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 statements (IDS) submitted on 7/17/2024 and 9/16/2025 were filed. The submission is in compliance with the provisions of 37 CFR 1.97. Accordingly, the information disclosure statement is being considered by the examiner.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 102
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 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.
Claim(s) 1-20 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Mehta et al. [Mehta] (US Patent No. 11,626,730).
As to claim 1
Mehta discloses a method for producing ammonia (Ammonia; see column 11, line 3) using a low carbon energy source (renewable energy sources such as wind 24 and/or solar 26, see Fig. 1), the ammonia being produced by a facility (Ammonia synthesis plant 18, see Fig. 1) having an ammonia synthesis loop (Ammonia Loop; see column 10, line 67), the method comprising:
supplying energy to the facility, wherein at least a portion of the supplied energy is from a low carbon energy source (renewable energy sources such as wind 24 and/or solar 26, see Fig. 1) (see column 8, lines 11-17);
receiving a forecasted energy profile (usage and power generation data; see column 12, lines 26-27) for the low carbon energy source over a time period (see column 12, lines 26-35);
predicting, using an advanced regulatory controller (ARC) (real-time optimization module (RTOM) 156, see Fig. 2/power prediction module (PPM) 152, see Fig. 2), operating conditions of the facility based on the forecasted energy profile for the low carbon energy source (see column 12, lines 42-64);
generating, by the ARC, one or more set points (setpoint operation parameters; see column 12, lines 45-46) to control the facility (see column 12, lines 42-48);
generating a hydrogen feed to the ammonia synthesis loop using at least one of:
(i) a primary hydrogen feed generated by a hydrogen plant (hydrogen production plant 12, see Fig. 1) energized by the low carbon energy source (see column 17, lines 42-49 and column 18, lines 51-54), and
(ii) a supplemental hydrogen feed (hydrogen storage unit 14, see Fig. 1);
controlling the generating of the hydrogen feed using the ARC (see column 17, lines 42-49 and column 18, lines 51-54); and
producing ammonia by feeding the generated hydrogen feed to the ammonia synthesis loop in accordance with the one or more set points generated by the ARC (see column 17, lines 42-64 and column 18, lines 45-67).
As to claim 2
Mehta discloses the method of claim 1, wherein generating the hydrogen feed comprises using the supplemental hydrogen feed provided from: (i) a hydrogen storage unit energized by the low carbon energy source, (ii) a secondary hydrogen source, or (iii) a combination of (i) and (ii) (see column 8, lines 11-21).
As to claim 3
Mehta discloses the method of claim 1, wherein the one or more set points for the facility are generated using facility-specific information and non-facility-specific information, the non-facility-specific information comprising the forecasted energy profile of the low carbon energy source (see column 12, lines 51-64).
As to claim 4
Mehta discloses the method of claim 3, wherein the non-facility-specific information further comprises availability of energy from a secondary energy source, and further comprising transferring energy between the facility and the secondary energy source (see column 8, lines 11-21 and column 12, lines 51-64).
As to claim 5
Mehta discloses the method of claim 4, wherein the transferring comprises one of: (i) exporting energy from the low carbon energy source to the secondary energy source, and (ii) importing energy from the secondary energy source to the facility (see column 8, lines 11-21 and column 12, lines 51-64).
As to claim 6
Mehta discloses the method of claim 1, wherein the forecasted energy profile for the low carbon energy source is received continuously or periodically (see column 8, lines 11-21).
As to claim 7
Mehta discloses the method of claim 6, wherein one or more set points are generated by the ARC each time an update to the energy profile for the low carbon energy source is received (see column 17, lines 5-22).
As to claim 8
Mehta discloses the method of claim 1, further comprising determining if the predicted operating conditions of the facility are outside operating limits of one or more sections or equipment of the facility (see column 12, lines 36-64).
As to claim 9
Mehta discloses the method of claim 8, wherein generating the one or more set points for the facility further comprises:
determining that the predicted operating conditions of the facility are outside the operating limits of one or more sections or equipment of the facility (see column 12, lines 36-64);
determining, in response to the determination that the predicted operating conditions are outside the operating limits, a maximum hydrogen rate that may be consumed by the ammonia synthesis loop without violating any of the operating limits of any equipment and/or process in the facility (see column 23, lines 50-67); and
generating the one or more set points for the facility based on the determined maximum hydrogen rate and on the operating limits of one or more sections or equipment of the facility (see column 12, lines 42-48 and column 23, lines 50-67).
As to claim 10
Mehta discloses a control system (control system 100, see Fig. 1) for producing ammonia (Ammonia; see column 11, line 3) using a low carbon energy source (renewable energy sources such as wind 24 and/or solar 26, see Fig. 1), the ammonia being produced by a facility (Ammonia synthesis plant 18, see Fig. 1) having an ammonia synthesis loop (Ammonia Loop; see column 10, line 67), the control system comprising:
an advanced regulatory controller (ARC) (real-time optimization module (RTOM) 156, see Fig. 2/power prediction module (PPM) 152, see Fig. 2) configured to:
receive a forecasted energy profile (usage and power generation data; see column 12, lines 26-27) for the low carbon energy source over a time period (see column 12, lines 26-35);
predict operating conditions of the facility based on the forecasted energy profile for the low carbon energy source (see column 12, lines 42-64); and
generate one or more set points (setpoint operation parameters; see column 12, lines 45-46) for the facility (see column 12, lines 42-48) and to control a generation of a hydrogen feed (hydrogen production plant 12, see Fig. 1) to the ammonia synthesis loop for production of the ammonia (see column 17, lines 42-49 and column 18, lines 51-54).
As to claim 11
Mehta discloses the control system of claim 10, wherein the one or more set points are generated based on the received forecasted energy profile for the low carbon energy source (see column 12, lines 51-64).
As to claim 12
Mehta discloses the control system of claim 10, wherein the ARC is further configured to: receive a level of energy availability from a secondary energy source (see column 8, lines 11-21 and column 12, lines 51-64).
As to claim 13
Mehta discloses the control system of claim 12, wherein the ARC is further configured to: cause a transfer of energy between the facility and the secondary energy source (see column 8, lines 11-21 and column 12, lines 51-64).
As to claim 14
Mehta discloses the control system of claim 10, wherein the ARC is further configured to:
determine if the predicted operating conditions of the facility are outside operating limits of one or more sections or equipment of the facility (see column 12, lines 36-64);
determine, in response to the determination that the predicted operating conditions of the facility are outside the operating limits, a maximum hydrogen rate that may be consumed by the ammonia synthesis loop without violating any of the operating limits of any equipment and/or process in the facility (see column 23, lines 50-67); and
use the maximum hydrogen rate and on the operating limits of one or more sections or equipment of the facility to generate the one or more set points (see column 12, lines 42-48 and column 23, lines 50-67).
As to claim 15
Mehta discloses the control system of claim 10, further comprising one or more distributed control systems configured to receive the one or more set points generated by the ARC (see column 17, lines 5-22).
As to claim 16
Mehta discloses a non-transitory computer readable medium (computer readable storage medium; see column 6, lines 60-61) having stored thereon computer-readable instructions (instructions; see column 6, line 61) that, when executed by a processor (at least one hardware processor; see column 6, lines 65-66), cause the processor to:
receive facility-specific information (plant operation data; see column 12, line 37) and non-facility-specific information, wherein the non-facility-specific information comprises a forecasted energy profile (usage and power generation data; see column 12, lines 26-27) for a low carbon energy source (renewable energy sources such as wind 24 and/or solar 26, see Fig. 1) over a time period (see column 12, lines 26-41);
predict operating conditions of the facility (Ammonia synthesis plant 18, see Fig. 1) based on the forecasted energy profile for the low carbon energy source (see column 12, lines 42-64);
determine if the predicted operating conditions of the facility are outside operating limits of one or more sections or equipment of the facility (see column 12, lines 36-64);
generate, based on the determination, one or more set points (setpoint operation parameters; see column 12, lines 45-46) for the facility (see column 12, lines 42-48); and
control production of ammonia (Ammonia; see column 11, line 3) based on the one or more set points (see column 17, lines 42-49 and column 18, lines 51-54).
As to claim 17
Mehta discloses the non-transitory computer readable medium of claim 16, further configured to continuously monitor one or more components of a facility comprising an ammonia synthesis loop and the low carbon energy source (see column 18, lines 58-67).
As to claim 18
Mehta discloses the non-transitory computer readable medium of claim 17, further configured to receive a level of energy availability from a secondary energy source (see column 8, lines 11-21 and column 12, lines 51-64).
As to claim 19
Mehta discloses the non-transitory computer readable medium of claim 18, further configured to cause a transfer of energy from the low carbon energy source to a secondary source of energy (see column 8, lines 11-21 and column 12, lines 51-64).
As to claim 20
Mehta discloses a method for controlling a facility (Ammonia synthesis plant 18, see Fig. 1) for producing ammonia (Ammonia; see column 11, line 3) using a low carbon energy source (renewable energy sources such as wind 24 and/or solar 26, see Fig. 1) and an ammonia synthesis loop (Ammonia Loop; see column 10, line 67), comprising:
receiving facility-specific information (plant operation data; see column 12, line 37) and non-facility-specific information, wherein the non-facility-specific information comprises a forecasted energy profile (usage and power generation data; see column 12, lines 26-27) for a low carbon energy source over a time period (see column 12, lines 26-41);
predicting operating conditions of the facility based on the forecasted energy profile for the low carbon energy source (see column 12, lines 42-64);
determining if the predicted operating conditions of the facility are outside operating limits of one or more sections or equipment of the facility (see column 12, lines 36-64);
generating, based on the determination, one or more set points (setpoint operation parameters; see column 12, lines 45-46) for the facility (see column 12, lines 42-48); and
controlling production of ammonia based on the one or more set points (see column 17, lines 42-49 and column 18, lines 51-54).
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to Michael J. Brown whose telephone number is (571)272-5932. The examiner can normally be reached Monday-Thursday from 5:30am-4:00pm.
If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Thomas Lee can be reached at (571)272-3667. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/Michael J Brown/
Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2115