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
Applicant’s election without traverse of Group II, Claims 5-7 in the reply filed on March 17, 2026 is acknowledged.
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.
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.
Claim(s) 5-7 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Masayuki Iguchi et al. “Simple Continuous High-Pressure Hydrogen Production and Separation System from Formic Acid under Mild Temperatures” in view of Wesselbaum et al. “Continuous-Flow Hydrogenation of Carbon Dioxide to Pure Formic Acid using an Integrated scCO2 Process with Immobilized Catalyst and Base”.
Regarding Claim 5, Masayuki Iguchi et al. reference discloses a hydrogen production system for continuously producing hydrogen by use of dehydrogenation reaction of formic acid, the system comprising:
a reaction section for supplying formic acid and decomposing the formic acid into carbon dioxide and hydrogen with a catalyst to continuously produce hydrogen (Abstract and Figure 6, a -reactor and Page 888- Column 1); and
a separator for separating the product streams into H2-rich gas phase and CO2 rich liquid phase (Abstract, Figure 1, Figure 6, b- separator and Page 889).
However, Masayuki Iguchi et al. does not disclose that said system further comprises a formic acid extraction section for extracting formic acid from a formic acid solution serving as a raw material, with the carbon dioxide obtained in the reaction section, and subjecting the formic acid to the reaction section.
Wesselbaum et al. reference discloses a new concept that allows the continuous flow hydrogenation of supercritical CO2 (scCO2) with integrated product separation to produce pure HCO2H in a single processing unit wherein the use of scCO2 as both reactant and extractive phase affords continuous removal of product and obtains pure HCO2H that is free of any cross-contamination (Scheme 2, Page 8586, Column 1 and Page 8587, Column 1). It would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the system of Masayuki et al. with the formic acid extraction section as taught by Wesselbaum et al., since Wesselbaum et al. states at Page 8586, Column 1 that such a modification would obtains pure HCO2H that is free of any cross-contamination.
Regarding Claim 6, Masayuki Iguchi et al. and Wesselbaum et al. references disclose the hydrogen production system according to claim 5, further comprising a separation section for liquefying the carbon dioxide obtained in the reaction section to separate the carbon dioxide from hydrogen and subjecting liquefied carbon dioxide or supercritical carbon dioxide to the formic acid extraction section (Masayuki et al. – Figure 1, gas-liquid separation under high pressure and Wesselbaum et a. – Scheme 2 – supercritical CO2).
Regarding Claim 7, , Masayuki Iguchi et al. and Wesselbaum et al. references disclose the hydrogen production system according to claim 6, wherein the formic acid is supplied to the reaction section by a carbon dioxide pressure in the separation section (Wesselbaum et al. – Scheme 2).
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure.
Garcia-Perez et al. (WO-2018/176026A1) reference discloses a system for pyrolyzing coal, which comprises at least one reaction chamber capable of pyrolyzing coal in supercritical carbon dioxide atmosphere, a separation system configured to receive the supercritical carbon dioxide atmosphere from the reaction chamber after pyrolysis, condense reaction products from carbon dioxide, and generate tail gas and carbon dioxide stream, a dry reforming system configured to reform the tail gas and carbon dioxide stream into a stream (S1) containing syngas, a water-gas shift reactor configured to convert at least some of the stream (S1) into a stream (S2) containing carbon dioxide and hydrogen, a formic acid production unit configured to convert at least some of the stream (S2) into a stream (S3) containing formic acid, and an injection system configured to inject the formic acid into the reaction chamber (Figure 3, numeral 336 – formic acid production unit).
Choi et al. (KR-2021033251 A) reference discloses a method for producing hydrogen from biomass comprises (i) crushing a mixture of biomass and acid and subjecting to mechanical catalytic depolymerization, (ii) dissolving and dispersing the crushed biomass and acid mixture, oxidizing agent and polar aprotic solvent in water to obtain a mixed aqueous solution, (iii) performing hydrothermal treatment of the mixed aqueous solution of biomass, acid, oxidizing agent and polar aprotic solvent, (iv) cooling the hydrogen gas mixture, formic acid-containing aqueous solution, and solid lignin generated after the hydrothermal treatment to room temperature and then separating, (v) obtaining an aqueous formic acid solution in which the concentration of impurities is minimized from the separated aqueous solution containing formic acid and (vi) producing a mixture of hydrogen and carbon dioxide from formic acid by adding a heterogeneous dehydrogenation catalyst to the aqueous formic acid solution in which the concentration of impurities is minimized (Abstract).
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to HUY-TRAM NGUYEN whose telephone number is (571)270-3167. The examiner can normally be reached M-W, 7:00am - 3pm, EST.
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/HUY TRAM NGUYEN/ Examiner, Art Unit 1774
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