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 .
Continued Examination Under 37 CFR 1.114
A request for continued examination under 37 CFR 1.114, including the fee set forth in 37 CFR 1.17(e), was filed in this application after final rejection. Since this application is eligible for continued examination under 37 CFR 1.114, and the fee set forth in 37 CFR 1.17(e) has been timely paid, the finality of the previous Office action has been withdrawn pursuant to 37 CFR 1.114. Applicant's submission filed on 1/14/2026 has been entered.
Claim Objections
Claim 4 objected to because of the following informalities: line 8, “by crankshaft” should be “by the crankshaft”. 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 1-15 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, lines 16 and 17 claim the high pressure turbine having a first shaft and the low pressure turbine having a second shaft, however, lines 20 and 23 claim that the first shaft is coupled to the low pressure turbine and the second shaft is decoupled from the first turbine shaft, this would only work if the first shaft was the low turbine shaft and the second shaft was the high. For examination purposes it will be considered as such.
Claim 14 recites the limitation "the low pressure turbine stage" in lines 5 and 9. There is insufficient antecedent basis for this limitation in the claim.
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 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 1-8 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Yeung (11125066) in view of Broussard (9650879).
Regarding claim 1, Yeung discloses a gas compression system (12, fig 2) for compressing gas transported by a gas pipeline (this represents intended use, as such the system doesn’t actually need to compress gas for a pipeline, it must merely be capable of doing so, which it is),wherein the gas compression system comprising: a reciprocating compressor (14, fig 2) comprising a crankshaft (78, fig 3), a mechanical connection (18, 124, fig 3) coupled on a first end to the crankshaft, the mechanical connection comprising a gearbox (18, fig 3), a coupling (annotated fig 3) disposed between a flywheel (124, fig 3) and the gearbox, and a plurality of dampening systems including a flywheel and a damper (124, fig 3, col 17, lines 1-38, both a flywheel and a torsional vibration dampener can be used at multiple locations along the shaft (col 17, lines 10-18)); and a gas turbine engine (16, fig 2) coupled to a second end of the mechanical connection, the gas turbine engine comprising an axial compressor section (62, fig 3), a combustor section (64, fig 3), and a turbine section (68, 70, fig 3), the turbine section comprising a high-pressure turbine section (68, fig 3) and a low- pressure turbine section (70, fig 3) located downstream the high-pressure turbine section (col 9, lines 44-60), wherein the high-pressure turbine section has a comprises a second turbine shaft (66, fig 3), and the low-pressure turbine section comprising a first turbine shaft (74, fig 3); wherein the low-pressure turbine section is fluidly coupled to the high-pressure turbine section, wherein the first turbine shaft is mechanically coupled to the mechanical connection to transmit a rotation from the low-pressure turbine section to the reciprocating compressor, and, wherein the second turbine shaft is mechanically decoupled from the first turbine shaft so that the low-pressure turbine section operates as a free turbine (fig 3, the low pressure turbine is a free turbine since it’s not mechanically coupled to the main engine 16).
Yeung does not disclose an elastomeric coupling comprising a damper.
Broussard teaches a coupling for fracking equipment similar to that of Yeung, which uses an elastomeric coupling (col 7, lines 40-54) with a damper (164, fig 3) to transmit force from the engine to the pump.
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have modified the coupling and torsional vibration dampener disclosed by Yeung by using an elastomeric coupling between the flywheel and the gearbox based on the teachings of Broussard. Doing so would allow the pump to transmit torque even if they are not perfectly aligned (col 7, lines 40-53) while still dampening vibrations, as suggested by Broussard.
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Regarding claim 2, Yeung discloses wherein the combustor section uses a compressed air flow from the axial compressor section and gas transported by the gas pipeline and as a fuel (col 7, lines 5-10).
Regarding claim 3, Yeung discloses wherein the combustor section and the reciprocating compressor are configured to receive and process natural gas or hydrogen or natural gas blended with hydrogen from the gas pipeline (col 7, lines 5-10).
Regarding claim 4, Yeung discloses wherein the gearbox has a first shaft (74, fig 3) and a second shaft (shaft connecting 18 to 124, fig 3),wherein the first shaft is mechanically coupled to the shaft of the low-pressure turbine section, wherein the second shaft is mechanically coupled to the crankshaft of the reciprocating compressor (via the flywheel and coupling), and wherein the gearbox is configured to reduce rotational speed of the shaft (col 10, lines 22-40) of low-pressure turbine stage to a low speed requested by crankshaft.
Regarding claim 5, Yeung discloses wherein the gearbox is an epicyclic gearbox (col 10, lines 22-40, the gearbox can be a planetary gearbox which is also known as an epicyclic gearbox).
Regarding claim 6, Yeung discloses wherein the gearbox is arranged to reduce the rotational speed of the shaft by at least a 10:1 ratio (col 13, lines 7-32, the reduction ratio is between 5:1 and 15:1, which contains the claimed ratio).
Regarding claim 7, Yeung as modified by Broussard discloses wherein the elastomeric coupling has a first connection element (162, fig 3, Broussard) and a second (170, fig 3, Broussard) connection elements, wherein the first connection element is coupled to the second shaft (158, fig 3, Broussard) of the gearbox and the second connection element is coupled to the crankshaft (166, fig 3, Broussard), wherein an elastomeric damper (164, fig 3) is located between the first connection element and the second connection element.
Regarding claim 8, Yeung as modified by Broussard discloses wherein the flywheel is configured to attenuate speed oscillations of the reciprocating compressor (the mass of the flywheel would function in this manner), and wherein the flywheel is located between the coupling and the crankshaft of the output (col 17, lines 12-17, the flywheels and torsional dampers can be connected in different locations and arrangements, to connect to the pumping system, having these different arrangements means that it would have been obvious to locate the flywheel between the coupling and the crankshaft as it has been held that rearranging parts of an invention involves only routine skill in the art. In re Japikse, 86 USPQ 70).
Claims 9-11 and 13-14 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Yeung as modified by Broussard as applied to claim 1 above, and further in view of Andrew (US-Pub 2015/0033751).
Regarding claim 9, Yeung as modified by Broussard does not disclose wherein the combustor section is configured to receive a diluent to perform low NOx combustion.
Andrew teaches a gas turbine similar to that of Yeung wherein the combustor section is configured to receive a diluent to perform low NOx combustion (par. 0031).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have modified the combustor disclosed by Yeung as modified by Broussard by having the combustor be configured to receive a diluent to perform low NOx combustion based on the teachings of Andrew. One of ordinary skill in the art would recognize that reducing emissions would make it easier to meet environmental requirements.
Regarding claim 10, Yeung as modified by Broussard does not disclose wherein the combustor section is configured to receive a demineralized water to perform low NOx combustion.
Andrew teaches a gas turbine similar to that of Yeung wherein the combustor section is configured to receive a demineralized water (par. 0068) to perform low NOx combustion (par. 0031).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have modified the combustor disclosed by Yeung as modified by Broussard by having the combustor be configured to receive demineralized water to perform low NOx combustion based on the teachings of Andrew. One of ordinary skill in the art would recognize that reducing emissions would make it easier to meet environmental requirements.
Regarding claim 11, Yeung as modified by Broussard does not disclose a chilling system comprising, has an inlet configured to receive an inlet air flow, a first outlet fluidly coupled to the combustor section, and a second outlet fluidly coupled to the axial compression section, wherein the chilling system is configured to recover demineralized water from humidity of the inlet air flow.
Andrew teaches a chilling system (270, fig 6) comprising, has an inlet (296, fig 6) configured to receive an inlet air flow, a first outlet (316, fig 6) fluidly coupled to the combustor section (310, fig 6, the outlet of the inlet system goes back to the water supply, which is used to feed the diluent steam system, thus they are fluidly coupled), and a second outlet fluidly coupled to the axial compression section (290, fig 6), wherein the chilling system is configured to recover demineralized water from humidity of the inlet air flow (316, fig 6).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have modified the combustor disclosed by Yeung by having a water and steam circulation system with an inlet chiller based on the teachings of Andrew. Doing so would increase the mass flow rate and efficiency of the turbine (par. 0072), as suggested by Andrew.
Regarding claim 13, Yeung as modified by Broussard and Andrew discloses wherein the combustor section is configured to receive demineralized water in the form of steam (par. 0031, Andrew).
Regarding claim 14, Yeung as modified Broussard does not disclose a steam generator located upstream the combustor section, the steam generator comprising, a first inlet fluidly coupled to at least a demineralized water source, a second inlet fluidly coupled to the low-pressure turbine stage, and an outlet fluidly coupled to the combustor section, the outlet being configured to supply steam to the combustor section, wherein the steam generator is configured to provide heat to the demineralized water to generate steam, the heat being recovered from exhaust gases of the low-pressure turbine stage.
Andrew teaches a steam generator (54, fig 5) wherein the steam generator is located upstream the combustor section (with regards to the flow of water), wherein the steam generator has a first inlet (108, fig 2) fluidly coupled to at least a demineralized water source (108, fig 2), a second inlet (110, fig 2) fluidly coupled to the low-pressure turbine stage, an outlet fluidly coupled to the combustor section (the combustor has a diluent supply line which can supply steam, the steam generator is the source of steam, so one of ordinary skill in the art would recognize that is where the steam came from), the outlet being configured to supply steam to the combustor section, wherein the steam generator is configured to provide heat to the demineralized water to generate steam, the heat being recovered from exhaust gases of the low-pressure turbine stage (heat comes from the exhaust gas from the turbine system).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have modified the combustor disclosed by Yeung as modified by Broussard by having a steam generator providing steam to the combustor section by recovering heat from the exhaust gases of the low pressure turbine stages based on the teachings of Andrew. One of ordinary skill in the art would recognize that using exhaust gases of turbines to generate steam increases system efficiency by utilizing waste heat.
Claim 12 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Yeung as modified by Broussard and Andrew as applied to claim 10 above, and further in view of Horikawa (10041417).
Regarding claim 12, Yeung as modified by Broussard and Andrew does not disclose a reverse osmosis system comprising an inlet configured to receive a water flow, and an outlet fluidly coupled to the combustor section, wherein the reverse osmosis system is configured to perform a water purification process to obtain demineralized water.
Horikawa teaches a water injections system for a turbine combustor with a reverse osmosis system (14, fig 1) comprising an inlet (tap water, fig 1) configured to receive a water flow, and an outlet (8, fig 1) fluidly coupled to the combustor section (2, fig 1), wherein the reverse osmosis system is configured to perform a water purification process to obtain demineralized water (a reverse osmosis systems function is to obtain demineralized water).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have modified the gas turbine engine disclosed by Yeung as modified by Broussard and Andrew by using a reverse osmosis system to receive demineralized water based on the teachings of Horikawa. One of ordinary skill in the art would recognize that the removal of minerals by the reverse osmosis system would reduce buildup and scaling within the engine.
Response to Arguments
Applicant’s arguments, see remarks, filed 1/14/2026, with respect to the claim objections have been fully considered and are persuasive. The objections of 10/14/2025 has been withdrawn.
Applicant’s arguments, see remarks, filed 1/14/2026, with respect to the 112b rejection have been fully considered and are persuasive. The 112b rejection of claims 1-14 has been withdrawn.
Applicant's arguments filed 1/14/2026 have been fully considered but they are not persuasive. Applicant argues that the damper disposed between the gearbox and flywheel is not contemplated in the prior art. Applicants arguments are not persuasive as Broussard’s elastomeric coupling is being used to modify the coupling between the gearbox and the flywheel of Yeung.
Conclusion
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/SEAN V MEILLER/Examiner, Art Unit 3741 /DEVON C KRAMER/Supervisory Patent Examiner, Art Unit 3741