form [0032] and one of skill would have been motivated to substitute the alkaline material of Yang with an ammonia compound to form the desired potassium salt for agricultural use. The adjusting and optimizing of temperature and mixing conditions as describe by Choi in the process of Yang would have been obvious to try in view of these variable achieving a recognized result of increasing the reaction rate of the ash component with the acid/basic component. Where Yang teaches the general steps of the claimed method, one of skill in the art would look to Choi guidance on the specific process parameters.
In regard to claimed step (5) Chaney is directed to recovering a waste material and converting into a mechanically usable agricultural material [col. 1, lines 16-17]. The materials of Chaney are subject to pulverization and converted into a fine powder (from 100 to 200 mesh) [col. 2, lines 7-9]. It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to pulverize and sieve the fertilizer material obtained in the Yang method. One of ordinary skill in the art would have been motivated to do so because a fine powder in the 100-mesh size range is in a mechanical condition satisfactory for agricultural and industrial use, and can be transported in trucks or sacked and shipped, as may be desired [col. 2, lines 9-12].
In regard to claims 2 and 11, Choi discloses heating the sewage sludge ash to remove most of the water (water content is less than 5%) [0017] and while the reference(s) do not teach wherein the drying is conducted at a temperature at 90°C to 110°C, it is not inventive to discover the optimum or workable temperature range to achieve the desired water content described by Choi by routine experimentation.
In regard to claims 3 and 12, Yang discloses wherein in step (2) the concentration of the acid may be 1 to 3 mol/L [0022] and while the reference does not disclose the claimed temperature, absent teaching otherwise, one of skill in the art would expect step (2) to be conducted at ambient temperature unless otherwise noted (e.g. between 15°C and 25°C).
In regard to claims 4 and 13, Yang discloses wherein in step the acid solution and the ISSA are at a liquid-to-solid ratio of (2- 4) mL: 1g [0023].
In regard to claims 5 and 14, Choi discloses wherein in step (3), the stirring is conducted at 100 to 500 rpm [0022] and while the reference does not disclose the claimed temperature, absent teaching otherwise, one of skill in the art would expect step (2) to be conducted at ambient temperature unless otherwise noted (e.g. between 15°C and 25°C) for a period of time sufficient to achieve a favorable reaction (e.g. 10 min to 30 min).
In regard to claims 6 and 15, Yang discloses wherein in step (3), the centrifugation is conducted at 5,000 rpm for 10 min [example 3].
In regard to claims 7 and 16, Choi discloses stirring conducted at 100 to 500 rpm [0022] and while the reference does not disclose the claimed temperature, absent teaching otherwise, one of skill in the art would expect step (2) to be conducted at ambient temperature unless otherwise noted (e.g. between 15°C and 25°C) for a period of time sufficient to achieve a favorable reaction (e.g. 25 min to 60 min).
In regard to claims 8 and 17, Yang discloses wherein in step (4), the centrifugation is conducted at 5,000 rpm for 10 min [example 3].
In regard to claims 9 and 18, Choi discloses heating the sewage sludge ash to remove most of the water (water content is less than 5%) [0017] and while the reference(s) do not each wherein the drying is conducted at a temperature at 90°C to 110°C, it is not inventive to discover the optimum or workable temperature range and drying time to achieve the desired water content described by Choi by routine experimentation.
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure:
Lehmkuhl et al. (US Patent No. 10,392,260) describes the recovery of phosphate-containing and nitrogen from ash.
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/JENNIFER A SMITH/Primary Patent Examiner, Art Unit 1731 December 4, 2025