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 .
Election/Restrictions
Applicant's election with traverse of group I in the reply filed on 08/17/2026 is acknowledged. The traversal is on the ground(s) that Leibinger fails to teach of a condensing heat exchanger for dehumidifying and cooling the flue gas and further that there is no search burden between the two groups. The Examiner agrees that there would be no search burden between the two groups and that claims 1 and 12 are substantially the same. Therefore, the restriction requirement of 08/17/2026 is withdrawn and all claims are examined herein.
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.
Claim(s) 1-5 and 12-17 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Cordonnier (US 20110113988 A1) in view of Del Corso (US 20220219117 A1).
Regarding claim 1, Cordonnier teaches of:
A method for producing cement clinker (Fig. 2, ¶ [0025]), comprising the steps of:
burning raw materials to form cement clinker in a furnace (raw clinkers are burned in furnace 5; ¶ [0025], “a rotary furnace 1, fitted with a burner fed with fuel)
preheating the raw materials with flue gases from the furnace (flue gasses flow from furnace 1 to preheater 3 to preheat the raw material of the clinkers; ¶ [0025], “wherein the flue gases from said furnace 1 are conducted to the precalcination reactor 4 and/or the cyclone preheater 3”)
Cordonnier fails to explicitly teach:
dehumidifying and cooling flue gases from the furnace by means of a condensing heat exchanger.
Del Corso teaches of:
dehumidifying and cooling flue gases from the furnace by means of a condensing heat exchanger (flue gasses flow from furnace 100 and are dehumidified and cooled at condensing heat exchanger D230; ¶ [0146], “flue gas 220 is thereafter dehumidified in condenser D230. In condenser D230 the cleaned flue gas 220 is cooled to temperature T3.sub.bis so as to cause water vapour present in the flue gas to condense to liquid water which is drained from D230.”).
The primary reference can be modified to meet this/these limitation(s) as follows:
replace heat exchanger 13 of Cordonnier with the condensing heat exchanger D230 of Del Corso
A person of ordinary skill in the art prior to the effective filing date of the claimed invention would have been motivated to make the above modification(s) because:
it would cool and dehumidify the flue gas, making it easier to extract CO2 from the resulting dried flue gas in later processes (Del Corso, ¶ [0071], “When pretreatment step c includes a drying stage, water may advantageously be removed from the flue gas through condensation at a temperature below 100° C., preferably at a temperature below ambient temperature, or even below 0° C. More complete drying is achieved with decreasing temperature at which the condensation takes place. Even though the energy consumption for cooling may be higher when drying takes place at lower temperatures, the resulting reduction in flue gas volume (in Nm.sup.3 dried flue gas) may make the use of smaller and therefore less expensive equipment for the pretreatment of the dried flue gas possible and increases the CO.sub.2 concentration in the second part of the pretreated flue gas, which is recycled to the controlled cooling step b”)
Regarding claim 2, the combined teachings teach of the method according to claim 1, and the combined teachings further teach:
wherein the flue gases are cooled by means of the condensing heat exchanger to a temperature of less than 50°C (Del Coros, ¶ [0071], “When pretreatment step c includes a drying stage, water may advantageously be removed from the flue gas through condensation at a temperature below 100° C., preferably at a temperature below ambient temperature, or even below 0° C”)
Regarding claim 3, the combined teachings teach of the method according to claim 1, however, the combined teachings fail to explicitly teach:
further comprising cleaning the flue gases with a Regenerative Thermal Oxidation (RTO) and/or with a flue gas desulphurisation (DeSOx) before dehumidifying and cooling the flue gases by means of the condensing heat exchanger.
Del Corso further teaches of:
further comprising cleaning the flue gases with a Regenerative Thermal Oxidation (RTO) and/or with a flue gas desulphurisation (DeSOx) before dehumidifying and cooling the flue gases by means of the condensing heat exchanger (R220 DeSOxes the flue gas before reaching the condensing heat exchanger D230; ¶ [0145]-[0146], “In reactor R220, the NOx is reduced to N.sub.2 by reaction with the urea 211, used as a reducing agent. The resulting dedusted, deSOxed and deNOxed flue gas 220 is thereafter dehumidified in condenser D230”)
The combined teachings can be modified to meet this/these limitation(s) as follows:
add R220 and add an input of urea upstream from the condensing heat exchanger in Cordonnier as modified
A person of ordinary skill in the art prior to the effective filing date of the claimed invention would have been motivated to make the above modification(s) because:
it would reduce the amount of NOx and SOx in the flue gas, reducing its environmental impact
Regarding claim 4, the combined teachings teach of the method according to claim 1, and the combined teachings further teach:
wherein the flue gases are recycled into the furnace after dehumidifying and cooling by means of the condensing heat exchanger (Cordonnier as modified, Fig. 2, downstream from 13 the flue gasses 8a are recycled back to furnace 1 via the cooler 5).
Regarding claim 5, the combined teachings teach of the method according to claim 1, however, the combined teachings fail to explicitly teach:
wherein the flue gases, after dehumidifying and cooling by means of the condensing heat exchanger, are supplied to a Carbon Capture and Utilisation (CCU) or Carbon Capture and Storage (CCS) unit for separating carbon dioxide.
Del Corso teaches of:
wherein the flue gases, after dehumidifying and cooling by means of the condensing heat exchanger, are supplied to a Carbon Capture and Utilisation (CCU) (downstream from condensing heat exchanger D230 the flue gas is supplied to CCUS to separate out the CO2) or Carbon Capture and Storage (CCS) unit for separating carbon dioxide.
The combined teachings can be modified to meet this/these limitation(s) as follows:
add a CCU downstream from condensing heat exchanger in the combined teachings of Cordonnier
A person of ordinary skill in the art prior to the effective filing date of the claimed invention would have been motivated to make the above modification(s) because:
it would capture the CO2 in the flue gas, reducing the environmental impact of the process (Del Corso, ¶ [0011], “Carbon dioxide (CO.sub.2) is considered a major contributor to global warming. CCUS is one of various methods which have been proposed to reduce anthropogenic emissions of CO.sub.2.”)
Regarding claim 12, Cordonnier teaches of:
A plant for producing cement clinker (Fig. 2), comprising:
a furnace (1) for burning raw materials to form cement clinker (¶ [0025], “a rotary furnace 1, fitted with a burner fed with fuel”),
a preheater (3) for preheating the raw materials with flue gases from the furnace (¶ [0025], “wherein the flue gases from said furnace 1 are conducted to the precalcination reactor 4 and/or the cyclone preheater 3”)
Cordonnier fails to explicitly teach:
a dehumidifying and cooling stage comprising a condensing heat exchanger for dehumidifying and cooling flue gases of the furnace.
Del Corso teaches of:
a dehumidifying and cooling stage comprising a condensing heat exchanger for dehumidifying and cooling flue gases of the furnace (flue gasses flow from furnace 100 and are dehumidified and cooled at condensing heat exchanger D230; ¶ [0146], “flue gas 220 is thereafter dehumidified in condenser D230. In condenser D230 the cleaned flue gas 220 is cooled to temperature T3.sub.bis so as to cause water vapour present in the flue gas to condense to liquid water which is drained from D230.”).
The primary reference can be modified to meet this/these limitation(s) as follows:
replace heat exchanger 13 of Cordonnier with the condensing heat exchanger D230 of Del Corso
A person of ordinary skill in the art prior to the effective filing date of the claimed invention would have been motivated to make the above modification(s) because:
it would cool and dehumidify the flue gas, making it easier to extract CO2 from the resulting dried flue gas in later processes (Del Corso, ¶ [0071], “When pretreatment step c includes a drying stage, water may advantageously be removed from the flue gas through condensation at a temperature below 100° C., preferably at a temperature below ambient temperature, or even below 0° C. More complete drying is achieved with decreasing temperature at which the condensation takes place. Even though the energy consumption for cooling may be higher when drying takes place at lower temperatures, the resulting reduction in flue gas volume (in Nm.sup.3 dried flue gas) may make the use of smaller and therefore less expensive equipment for the pretreatment of the dried flue gas possible and increases the CO.sub.2 concentration in the second part of the pretreated flue gas, which is recycled to the controlled cooling step b”)
Regarding claim 13, the combined teachings teach of the plant for producing cement clinkers according to claim 12, however, the combined teachings fail to explicitly teach:
comprising a flue gas cleanup stage interposed between the preheater and the dehumidifying and cooling stage.
Del Corso teaches of:
comprising a flue gas cleanup stage interposed between the preheater and the dehumidifying and cooling stage (R220 cleans the flue gas before reaching the condensing heat exchanger D230; ¶ [0145]-[0146], “In reactor R220, the NOx is reduced to N.sub.2 by reaction with the urea 211, used as a reducing agent. The resulting dedusted, deSOxed and deNOxed flue gas 220 is thereafter dehumidified in condenser D230”)
The combined teachings can be modified to meet this/these limitation(s) as follows:
add R220 and add an input of urea upstream from the condensing heat exchanger in Cordonnier as modified
A person of ordinary skill in the art prior to the effective filing date of the claimed invention would have been motivated to make the above modification(s) because:
it would reduce the amount of NOx and SOx in the flue gas, reducing its environmental impact
Regarding claim 14, the combined teachings teach of the plant for producing cement clinker according to claim 12, and the combined teachings further teach:
wherein the condensing heat exchanger comprises a feed line and a discharge line for a cooling liquid (Del Corso, throughout the specification recovering the waste heat from the heat exchanger D230 is discussed and as such D230 must have some form of coolant to recover the heat from the flue gas during the condensing process and therefore would need to have a feed line and a discharge line; ¶ [0140], “It would be useful if one could simply recover the residual thermal energy from flue gas and use said residual thermal energy in the production process, for example by using said thermal energy to preheat the fuel and/or the oxidizer agent through heat exchange between the flue gas and the respective combustion agents”)
Regarding claim 15, the combined teachings teach of the method according to claim 2, and the combined teachings further teach:
wherein the flue gases are cooled to a temperature of less than 45°C (Del Coros, ¶ [0071], “When pretreatment step c includes a drying stage, water may advantageously be removed from the flue gas through condensation at a temperature below 100° C., preferably at a temperature below ambient temperature, or even below 0° C”)
Regarding claim 16, the combined teachings teach of the method according to claim 2, and the combined teachings further teach:
wherein the flue gases are cooled to a temperature of less than substantially 40°C (Del Coros, ¶ [0071], “When pretreatment step c includes a drying stage, water may advantageously be removed from the flue gas through condensation at a temperature below 100° C., preferably at a temperature below ambient temperature, or even below 0° C”)
Regarding claim 17, the combined teachings teach of the plant for producing cement clinker according to claim 13, and the combined teachings further teach:
wherein the flue gas cleanup stage is an RTO and/or a desulphurisation stage (Del Corso, R220 DeSOxes (delsulphurs) the flue gas before reaching the condensing heat exchanger D230; ¶ [0145]-[0146], “In reactor R220, the NOx is reduced to N.sub.2 by reaction with the urea 211, used as a reducing agent. The resulting dedusted, deSOxed and deNOxed flue gas 220 is thereafter dehumidified in condenser D230”)
Claim(s) 6-7, 10 and 18-20 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Cordonnier (US 20110113988 A1) in view of Del Corso (US 20220219117 A1) and in further view of Tsujiuchi (US 20120318141 A1)
Regarding claim 6, the combined teachings teach of the method of claim 5, however, the combined teachings fail to explicitly teach:
wherein the CCU or CCS unit is configured for absorption of carbon dioxide in a scrubbing liquid.
Tsujiuchi teaches of:
wherein the CCU or CCS unit is configured for absorption of carbon dioxide in a scrubbing liquid (Figs. 1-2, 53 is a carbon capture unit that utilizes a liquid amine compound to absorb the CO2 from flue gas; ¶ [0043], “As shown in FIG. 2, the CO.sub.2 recovery unit 53 includes a cooling column 1 that cools the flue gas 101 discharged from the boiler in the combustion facility 50 by cooling water 103, an absorber 2 that causes a lean solution 104a of an absorbent 104, which is an aqueous solution of an amine compound that absorbs CO.sub.2, to be brought into countercurrent contact with the flue gas”)
The combined teachings can be modified to meet this/these limitation(s) as follows:
replace the CCU of Del Corso in the Cordonnier as modified with the CCU of Tsujiuchi
A person of ordinary skill in the art prior to the effective filing date of the claimed invention would have been motivated to make the above modification(s) because:
the CCU of Tsujiuchi can be continuously regenerated and therefore reused, improving the lifespan of the system
Regarding claim 7, the combined teachings teach of the method of claim 6, and the combined teachings further teach:
wherein the CCU or CCS unit comprises an amine scrubber (see combination made in the rejection of claim 6 above, Tsujiuchi, ¶ [0043], “As shown in FIG. 2, the CO.sub.2 recovery unit 53 includes a cooling column 1 that cools the flue gas 101 discharged from the boiler in the combustion facility 50 by cooling water 103, an absorber 2 that causes a lean solution 104a of an absorbent 104, which is an aqueous solution of an amine compound that absorbs CO.sub.2, to be brought into countercurrent contact with the flue gas”)
Regarding claim 10, the combined teachings teach of the method of claim 7, however, the combined teachings fail to explicitly teach:
wherein heat obtained during dehumidifying and cooling of the flue gases by means of the condensing heat exchanger is used for desorption of the carbon dioxide in the amine scrubber.
Tsujiuchi teaches of:
wherein heat obtained during dehumidifying and cooling of the flue gases by means of the condensing heat exchanger is used for desorption of the carbon dioxide in the amine scrubber (Fig. 1, heat exchanger 57 collects heat from the flue gas of the combustion facility, cycles the heated coolant to the combustion facility to be further heater and then returns the coolant via 32b to CO2 recovery unit 53 where it regenerates (desorbs) the carbon dioxide in the amine scrubber; see at least ¶ [0056]-[0058]).
The combined teachings can be modified to meet this/these limitation(s) as follows:
connect the coolant line of the condensing heat exchanger of the combined teachings to the CCU and furnace of the combined teachings in the same fashion shown in Figs. 1-2 of Tsujiuchi
A person of ordinary skill in the art prior to the effective filing date of the claimed invention would have been motivated to make the above modification(s) because:
it would allow for the heat recovered from the dehumidification and cooling process of the flue gas to be utilized in the regeneration of the CCU, improving the efficiency of the system
Regarding claim 18, the combined teachings teach of the plant for producing cement clinkers according to claim 14, however, the combined teachings fail to explicitly teach:
wherein the discharge line is connected to a CCU or CCS unit.
Tsujiuchi teaches of:
wherein the discharge line is connected to a CCU or CCS unit (Figs. 1-2, heat exchanger 57 collects heat from the flue gas of the combustion facility, cycles the heated coolant to the combustion facility to be further heater and then returns the coolant via 32b to CO2 recovery unit 53 where it regenerates (desorbs) the carbon dioxide in the amine scrubber; see at least ¶ [0056]-[0058]).
The combined teachings can be modified to meet this/these limitation(s) as follows:
replace the CCU of the combined teachings with the CCU shown in Figs. 1-2 of Tsujiuchi and further connect the coolant line of the condensing heat exchanger of the combined teachings to the CCU and furnace of the combined teachings in the same fashion shown in Figs. 1-2 of Tsujiuchi
A person of ordinary skill in the art prior to the effective filing date of the claimed invention would have been motivated to make the above modification(s) because:
the CCU of Tsujiuchi can be continuously regenerated and therefore reused, improving the lifespan of the system and it would allow for the heat recovered from the dehumidification and cooling process of the flue gas to be utilized in the regeneration of the CCU, improving the efficiency of the system
Regarding claim 19, the combined teachings teach of the plant for producing cement clinkers according to claim 18, and the combined teachings further teach:
wherein the discharge line is connected to an amine scrubber of the CCU or the CCS unit (Tsujiuchi, Figs. 1-2, discharge line of 57 that goes from 32c to 32b and conveys coolant 106 is connected to amine solution 104a via 32; ¶ [0043], “an absorber 2 that causes a lean solution 104a of an absorbent 104, which is an aqueous solution of an amine compound that absorbs CO.sub.2, to be brought into countercurrent contact with the flue gas 101 to absorb CO.sub.2 in the flue gas 101 by the absorbent 104 and discharges the emission gas 101a from which CO.sub.2 is reduced, and a regenerator 3 that emits CO.sub.2 from a rich solution 104b of the absorbent 104 having absorbed CO.sub.2 to regenerate it to the lean solution 104a, and returns the lean solution 104a to the absorber 2.”)
Regarding claim 20, the combined teachings teach of the plant producing cement clinkers according to claim 19, and the combined teachings further teach:
herein the discharge line is connected to an evaporator of a desorber of the amine scrubber (Tsujiuchi, 32 is an evaporator as it undergoes endothermic reaction with the amine scrubber 104 to cause it to desorb the CO2 collected; ¶ [0051], “The rich solution 104b then becomes the lean solution 104a, from which almost all CO.sub.2 has been emitted, due to an endothermic reaction by a regenerating heater 32 connected to a lower portion of the regenerator 3”)
Claim(s) 8 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Cordonnier (US 20110113988 A1) in view of Del Corso (US 20220219117 A1) and in further view of Wright (US 8012446 B1).
Regarding claim 8, the combined teachings teach of the method according to claim 5, however, the combined teachings fail to explicitly teach:
wherein the CCU or CCS unit is configured for adsorption of carbon dioxide on a solid.
Wright teaches of:
wherein the CCU or CCS unit is configured for adsorption of carbon dioxide on a solid (Fig. 1, 30 is a CCU for flue gas that utilizes solids to adsorb carbon dioxide; Col. 11, lines 65-67 and Col. 12, lines 1-2, “If carbon dioxide is recovered using a PSA system, the adsorbents employed are size-selective adsorbents like carbon molecular sieves or small pore inorganic adsorbents like zeolites or titanosilicates”).
The combined teachings can be modified to meet this/these limitation(s) as follows:
modify the CCU of the combined teachings to utilize a solid to adsorb carbon dioxide from the flue gas
A person of ordinary skill in the art prior to the effective filing date of the claimed invention would have been motivated to make the above modification(s) because:
It absorbs both carbon dioxide and NOx from the flue gas, cleaning the gas further than a system that only adsorbs carbon dioxide (Wright, Col. 13, lines 4-7, “In some embodiments, the first adsorption system may also adsorb NO from the feed gas such that the at least substantially NO.sub.2-free carbon dioxide gas is at least substantially NO.sub.x-free”)
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to MICHAEL J GIORDANO whose telephone number is (571)272-8940. The examiner can normally be reached M-Fr 8 AM - 5 PM EST.
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If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Helena Kosanovic can be reached at (571) 272-9059. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/MICHAEL JAMES GIORDANO/Examiner, Art Unit 3762
/HELENA KOSANOVIC/Supervisory Patent Examiner, Art Unit 3762
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