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 .
Priority
Receipt is acknowledged of certified copies of papers required by 37 CFR 1.55.
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 7-8, 14, and 15 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.
Claims 7 and 14 are indefinite because it is unclear what is being claimed by “the system is schematically depicted in Figure 2A, 2B, and 13”, and “any or all of the components depicted schematically in Figure 2 or 13”.
Claim 8 is indefinite because the terms “more solids” (item ii), “more water” (item iii), and “more rapidly” (item iv) is indefinite. The terms are not defined by the claim, the specification does not provide a standard for ascertaining the requisite degree, and one of ordinary skill in the art would not be reasonably apprised of the scope of the invention.
Claims 7 and 15 are indefinite because the term “large” is indefinite when discussing “large particles”. The term is not defined by the claim, the specification does not provide a standard for ascertaining the requisite degree, and one of ordinary skill in the art would not be reasonably apprised of the scope of the invention.
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.
Claims 1-3, 6, 9-11, 13-14 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Applicant-cited Hunt et al. (US20190023598).
Claim 1: Hunt discloses an industrial process (see Fig. 1) for treating an aqueous colloidal dispersion that comprises the following: a) separating solids from water comprised in an aqueous colloidal dispersion (solids are removed using the filtration assembly 106 and detected in the effluent collector 116 by sensors 118e, Fig. 1, [0035, 0041]), that comprises water and solids, and b) detecting and/or monitoring the solids content (suspended solids content) of an aqueous colloidal dispersion in real time ([0035, 0042] adjustments are made in real-time based on the measurements from sensors 118a-h, therefore, the detection is in real time allows continuous automatic control) with a microwave sensor (microwave solids meter 118f, [0041] am amount of suspended solids), optionally wherein said method further includes detecting in real time one or more other parameters with sensors, e.g., (i) pH, (ii) particle size, (iii) temperature, (iv) pressure, (v) solid-liquid separation rate (vi) influx or efflux rate of colloidal dispersion, (vii) amount of free or dissolved air or C02 in the detected sample or any combination of the foregoing.
Claim 2: Hunt discloses the industrial process of claim 1, wherein said real time detection and/or monitoring of the solids content of the aqueous colloidal dispersion with a microwave sensor and/or real time detection and/or monitoring of (i) pH, (ii) particle size, (lii) temperature, (iv) pressure, (v) solid-liquid separation rate (vi) influx or efflux rate of colloidal dispersion, (vii) amount of free or dissolved air or CO.sub.2 in the detected sample or any combination of the foregoing is effected continuously or intermittently as the industrial process proceeds (([0035, 0042] adjustments are made in real-time based on the measurements from sensors 118a-h, therefore, the detection is in real time allows continuous automatic control).
Claim 3: Hunt discloses the industrial process of claim 1, wherein said process further includes a step c) wherein the detected amount of solids alone or optionally in conjunction with one or more other parameters detected in real time, is used to determine whether one or more parameters should be modified during the process ([0041-0042] dewatering system 100 will adjust running parameters via control system 120 based on the various measurements received via sensor signals from one or more sensors 118a-h and/or analysis performed on the measurements.; Fig. 1) optionally wherein the detected solids amount is input to a controller where further optionally, based on a dosing algorithm, an output signal is sent to dosing pumps, wherein said other detected parameters optionally include (i) temperature, (ii) pH, (iii) pressure, (iv) the introduction of a chemical or other moiety into the system such as a coagulant, flocculant, biocide, enzyme, or polymer, (v) the adjustment of the dosage of any of the foregoing, (vi) the speed or velocity of the influx or efflux of the aqueous colloidal dispersion through the system, (vii) solid-liquid separation rate (e.g., g-force or rpm), or any combination of the foregoing, wherein optionally said controllers provide for one or more of said parameters to be adjusted based on the detected solids content alone or in association with another detected parameter ([0041-0042]).
Claim 6: Hunt discloses the process of claim 1, wherein i) said real time detecting and/or monitoring of the solids content of the aqueous colloidal dispersion with a microwave sensor is effected continuously or periodically as the industrial process is conducted ([0035, 0042] adjustments are made in real-time based on the measurements from sensors 118a-h, therefore, the detection is in real time allows continuous automatic control); ii) the amount of detected solids in the aqueous colloidal dispersion, e.g., oil sand tailings composition, is used to adjust the dosage of coagulant or flocculant added to the system, pH, temperature, solid-liquid separation rate, influx or efflux of colloidal dispersion, or any combination thereof; iii) the amount of detected solids is detected in a centrate, filtrate, overflow, and/or release water from thickeners, drainage applications, thin-lift, or any other industrial process, e.g., an oil sands treatment process; iv) the amount of detected solids is detected in any equipment used in an industrial process for treating an aqueous colloidal dispersion to separate solids therefrom, e.g., an oil sands treatment process; v) the amount of detected solids is detected in the feed to the oil sands tailings treatment process, e.g., to the centrifuge, filter press, thickener, inline flocculation or any other industrial process; vi) the process is run under pressure, optionally 0.2-5 bar, typically 1-3 bar and more typically 1.5 to 2.0 bar; vii) one or more other parameters are detected in real time, e.g., temperature, pressure, pH, the speed or velocity of the influx or efflux of the aqueous colloidal dispersion through the system, solid-liquid separation rate, e.g., g-force or rpm; dosage of one or more chemicals, amount of free or dissolved air or CO.sub.2 in the sample, (mean or average) particle size of dispersed solids, or any combination of the foregoing, wherein optionally one or more of said parameters are periodically or continuously detected by use of a system that uses computers/networks to monitor in real time via one or more sensors that detect said one or more parameters; viii) in the process of claim vii), wherein the parameters periodically or continuously detected include any of the following in the oil sands stream or other aqueous solid dispersion: detection of moisture content, detection of pH, detection of elemental composition, detection of sulfur content, detection of iron content, detection of clay amount, detection of magnesium amount, detection of sodium amount, detection of aluminum amount, detection of calcium amount, detection of hydrogen amount, detection of silicon amount, detection of potassium amount, detection of particle size, e.g., average or mean particle size, or any combination of the foregoing; ix) the process includes the use of one or more gamma detectors or gamma neutron activation analyzers, microwave sensors, pressure sensors, temperature sensors or dissolved air sensors (Hunt uses microwave solids meter [0035]); or x) any combination of i) to ix) (the combination of i and ix).
Claim 9: Hunt discloses an industrial system (see Fig. 1) useful in separating water from solids comprised in an aqueous colloidal dispersion that comprises water and solids (solids are removed using the filtration assembly 106 and detected in the effluent collector 116 by sensors 118e, Fig. 1, [0035, 0041]), optionally oil sands tailings, wherein the system comprises one or more microwave sensors (microwave solids meter 118f, [0041] am amount of suspended solids) that detect and/or monitor in real time ([0035, 0042] adjustments are made in real-time based on the measurements from sensors 118a-h, therefore, the detection is in real time allows continuous automatic control) the solids content of said aqueous colloidal dispersion as said industrial process proceeds.
Claim 10: Hunt discloses the industrial system of claim 9, which includes a centrifuge, filter press, thickener, hydrocyclone, inline flocculation, thin lift deposition, end pit lake, or combination thereof ([0003] filter press).
Claim 11: Hunt discloses the industrial system of claim 9, which comprises multiple sensors ([0035-0042] sensors 118a-h) which are optionally connected to computers/networks to determine process parameters in the industrial system in real time, optionally process parameters such as dosing, pH, pressure, solid-liquid separation rate, particle size, influx or efflux velocity, amount of free or dissolved air or CO.sub.2 in the sample or any combination thereof.
Claim 13: Hunt discloses the industrial system of claim 9, which includes one or more gamma detectors or gamma neutron activation analyzers, microwave sensors, pressure sensors, temperature sensors or dissolved air sensors ([0035] microwave solids meter, pressure sensors).
Claim 14: Hunt discloses the industrial system of claim 9, including a microwave sensor [0035] depicted in Fig. 2.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 103
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 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 4-5, 8 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Hunt in view of applicant-cited Chung et al. (US5376276).
Claim 4: Hunt teaches the industrial process of claim 1, but fails to teach wherein the aqueous colloidal dispersion comprises oil sands tailings or another aqueous colloidal dispersion comprising bitumen or other dark solids and/or it comprises an optically turbid aqueous colloidal dispersion comprising dispersed or colloidal solids.
However, Chung teaches an industrial process wherein a tailings oil recovery vessel (TORV) or primary separation vessel (PSV) is used for a mixture of bitumen (or oil), water, and solids is processed and monitored for solids using a microwave cell 8 (col. 4, lines 11-23; claim 1).
It would have been obvious to a person having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the invention to use the process of claim 1 with an aqueous colloidal dispersion, as taught by Chung, in order to monitor the composition and quality of aerated bitumen froth (Chung, col. 2, lines 19-22).
Claim 5: Hunt teaches the process of claim 1, but fails to teach wherein the aqueous colloidal dispersion comprises oil sands tailings, mineral industry tailings, or mining tailings.
However, Cheung teaches a monitoring a bitumen froth from a tailings oil recovery vessel (TORV), col. 4, lines 15-17).
It would have been obvious to a person having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the invention to use the process of claim 1 with an aqueous colloidal dispersion comprising oil sands tailings, as taught by Chung, in order to monitor the composition and quality of aerated bitumen froth (Chung, col. 2, lines 19-22).
Claim 8: Hunt teaches the process of claim 1, which i) permits the usage of reduced amounts of one or more polymers, e.g., flocculants or coagulants used in the industrial process, optionally at least 5, 10, 20, or 30% less compared to processes conducted without real time monitoring of dispersed solid content and optionally based thereon adjustment of one or more process parameters such as dosing, pH, pressure, solid-liquid separation rate, influx or efflux velocity, amount of free or dissolved air or CO.sub.2 in the sample or any combination thereof; ii) said microwave monitoring of total solids content in real time provides for the separation of more solids from the influent, compared to processes conducted without real time monitoring of dispersed solid content and optionally based thereon the adjustment of one or more process parameters such as dosing, pH, pressure, solid-liquid separation rate, influx or efflux velocity, amount of free or dissolved air or CO.sub.2 in the sample or any combination thereof ([0018] Hunt teaches adjusting chemical dosing in response to the detected solids content [0045]); iii) provides for the separation of more water, and/or the recovery of higher purity water, from the treated aqueous colloidal dispersion, e.g., oil sands tailings or other tailings composition, than a process without real time monitoring of dispersed solids and optionally based thereon the adjustment of one or more process parameters such as dosing, pH, pressure, solid-liquid separation rate, influx or efflux velocity, amount of free or dissolved air or CO.sub.2 in the sample or any combination thereof; iv) optionally provides for the process to be conducted more rapidly than processes conducted without such real time monitoring of solids content and further optionally based thereon the adjustment of one or more process parameters such as dosing, pH, pressure, solid-liquid separation rate, influx or efflux velocity, amount of free or dissolved air or CO.sub.2 in the sample, or any combination thereof (the objective of the dewatering system of Hunt is to improve the efficiency of the dewatering system using continuous process improvement by modifying parameters [0046] such as filtration assembly rotation speed, flow rate or chemical dosing rate experimentally to determine if a more efficient configuration is possible); v) is conducted at pressures or conditions which reduce or preclude air bubble formation; or vi) any combination of i) to v) (Hunt teaches the combination of ii and iv).
Hunt fails to teach that the influent is an aqueous colloidal dispersion.
However, Chung teaches an industrial process wherein a tailings oil recovery vessel (TORV) or primary separation vessel (PSV) is used for a mixture of bitumen (or oil), water, and solids is processed and monitored for solids using a microwave cell 8 (col. 4, lines 11-23; claim 1).
It would have been obvious to a person having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the invention to use the device of claim 9 with an aqueous colloidal dispersion, as taught by Chung, in order to monitor the solids content (composition) and quality of aerated bitumen froth (Chung, col. 2, lines 19-22).
Claims 7, 12, 16 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Hunt in view of Zamora et al. (US20100250142).
Claim 7: Hunt discloses the process of claim 1, but fails to teach wherein i) the detected amount of solids is periodically compared to that of a control sample containing a known solids content as a quality control; ii) a prefilter or strainer or other removal means is used to remove large particles or clumps optionally comprising bitumen, from the centrate stream, or other aqueous solid dispersion stream prior to the stream being contacted with the microwave sensor; iii) the system includes an automatic cleaning system, optionally a water flushing system or a chemical cleaning setup for the sensor, iv) the system Includes a filter cleaning system which optionally removes large particles or clumps optionally comprising bitumen from the filter; v) the system is schematically depicted in FIG. 2A, 2B, or 13; or vi) any combination of i) to v).
However, Zamora teaches an automated cleaning system for a fluid analyzing apparatus [0017].
It would have been obvious to a person having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the invention to use an automated cleaning system, as taught by Zamora, with the device of Hunt in order to implement cleaning operations of the fluid monitoring system wherein the drilling engineer may not be required to constantly monitor the fluid analyzer (Zamora [0047]).
Claim 12: Hunt teaches the system of claim 9, but fails to teach one or more sensors that detect one or more of the following in the oil sands stream or other aqueous solid dispersion or the equipment used in the system: moisture content, pH, elemental composition, sulfur content, iron content, clay amount, magnesium amount, sodium amount, aluminum amount, calcium amount, hydrogen amount, silicon amount, potassium amount, particle size distribution, or any combination of the foregoing.
However, Zamora teaches a fluid monitoring system (Fig. 3) including ph monitors [0041].
It would have been obvious to a person having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the invention to use a ph monitor, as taught by Zamora, with the device of Hunt in order to provide optimal fluid testing (Zamora, [0041]).
Claim 16: Hunt teaches the system of claim 9, but fails to teach an automatic cleaning system, optionally a water flushing system or a chemical cleaning setup for the sensor, preferably one which removes bitumen from the microwave sensor that detects solids.
However, Zamora teaches an automated cleaning system for a fluid analyzing apparatus [0017].
It would have been obvious to a person having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the invention to use an automated cleaning system, as taught by Zamora, with the device of Hunt in order to implement cleaning operations of the fluid monitoring system wherein the drilling engineer may not be required to constantly monitor the fluid analyzer (Zamora [0047]).
Claim 15 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Hunt in view of Martyn (US5450744).
Claim 15: Hunt teaches the system of claim 9, but fails to teach wherein a prefilter or strainer or other removal means is comprised therein which is used to remove large particles or clumps from the centrate stream or other aqueous solid dispersion stream prior to the stream being contacted with the microwave sensor.
However, Martyn teaches a contamination monitoring system, Fig. 1, including a pre-filter (col. 2, lines 33-46) to remove large particles form the liquid.
It would have been obvious to a person having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the invention to use a pre-filter, as taught by Martyn, with the device of Hunt for the obvious benefit of removing large particles which are too large for the system.
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to JEAN MORELLO whose telephone number is (313)446-6583. The examiner can normally be reached M-F 9-4.
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/JEAN F MORELLO/Examiner, Art Unit 2855 12/3/25
/KRISTINA M DEHERRERA/Supervisory Patent Examiner, Art Unit 2855