DETAILED ACTION
Election/Restrictions
Applicant’s election without traverse of claims 1-9 in the reply filed on 5/15/2026 is acknowledged. Claims 10-15 are withdrawn from consideration.
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.
Claim(s) 1 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102a1 as being anticipated by A “Study on the Production Characteristics of Hydrogen and Biochar by High Temperature thermo-chemical pyrolysis of Biomass” (“Sim”).
Regarding claim 1, Sim discloses a hydrogen production system using a biochar oven, the system comprising:
a vertical pyrolysis furnace (see Fig. 1, which is pasted below) configured to perform pyrolysis treatment of a pyrolysis target including at least one of waste plastic and fossil fuel under a high temperature atmosphere of 700°C to 1100°C (pg. 2); and
a plate-shaped flameless heater configured to heat the vertical pyrolysis furnace, and to use biochar oven gas (BOG) produced from the vertical pyrolysis furnace as fuel to heat the vertical pyrolysis furnace (Fig. 1)
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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) 2, 5, 6, 8, 9 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over “Study on the Production Characteristics of Hydrogen and Biochar by High Temperature thermo-chemical pyrolysis of Biomass” (“Sim”) in view of Chen (CN 110616089 A), and “Chars as carbonaceous adsorbents/catalysts for tar elimination during biomass pyrolysis or gasification” (“Shen”).
Regarding claim 2, Sim discloses a hydrogen production system using a biochar oven, the system comprising:
a vertical pyrolysis furnace into which a pyrolysis target including at least one of waste plastic and fossil fuel is supplied in a free fall scheme by its own weight (Fig. 1); and
a plate-shaped flameless heater configured to heat the vertical pyrolysis furnace such that a high-temperature atmosphere of 800 to 1300°C is generated therein (pg. 2).
Sim fails to disclose:
a solid-gas separator installed under a bottom of the vertical pyrolysis furnace and configured to receive a biochar-gas mixture produced from the vertical pyrolysis furnace and to separate the biochar-gas mixture into the BOG and the biochar and to discharge the BOG and the biochar; and
a BOG purification unit configured to receive therein the biochar separated using the solid-gas separator therefrom, and use the received biochar as an adsorbent, wherein the BOG separated using the solid-gas separator passes through the received biochar in the BOG purification unit such that impurities contained in the BOG are removed therefrom.
Chen teaches a hydrogen production system using a biochar oven, comprising:
a solid-gas separator (7) installed under a bottom of the vertical pyrolysis furnace and configured to receive a biochar-gas mixture produced from the vertical pyrolysis furnace (3) and to separate the biochar-gas mixture into the BOG and the biochar and to discharge the BOG and the biochar (after the separator 7, BOG enters gas purifier 8 and biochar enters coke-discharging box 12); and
a BOG purification unit (8) configured to receive therein biochar (“active coke”), and use the received biochar as an adsorbent, wherein the BOG separated using the solid-gas separator passes through the received biochar in the BOG purification unit such that impurities contained in the BOG are removed therefrom (pg. 5, fifth paragraph).
Although Chen does not disclose the source of the “active coke” used in the BOG purification unit (8), Shen teaches using the biochar separated from a pyrolysis process for removing contaminants such as tar from pyrolysis gas (abstract).
It would have been obvious to a person skilled in the art at the time of effective filing of the application to modify Sim to include a solid-gas separator installed under a bottom of the vertical pyrolysis furnace and configured to receive a biochar-gas mixture produced from the vertical pyrolysis furnace and to separate the biochar-gas mixture into the BOG and the biochar and to discharge the BOG and the biochar; and a BOG purification unit configured to receive therein the biochar separated using the solid-gas separator therefrom, and use the received biochar as an adsorbent, wherein the BOG separated using the solid-gas separator passes through the received biochar in the BOG purification unit such that impurities contained in the BOG are removed therefrom. The motivation to combine is so that the pyrolysis gas can be purified before being used for downstream processes (e.g., fuel gas for the plate-shaped heater or for another combustion process).
Regarding claim 5, modified Sim discloses the hydrogen production system of claim 2, wherein the BOG purified using the BOG purification unit is used as fuel of the plate-shaped flameless heater (see Fig. 1 of Sim showing where BOG is used as fuel for the plate-shaped flameless heater, and Sim is modified where the BOG is purified before being used a fuel for the heater).
Regarding claim 6, modified Sim discloses the hydrogen production system of claim 2, wherein contaminated biochar used for the BOG purification in the BOG purification unit is reintroduced into the vertical pyrolysis furnace and is subjected to a pyrolysis process therein (the system is capable of using reintroducing contaminated biochar into the furnace; note: this claim does not require any additional structural elements).
Regarding claim 8, modified Sim discloses the hydrogen production system of claim 2, wherein the pyrolysis target is one of waste plastic, a mixture of waste plastic and biomass, a waste mask including PP and PE as a filter material, or a fossil fuel including LPG, petroleum, coal, and liquefied natural gas (see pg. 1 of Sim).
Regarding claim 9, modified Sim discloses the hydrogen production system of claim 8, wherein the biomass includes one of wood pellets, wood chips, livestock manure pellets, coffee grounds, or tofu residues, or a mixture thereof (see pg. 2 of Sim).
Claim(s) 3 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over “Study on the Production Characteristics of Hydrogen and Biochar by High Temperature thermo-chemical pyrolysis of Biomass” (“Sim”) in view of Shin (KR 102199489 B1).
Regarding claim 3, Sim discloses the hydrogen production system of claim 1, except wherein the vertical pyrolysis furnace vertically extends through the plate-shaped flameless heater and is heated by the heater.
However, Shin teaches a thermal radiant plate for a pyrolysis furnace, wherein the vertical pyrolysis furnace (Fig. 1; 101) vertically extends through the plate-shaped flameless heater (200) and is heated by the heater.
It would have been obvious to a person skilled in the art at the time of effective filing of the application to modify Sim wherein the vertical pyrolysis furnace vertically extends through the plate-shaped flameless heater and is heated by the heater, so that the biomass can be uniformly heated for optimal pyrolysis.
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 4, 7 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.
Conclusion
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/JASON LAU/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 3762
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