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 Rejections - 35 USC § 103
2. 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 of this title, 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.
3. Claims 1-5, 7-9 and 11-23 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Steele (US 11585330 B1) in view of Diller et al. (US 20250155594 A1).
Regarding claim 1, Steele discloses a method for production of hot fluid from a geothermal well that intersects a geothermal reservoir (Abstract), comprising: deploying at least one fiber optic cable (e.g., fiber optic line 52 and/or 50) within the geothermal well (col. 9, lines 61-63: “Fiber optic cable could be placed along the wellbore on the outside of the fluid (e.g., steam) line to detect the temperature along the entire length of the wellbore”; see also col. 2, lines 35-39; col. 5, lines 46-49 and 61-64; col. 8, lines 15-20); using the at least one disposable fiber optic cable to perform optical measurements within the geothermal well (col. 5, lines 61-64; col. 8, lines 15-20); and processing and/or analyzing the optical measurements to control and/or optimize production of hot fluid from the geothermal well (col. 2, lines 29-33; col. 5, lines 31-35; col. 8, lines 20-25).
Steele is silent on: said fiber optic cable is disposable.
Diller discloses a disposable fiber optic cable for performing optical measurements within a geothermal well (para. 0023, 0060).
It would have been obvious to one ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to incorporate Diller’s teaching of disposable fiber optic into Steele to arrive the claimed invention. The mere application of a known technique to a specific instance by those skilled in the art would have been obvious, and one of ordinary skill in the art would have recognized that the results of such a combination were predictable for making the optical measurements within the geothermal well to be more cost-effective.
Regarding claim 2, Steele discloses: wherein: the geothermal reservoir comprises a conventional geothermal reservoir with at least one naturally-occurring fracture (e.g., a break or discontinuity in earthen formation layers or strata) that connects to the geothermal well (col. 3, lines 16-22).
Regarding claim 3, Steele discloses: wherein the at least one fiber optic cable (e.g., the fiber optic line 52 in the injection well 20) is deployed within the geothermal well to a depth near a bottom of the geothermal well (Fig. 1). Steele is silent on disposable fiber optic cable. However, the combination of Steele with Diller renders obvious the limitation in question.
Regarding claim 4, Steele discloses: measuring temperature and pressure at or near the bottom of the geothermal well with the geothermal well shut-in to characterize temperature and pressure of the geothermal reservoir (col. 2, lines 19-29 and 40-43; col. 3, lines 11-15; col. 10, lines 13-19; col. 15, lines 22-30).
Steele is silent on: wherein the optical measurements comprise both of the measurement of temperature and pressure.
Diller discloses: wherein the optical measurements comprise both measurements of temperature and pressure (para. 0060).
It would have been obvious to one ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to incorporate Diller’s teaching of optical measurements of both temperature and pressure into Steele to arrive the claimed invention. The motivation would have been to use the optical fiber sensors to measure the temperature and pressure simultaneously in the same geological condition (Diller, para. 0005, 0060).
Regarding claim 5, Steele discloses: wherein the temperature and pressure of the geothermal reservoir is used to generate data (e.g., the data for controlling a plurality of valves 221-225 in Fig. 6) that characterizes or relates to (emphasis added) heat capacity of the geothermal reservoir (col. 2, lines 19-25; col. 3, lines 11-15; col. 10, lines 11-32; col. 14, lines 57-60; col. 15, lines 21-30).
Regarding claim 7, Steele discloses: wherein the optical measurements comprise distributed temperature measurements that provide a temperature profile of the geothermal well over time with the geothermal well open, and/or the optical measurements comprise distributed acoustic measurements that provide an acoustic profile of the geothermal well over time with the geothermal well open (col. 6, lines 21-23; col. 8, lines 6-10).
Regarding claim 8, Steele discloses: analyzing at least one of the temperature profile of the geothermal well and the acoustic profile of the geothermal well to identify and/or track location of a two-phase fluid (i.e., the thermal transport gas, liquid, or combination of both) front in the fluid flowing within the geothermal well to the surface (col. 2, lines 43-50; col. 8, lines 4-10; col. 10, lines 63-67).
Regarding claim 9, Steele discloses: providing measurements of temperature and pressure at the location of the two-phase fluid front, and such temperature and pressure measurements are used to generate data that characterizes or relates to heat capacity of the geothermal reservoir (see discussion of claim 5 above).
Steele does not but Diller discloses a fiber optic cable for performing optical measurements, wherein the optical measurements comprise both measurements of temperature and pressure (para. 0055). As such, the combination of Steele and Diller renders the claimed invention obvious (see also discussion of claim 4 above).
Regarding claim 11, Steele discloses: providing measurements of pressure at or near a bottom of the geothermal well while the geothermal well is shut in and while the geothermal well is open (col. 2, lines 19-29; col. 3, lines 11-15), and such pressure measurements are used to generate data (e.g., the data for controlling a plurality of valves 221-225 in Fig. 6) that characterizes or relates to pressure loss in the geothermal well (col. 2, lines 39-43; col. 5, lines 49-58; col. 10, lines 11-32; col. 12, lines 29-51).
Steele is silent on: wherein the optical measurements provide said measurements of pressure.
Diller discloses a fiber optic cable for performing optical measurements wherein the optical measurements comprise measurements of temperature and pressure (para. 0055). As such, the combination of Steele and Diller renders the claimed invention obvious.
Regarding claim 12, Steele discloses: wherein the optical measurements are processed to generate data (e.g., the data for controlling a plurality of valves 221-225 in Fig. 6) that characterizes or relates to (emphasis added) heat capacity of the geothermal reservoir (col. 2, lines 19-25; col. 3, lines 11-15; col. 10, lines 11-32; col. 14, lines 57-60; col. 15, lines 21-30) and pressure loss in the geothermal well (col. 2, lines 39-43; col. 5, lines 49-58; col. 10, lines 11-32; col. 12, lines 29-51).
Regarding claim 13, Steele discloses: wherein the data (e.g., the data for controlling a plurality of valves 221-225 in Fig. 6) that characterizes or relates to heat capacity of the geothermal reservoir and/or the pressure loss in the geothermal well as well as other operating parameters of the geothermal well are used to configure (e.g., via the various valves) a two-phase flow model (Figs. 1-3) that simulates the flow of the two-phase fluid in the geothermal well to the surface (col. 2, lines 19-25; col. 3, lines 11-15; col. 10, lines 11-32; col. 14, lines 57-60; col. 15, lines 21-30).
Regarding claim 14, Steele discloses: wherein the two-phase flow model is used or executed to control and/or optimize the flow of two-phase fluid produced from the geothermal well at the surface (col. 2, lines 19-25; col. 3, lines 11-15; col. 10, lines 11-32; col. 14, lines 57-60; col. 15, lines 21-30).
Regarding claim 15, Steele discloses: wherein the geothermal well has a wellhead choke (Fig. 1: by inherency, the generator 60 must comprise a choke-like device, e.g., turbine 62, which restricts the flow of high-pressure geothermal fluids from the well into the surface system); and the two-phase flow model is used or executed to determine operating parameters (e.g., the size of the turbine 62) for the wellhead choke (col. 5, lines 6-28).
Regarding claims 16 and 20, Steele discloses a method and system for production of hot fluid from a geothermal well that intersects a geothermal reservoir (Abstract), the method comprising: deploying at least one fiber optic cable (e.g., fiber optic line 52 and/or 50) within the geothermal well; using the at least one fiber optic cable to perform optical measurements within the geothermal well (col. 9, lines 61-63: “Fiber optic cable could be placed along the wellbore on the outside of the fluid (e.g., steam) line to detect the temperature along the entire length of the wellbore”; see also col. 2, lines 35-39; col. 5, lines 46-49 and 61-64; col. 8, lines 15-20); processing, via a data processor (col. 2, lines 63-67), the optical measurements to generate data (e.g., the data for controlling a plurality of valves 221-225 in Fig. 6) that characterizes or relates to heat capacity of the geothermal reservoir (col. 2, lines 19-25; col. 3, lines 11-15; col. 10, lines 11-32; col. 14, lines 57-60; col. 15, lines 21-30) and pressure loss in the geothermal well (col. 2, lines 39-43; col. 5, lines 49-58; col. 10, lines 11-32; col. 12, lines 29-51); configuring (e.g., via the various valves) a two-phase flow model (Figs. 1-3) that simulates the flow of the two-phase fluid in the geothermal well to the surface based on the pressure loss in the geothermal well, and using the two-phase flow model to control and/or optimize production of hot fluid from the geothermal well (col. 2, lines 19-25; col. 3, lines 11-15; col. 10, lines 11-32; col. 14, lines 57-60; col. 15, lines 21-30).
Steele is silent on: said fiber optic cable is disposable.
Diller discloses a disposable fiber optic cable for performing optical measurements within a geothermal well (para. 0023, 0060). As such, the combination of Steele and Diller discussed for claim 1 renders obvious the invention of claim 16.
Regarding claims 17 and 21, Steele discloses the claimed invention (see discussion for claim 2 above).
Regarding claims 18 and 22, the combination of Steele with Diller renders obvious the claimed invention (see discussion for claim 3 above).
Regarding claims 19 and 23, Steele discloses the claimed invention (see discussion for claim 15 above).
4. Claims 6 and 10 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Steele in view of Diller et al., further in view of LIVESCU et al. (US 20240093560 A1).
Regarding claims 6 and 10, Steele discloses: configuring a flow meter to measure mass flow rate of the hot fluid produced by the geothermal well (col. 3, lines 11-15), wherein the measurement of mass flow rate is used in combination with the measurements of temperature and pressure of the geothermal reservoir or at the location of the two-phase fluid front to generate data that characterizes or relates to heat capacity of the geothermal reservoir (col. 2, lines 43-50 and 58-60; col. 3, lines 11-15; col. 10, lines 11-32; col. 14, lines 57-60; col. 15, lines 21-30).
The combination of Steele/Diller is silent on: said flow meter is a surface-located flow meter.
LIVESCU discloses systems and methods for optimizing geothermal wells for geothermal heating and cooling system operations (Abstract; para. 0003), comprising: a surface-located flow meter (para. 0136: “the sensors 510 measure (e.g., collect) data such as fluid rate, pressure, temperature, …”), wherein the data measured by said surface-located flow meter is used to optimize the operation of the geothermal heating and cooling system (para. 0141, 0153, 0159).
It would have been obvious to one ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to incorporate LIVESCU’s teaching of surface-located flow meter into the combination of Steele/Diller to arrive the claimed invention. The motivation would have been to provide surface parameters 236 in conjunction with underground parameters to optimize the operation of the geothermal heating/cooling system (LIVESCU, para. 0153, 0166, 0180).
Contact Information
5. Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to XIUQIN SUN whose telephone number is (571)272-2280. The examiner can normally be reached 9:30am-6:00pm.
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If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Shelby A. Turner can be reached on (571) 272-6334. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/X.S/Examiner, Art Unit 2857
/SHELBY A TURNER/Supervisory Patent Examiner, Art Unit 2857
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