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 .
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 102
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.
Claims 1-4, 7-9, and 11 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Cusanelli et al (US 3,743,501).
Cusanelli et al teach (see figs. 1 and 2, col. 4, lines 37-75) a zinc recovery method from a raw material that contains zinc, the method comprising an alkali washing step (dilute caustic preleach) of the raw material with an alkali aqueous solution to remove soluble halogen compounds and a subsequent dissolving step (releaching) of the raw material which has had the halogen compounds removed using an alkaline fluid at a temperature of about 100ׄ°C. The alkaline fluid used in the dissolving step had a higher concentration than the alkaline fluid used in the washing step. The liquid output of the washing step, that containing the solubilized halogen compounds, was not sent to the dissolving step. After the dissolving step, Cusanelli et al sent the solution containing the dissolved zinc to a recovering step comprising electrowinning (i.e. by electrolysis).
Regarding claim 2, Cusanelli et al discuss (see col. 4, lines 67-71) the need to remove ferrous iron from the solution containing the dissolved zinc. This ferrous iron is considered to inherently be present in the starting raw material.
Regarding claim 3, Cusanelli et al teach performing the recovery method on electric furnace oxides. Such materials inherently include at least some zinc ferrite.
Regarding claim 4, the dissolving step (releaching) of Cusanelli et al was done at atmospheric pressure at a temperature of about 100°C.
Regarding claim 7, Cusanelli et al, as discussed above, teach the recovery step of zinc from the liquid phase being by electrolysis and discharging the decomposed halogen compound prior to the electrolyzing step. Note that the halogen compound is considered to inherently include at least some organic halogen (e.g. polyvinylchloride contamination from the electric furnace).
Regarding claim 8, Cusanelli et al teach (see col. 4, lines 67-71) performing a substep of separating a solid phase containing iron by aeration and filtering which also produced a liquid phase containing zinc.
Regarding claim 9, Cusanelli et al teach recovery of the zinc as zinc metal.
Regarding claim 11, Cusanelli et al teach (see fig. 2) regeneration of the alkaline fluid during the electrolysis step and recycling the alkaline fluid to the dissolving step.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 103
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.
Claim 5 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Cusanelli et al (US 3,743,501) in view of Koningen et al (US 2008/0206127).
Cusanelli et al teach the dissolving step (releaching) occurring at atmospheric pressure and a temperature of about 100ׄ°C.
Cusanelli et al fail to teach the dissolving step occurring at pressures above atmospheric and at a temperature between 105°C and 220°C.
Koningen et al teach (see abstract, fig. 1, paragraphs [0007]-[0012]) in the same field of zinc recovery from metallurgical waste dust, that leaching of the dust that would normally solubilize the iron content of the dust can be altered by performing the leaching at high temperatures (above 100°C) and pressures (at least 220 psig) to force the iron that is leached to reprecipitate as iron oxide. This permitted preferential leaching of the non-ferrous (e.g. zinc) content of the waste dust while leaving the iron content of the dust in the solid phase.
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art at the time of filing to have modified the dissolving step of Cusanelli et al according to the suggestion of Koningen et al by conducting the dissolving step at temperatures above 100°C and pressures above 220 psig in order to force any iron content of the raw material to reprecipitate as iron oxide thereby improving the purity of the zinc solution sent to electrowinning.
Conclusion
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/HARRY D WILKINS III/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 1794