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 § 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.
Claims 1, 11-15, 17 and 19-20 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Beck et al (DE202020005826, English translation)(cited on the 2/14/25 IDS).
Beck, paragraph 1 of the English translation, teaches a solar-powered high-temperature reactor for the thermal splitting of hydrogen-containing substances (e.g. B. methane, other hydrocarbons or water) for the production of hydrogen and by-products (e.g. B. solid carbon, aromatic hydrocarbons, oxygen, etc.).
Beck, paragraph 8 of the English translation, teaches a method characterized in that a gas or a gas mixture in a chamber is heated to high temperatures by concentrated sunlight using an absorber and kept under constant rotation, whereby the rotating gas experiences a separation of colder and therefore heavier and hotter and therefore lighter gas layers due to the action of centrifugal force, and thereby a displacement of the hotter (lighter) gas in the direction of the axis of rotation of the chamber and of the colder (heavier) gas in the direction of the chamber wall.
Beck, paragraph 9 of the English translation, teaches a gas (3) (or gaseous reactants) is heated in the container (6) according to embodiment 1 or 2, i.e. in a rotating tube (1) or in the non-rotating tube (4), according to the invention, by concentrated sunlight (8) through a light-transmitting window (9) using an absorber (7) to a high temperature for intended work processes.
The centrifugal force only acts in the radial direction during rotational movement; that is, the thermal insulation does not work in the axial direction according to the invention.
Beck, English translation, teaches Fig. 1 shows embodiment 1 with a rotating tube (1), wherein a gas (3) is introduced at one end (2) of the tube and is heated by concentrated sunlight (8) using an absorber (7).
At the other end (2) the gas (3) (or the reaction products) flows out again.
Regarding claims 11-13, Beck, paragraph 3 of the English translation, teaches direct thermal water splitting requires temperatures above 2000 °C.
Regarding claim 14, Beck teaches a displacement of the hotter (lighter) gas in the direction of the axis of rotation of the chamber and of the colder (heavier) gas in the direction of the chamber wall.
Regarding claim 15, Beck teaches a gas in the chamber.
It 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 to heat up water to ensure it is a gas entering the chamber.
Regarding claim 17, Beck teaches Fig. 3 shows example 3 for a closed container (6), wherein the interior of the container (6) is under normal, negative or positive pressure.
Regarding claim 19, Beck teaches a method characterized in that a gas or a gas mixture in a chamber is heated to high temperatures by concentrated sunlight using an absorber.
Regarding claim 20, it 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 that the reactor can be moved even a few inches from a first to second location depending on a layout of a room.
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 2-10, 16 and 18 are objected to as being 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.
Although the reference teaches an outlet, the reference does not teach the inlet valve and outlet valve are closed during the heating as claimed in claim 2.
There is no motivation in the reference to close an inlet or outlet valve during heating as claimed in claim 2.
Although the reference teaches an outlet, the reference does not teach drawing off oxygen and recombined water from the centrifuge via an oxygen release line including an oxygen release valve as claimed in claim 6.
There is no motivation in the reference to draw off oxygen and recombined water from the centrifuge via an oxygen release line including an oxygen release valve as claimed in claim 6.
Although the reference teaches water as a gas, the reference does not teach circularly accelerating the water prior to the charging as claimed in claim 16.
There is no motivation in the reference to circularly accelerate the water prior to the charging as claimed in claim 16.
Although the reference teaches a heat insulating gas layer, the reference does not teach providing a noble gas to the centrifuge such that the noble has forms a layer along a wall of the centrifuge as claimed in claim 18.
There is no motivation in the reference to provide a noble gas to the centrifuge such that the noble has forms a layer along a wall of the centrifuge as claimed in claim 18.
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure.
WO2010053387 (cited on the teaches a method for thermal decomposition of water.
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/STEFANIE J COHEN/Examiner, Art Unit 1732 1/6/26