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 Interpretation
The term “light-off temperature” is interpreted to be the minimum temperature at which a catalyst, under technically relevant conditions, converts more than 10% of the reactant under consideration (Spec., [0034], [0039]).
Specification
The disclosure is objected to because of the following informalities.
The specification, in paragraphs [0003], [0007], [0039], and [0057], discloses the term “kerosenes” in a manner inconsistent with its ordinary meaning. For example, paragraph [0003] states:
Oxidative dehydrogenation (ODH) of kerosenes having two to four carbon atoms is generally known. During the ODH, said kerosenes are converted with oxygen, inter alia, to give the respective olefins and water. The invention relates in particular to the oxidative dehydrogenation of ethane to ethylene, hereinafter also referred to as ODHE. However, the invention is in principle not limited to the oxidative dehydrogenation of ethane, but may also extend to the oxidative dehydrogenation (ODH) of other kerosenes such as propane or butane. The following explanations apply accordingly in this case.
(emphasis added.)
The term “kerosene” is ordinarily understood to be liquid hydrocarbons having more than “two to four carbon atoms.” In contrast, saturated hydrocarbons with two to four carbon atoms, e.g., ethane, propane, and butane, are known as alkanes or paraffins. The use of the term “kerosene” to describe C2-C4 hydrocarbons to be dehydrogenated to “olefins” appears to be an inadvertent error and, therefore, Applicant is suggested to amend the specification to replace the term “kerosene” with an accurate term, such as “alkanes” or “paraffins.”
Claim Objections
Claims 5, 12, and 16 are objected to because of the following informalities.
Claim 5 recites “….in which the first catalyst is arranged in the first tube sections.” The recitation “the first catalyst” lacks antecedent basis. For consistency, Applicant is suggested to amend the limitation “the first catalyst” to state “the
Claim 12: The phrase “in particular” in line 4 seems unnecessary and Applicant is suggested to remove it.
Claim 16: The recitation “further contains tellurium” in line 3 should state “further contain[[s]] tellurium.”
Appropriate correction is required.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 112
The following is a quotation of 35 U.S.C. 112(b):
(b) CONCLUSION.—The specification shall conclude with one or more claims particularly pointing out and distinctly claiming the subject matter which the inventor or a joint inventor regards as the invention.
The following is a quotation of 35 U.S.C. 112 (pre-AIA ), second paragraph:
The specification shall conclude with one or more claims particularly pointing out and distinctly claiming the subject matter which the applicant regards as his invention.
Claims 1-20 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 112(b) or 35 U.S.C. 112 (pre-AIA ), second paragraph, as being indefinite for failing to particularly point out and distinctly claim the subject matter which the inventor or a joint inventor (or for applications subject to pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, the applicant), regards as the invention.
Claim 1 is indefinite for reciting “wherein the heating is performed, at least in part, using a catalyst arranged in the first tube sections and having a light-off temperature in the first temperature range” (emphasis added). The above recitation is confusing because it merely recites “using a catalyst” to perform the heating and it is unclear how this use is actually practiced, i.e., whether the claim requires the feed mixture to be brought in direct contact with the catalyst to achieve the heating. If contact is required, it is unclear as to whether the heating results from an exothermic reaction occurring upon contact with the catalyst, or conductive heat transfer from the catalyst that has been pre-heated.
The instant specification describes that in “first tube sections” of the reaction tubes, an upstream catalyst having a lower light-off temperature relative to a downstream catalyst provided in “second tube sections” (arranged downstream of the first tube sections) is employed such that “an inert zone for preheating can therefore be dispensed with in whole or in part, and deactivation of the main catalyst bed(s) arranged downstream…can be avoided, at least for the most part” (Spec., [0036]). The oxidative dehydrogenation of ethane, which is known to be an exothermic reaction, is used as a representative process throughout the specification. The specification describes that the first tube sections are utilized as “reactive preheating path” where the feed mixture reacts over the upstream oxidation catalyst ([0035]-[0036], [0045]-[0046]). Therefore, it is interpreted that the reaction with the upstream oxidation catalyst results in an exothermic reaction, which in turn releases heat.
For the purpose of examination, claim 1 is interpreted such that the heating step in the first tube sections is conducted by exothermically reacting the feed mixture with “a catalyst arranged in the first tube section and having a light-off temperature in the first temperature range.”
Claims 2-14 and 16-20 are also rejected under 35 U.S.C. 112(b) by virtue of their dependency upon claim 1.
Claim 15 is also rejected under 35 USC 112(b) for the same reason discussed above. While claim 15 is an apparatus claim, it includes the functional limitation that requires “for at least a part of the heating in the first tube section, a catalyst…which has a light-off temperature in the first temperature range.”
Examiner’s Comment
The following are suggestions provided by the examiner to address the indefiniteness issues and objections discussed above and also to improve clarity and form of the pending claims.
SPECIFICATION
[0003] Oxidative dehydrogenation (ODH) of alkanes having two to four carbon atoms is generally known. During the ODH, said alkanes are converted with oxygen, inter alia, to give the respective olefins and water. The invention relates in particular to the oxidative dehydrogenation of ethane to ethylene, hereinafter also referred to as ODHE. However, the invention is in principle not limited to the oxidative dehydrogenation of ethane, but may also extend to the oxidative dehydrogenation (ODH) of other alkanes such as propane or butane. The following explanations apply accordingly in this case.
[0007] During the ODH, particularly when MoVNb(Te)Ox-based catalysts are used under industrially relevant reaction conditions, significant amounts of the respective carboxylic acids of the alkanes used, in particular acetic acid in the case of ODHE, are formed as by-products. For the economical operation of the plant, coproduction of olefins and the carboxylic acids is therefore generally unavoidable when using the catalyst type described.
[0039] In the scope of the invention, the first temperature range can be in particular 170 to 280 °C, preferably 200 to 270 °C and particularly preferably 220 to 260 °C, the second temperature range preferably 280 to 450 °C and particularly preferably 300 to 400 °C. Irrespective of specific values, the temperature in the first temperature range (and thus the light-off temperature) is in particular 30 to 110 K, preferably 40 to 80 K and particularly preferably 40 to 60 K below the temperature in the second temperature range (of the main bed). In practice, there is a profile in the respective temperature ranges, i.e., heating up to a respective hotspot, and then falling again. The "light-off temperature" is understood in particular to mean the temperature at which the catalyst, under technically relevant conditions, converts more than 10% of the reactant under consideration, i.e., a alkane in the case of ODH, and ethane in the case of ODH(E).
[0057] As mentioned, the invention can be used in particular in connection with an ODH of alkanes such that the feed mixture advantageously contains oxygen and a alkane, in particular having two to six carbon atoms, and the oxidative conversion is performed as an oxidative dehydrogenation of the alkane. In an ODH employed with particular advantages, ethane is used as the alkane and an oxidative dehydrogenation of ethane (ODHE) is performed.
CLAIMS
Claim 1
A method for producing a target compound, comprising:
distributing a feed mixture at a temperature in a first temperature range to a plurality of parallel reaction tubes of a shell-and-tube reactor;
subjecting the feed mixture in first tube sections of the reaction tubes to heating to a temperature in a second temperature range; and
subjecting the feed mixture in second tube sections of the reaction tubes arranged downstream of the first tube sections to oxidative catalytic conversion using one or more catalysts arranged in the second tube sections;
wherein the heating is performed, at least in part,by exothermically reacting the feed mixture with a catalyst arranged in the first tube sections and having a light-off temperature in the first temperature range.
Claim 5
The method according to claim 1, in which a length of a region in which the
Claim 9
The method according to claim 1, in which the feed mixture contains oxygen and an alkane, and in which the oxidative conversion is performed as oxidative dehydrogenation of the kerosene.
Claim 12
The method according to any one of the preceding claims claim 1, in which the feed mixture contains a water content
Claim 15
A plant for producing a target compound, having:
a shell-and-tube reactor which has a plurality of parallel reaction tubes having first tube sections and second tube sections arranged downstream of the first tube sections, wherein one or more catalysts are arranged in the second tube sections; and
means configured to:
distribute a feed mixture at a temperature in a first temperature range to the reaction tubes;
subject said feed mixture to heating to a temperature in a second temperature range; and
subject said feed mixture to an oxidative catalytic conversion in the second tube sections using the one or the more plurality of catalysts arranged in the second tube sections,
wherein for at least a part of the heating in the first tube sections, a catalyst is provided which has a light-off temperature in the first temperature range and which is configured to exothermically react with the feed mixture.
Claim 16
The method according to claim 6, in which the catalyst arranged in the first tube sections and the one or at least one of the multiple catalysts arranged in the second tube sections further contain[[s]] tellurium.
Claim 20
The method according to claim 9, in which the alkane is ethane, and in which the oxidative dehydrogenation of the alkane is oxidative dehydrogenation of ethane.
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 1--20 would be allowable if rewritten or amended to overcome the rejection(s) under 35 U.S.C. 112(b) or 35 U.S.C. 112 (pre-AIA ), 2nd paragraph, set forth in this Office action.
The following is a statement of reasons for the indication of allowable subject matter. No prior art of record, individually or in combination, teaches or suggests a process for conducting an oxidative catalytic conversion in a shell-and-tube reactor comprising parallel reaction tubes, the process comprising (i) feeding a feed mixture to the reaction tubes at a temperature in a first temperature range; (ii) heating the feed mixture in first tube sections of the reaction tubes to a temperature in a second temperature range; and (iii) subjecting the feed mixture in second tube sections of the reaction tubes arranged downstream of the first tube sections to oxidative catalytic conversion over one or more catalysts, wherein the heating step (ii) is performed, at least in part, by exothermically reacting the feed mixture with a catalyst having a light-off temperature (i.e., the minimum temperature at which >10% reactant conversion occurs) in the first temperature range.
Zellhuber et al. (CA 3100928, an English equivalent of WO 2019243480 A1 cited in IDS dated 09/07/2023) disclose a method for oxidative dehydrogenation, the method comprising: forming a feed mixture containing ethane and oxygen (pg. 23, lines 6-25); distributing the feed mixture to parallel reaction tubes of one or more shell-and-tube reactors (pg. 23, lines 6-25); and subjecting the feed mixture to an oxidative catalytic reaction in the reaction tubes, wherein ethane is used as reactant compound and the oxidative catalytic process is carried out as oxidative dehydrogenation of the ethane (pg. 23, lines 6-25). Zellhuber further teaches that the reaction is carried out over a catalyst containing molybdenum, vanadium, and niobium, for example, MoVTeNbO (i.e., mixed metal oxide) (pg. 18, lines 1-6). Zellhuber, however, fails to teach that the first tube sections of the reaction tube have a catalyst having a light-off temperature such that the feed mixture is exothermically reacted with the catalyst in the first tube sections to facilitate the heating to a temperature at which the feed mixture is subjected to oxidative reaction in the second tube sections.
Conclusion
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/JASON Y CHONG/Examiner, Art Unit 1772
/IN SUK C BULLOCK/Supervisory Patent Examiner, Art Unit 1772