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 .
Status of Claims
Claims 1-20 are pending. This is the first office action on the merits.
Claim Objections
Claims 2, 10, 12, and 16 are objected to because of the following informalities.
Claim 2: The limitation “a temperature of to at least 100 °F” should be amended to state “a temperature of [[to]] at least 100 °F.”
Claim 10 recites “regenerating an amine absorbent and a hot acid gas in the amine regenerating unit” at line 11. For clarity, particularly, to use the term “regenerate” in a manner consistent with the ordinary meaning, Applicant is suggested to amend the recitation to state “regenerating the acid rich-amine stream to provide an amine absorbent and a hot acid gas in the amine regenerating unit.” It appears that the “acid rich-amine stream” from the absorbing unit is being regenerated and a “lean” amine absorbent and a hot acid gas are formed as a result of the regeneration.
Claim 12: Applicant is suggested to amend the limitation “a temperature in range of at least 100 °F” to state “a temperature
Claim 16 recites the limitation “wherein the sour gas feed is fed to the heat exchanger at a temperature in a range from 60 to 105 °F,” which is already presented in claim 14 (“wherein the heat exchanger is configured to receive a sour gas feed having a temperature in a range from 60 to 105 °F”).
Appropriate correction is required.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 112
The following is a quotation of 35 U.S.C. 112(d):
(d) REFERENCE IN DEPENDENT FORMS.—Subject to subsection (e), a claim in dependent form shall contain a reference to a claim previously set forth and then specify a further limitation of the subject matter claimed. A claim in dependent form shall be construed to incorporate by reference all the limitations of the claim to which it refers.
The following is a quotation of pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, fourth paragraph:
Subject to the following paragraph [i.e., the fifth paragraph of pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112], a claim in dependent form shall contain a reference to a claim previously set forth and then specify a further limitation of the subject matter claimed. A claim in dependent form shall be construed to incorporate by reference all the limitations of the claim to which it refers.
Claim 17 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 112(d) or pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, 4th paragraph, as being of improper dependent form for failing to further limit the subject matter of the claim upon which it depends, or for failing to include all the limitations of the claim upon which it depends.
Claim 17, which depends upon claim 14, recites “wherein the hot acid gas has a temperature in a range of 225 °F to 275 °F.” Claim 17 fails to further limit the subject matter of claim 14, because the limitation at issue is already presented in claim 14 (a hot acid gas having a temperature in a range from 225 °F to 275 °F).
Applicant may cancel the claim(s), amend the claim(s) to place the claim(s) in proper dependent form, rewrite the claim(s) in independent form, or present a sufficient showing that the dependent claim(s) complies with the statutory requirements.
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 1-16 and 18-20 are allowable over prior art.
Claim 17 would be allowable if rewritten to overcome the rejection(s) under 35 U.S.C. 112(d), set forth in this Office action and to include all of the limitations of the base claim and any intervening claims.
The following is a statement of reasons for the indication of allowable subject matter. No prior art of record, individual or in combination, teaches or reasonably suggests a gas sweetening system or a process of operating the gas sweetening system, the system comprising: (i) a heat exchanger comprising a sour gas inlet and a hot acid inlet, wherein the heat exchanger is configured to receive a sour gas feed having a temperature in a range from 60 °F to 105°F and a hot acid gas having a temperature in a range of 225°F to 275°F to produce a hot sour gas feed and a cooled acid gas, (ii) an absorbing unit in fluid communication with a hot sour outlet of the heat exchanger; and (iii) an amine regenerating unit comprising a hot acid outlet in fluid communication with the hot acid inlet of the heat exchanger, as required by claims 1, 10, and 14. While it is a known practice to utilize a hot sour gas obtained from an amine regenerator/stripper as a heat source in heat exchangers to heat process streams such as a “rich” absorbent, there is no sufficient teaching or suggestion which would have motivated one skill in the art to use a hot sour gas stream from a stripper to heat a sour gas feed having a temperature of 60-105 °F being fed to an absorber.
Herrin (US 4,798,910) discloses a process and a system for treating a sour gas, the system comprising an absorbing unit (Fig. 2, 18) and an amine regenerating unit (44), wherein a sour gas (10) is subjected to absorption in the absorbing unit to produce a sweet gas (24) and a rich amine absorbent (30), and wherein the rich amine absorbent is stripped in the amine regenerating unit to form a hot acid gas (50) and a lean amine absorbent (58) (col. 3, line 51 – col. 4, line 33; col. 5, lines 7-11). Herrin further discloses a heat exchanger (Fig. 2, 39) through which the hot sour gas passes to transfer heat to the rich-amine absorbent (40), thereby controlling its temperature of the rich-amine absorbent prior to being introduced to the amine regenerating unit (44) (col. 5, lines 7-27). However, Herrin fails to teach a heat exchanger whereby a sour gas feed having a temperature of 60-105 °F is heated to provide a hot sour gas feed by heat exchanging with a hot acid gas from the regenerating unit and having a temperature of 225-275°F. While Herrin teaches utilizing a hot acid gas as heat source in a heat exchanger to increase the temperature of the rich amine absorbent, there is no guidance which would have motivated one of ordinary skilled in the art to add a heat exchanger to which a portion of the hot acid gas is passed to heat a sour gas feed having a temperature of 60-105 °F.
Mak (US 2005/0172807 A1) discloses a method for removing acid gases from a feed gas in a system comprising (i) a heat exchanger (Fig. 2, 103, 104) configured to heat a feed gas (1), (ii) absorbing unit in fluid communication with an outlet of the heat exchanger, and (iii) an amine regenerating unit (118) ([0023]-[0030]). Mark, however, fails to teach that the aforementioned heat exchanger is configured to receive a sour gas having a temperature of 60-105°F and a hot acid gas exiting the regenerating unit and having a temperature of 225-275°F to produce a hot sour gas feed and a cooled acid gas. Mak only teaches using a sweet gas (11) or a rich absorbent (27) to cool a sour gas feed (1) in a heat exchanger (Fig. 2, 103, 104), thereby teaching away from the claim feature of heating a sour gas feed to a hot sour gas feed.
Any comments considered necessary by applicant must be submitted no later than the payment of the issue fee and, to avoid processing delays, should preferably accompany the issue fee. Such submissions should be clearly labeled “Comments on Statement of Reasons for Allowance.”
Conclusion
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/JASON Y CHONG/Examiner, Art Unit 1772