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
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.
Claim(s) 1-2 and 10 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Balestrino (US 20080289955 A1) in view of Matsumura (US 20070217995 A1).
In regards to claim(s) 1, Balestrino discloses a hydrogen production system (Fig. 3; >99% H2)
comprising: a heat exchanger (steam evaporator 56; EVA [0043]) that heats steam (steam 57; [0043]) by using a heating medium heated by thermal energy (thermal vector in 11; [0030]; high temperature nuclear reactor); a high-temperature steam electrolysis device (solid oxide electrolyte stack 1; [0025]) that produces hydrogen by using the steam (steam 57 fed to steam super heater 8 [0056], fed to ejector 2 [0056], then stack 1); and a heating device (steam super heater 8, which is heated by the hydrogen rich mixture 12 that includes unreacted steam, [0026]) that heats the high-temperature steam electrolysis device by using the steam (super heated steam outputted by 8 heats the stack 1).
While Balestrino discloses that the thermal vector in (11) includes a high temperature nuclear reactor using an intermediate helium circuit ([0030]), Balestrino does not disclose that the heating medium was heated at 600*C or higher.
Matsumura pertains to high temperature steam electrolysis (abstract) and is therefore in the same field of endeavor as Balestrino. Matsumura discloses that a nuclear reactor (201; Fig. 5) heats helium to approximately 1000°C and is part of a primary loop to a heat exchanger [0139]. It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the Balestrino’s thermal vector with Matsumura’s approximately 1000°C because all claimed elements were known, each element merely performs the same function as it does separately (nuclear reactors delivering heat through a helium medium for the purpose of producing hydrogen via high temperature electrolysis) and one of ordinary skill in the art would have recognized that the results of the combination were predictable. See MPEP 2143 I (A).
In regards to claim(s) 2, modified Balestrino is arranged to be capable of the heating device compensating for thermal energy that is lost by endothermic reaction when the high-temperature steam electrolysis device produces hydrogen since the heating device (steam super heater 8) receives thermal energy via the thermal vector.
In regards to claim(s) 10, Balestrino discloses a method of hydrogen production (Fig. 3; >99% H2) comprising: heating steam with a heat exchanger (steam evaporator 56; EVA [0043]) that heats steam (steam 57; [0043]) by using a heating medium heated by thermal energy (thermal vector in 11; [0030]; high temperature nuclear reactor); heating a high-temperature steam electrolysis device (solid oxide electrolyte stack 1; [0025]) that produces hydrogen by using the steam (steam 57 fed to steam super heater 8 [0056], fed to ejector 2 [0056], then stack 1); and using a heating device (steam super heater 8, which is heated by the hydrogen rich mixture 12 that includes unreacted steam, [0026]) that heats the high-temperature steam electrolysis device by using the steam (super heated steam outputted by 8 heats the stack 1).
While Balestrino discloses that the thermal vector in (11) includes a high temperature nuclear reactor using an intermediate helium circuit ([0030]), Balestrino does not disclose that the heating medium was heated at 600*C or higher.
Matsumura pertains to high temperature steam electrolysis (abstract) and is therefore in the same field of endeavor as Balestrino. Matsumura discloses that a nuclear reactor (201; Fig. 5) heats helium to approximately 1000°C and is part of a primary loop to a heat exchanger [0139]. It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the Balestrino’s thermal vector with Matsumura’s approximately 1000°C because all claimed elements were known, each element merely performs the same function as it does separately (nuclear reactors delivering heat through a helium medium for the purpose of producing hydrogen via high temperature electrolysis) and one of ordinary skill in the art would have recognized that the results of the combination were predictable. See MPEP 2143 I (A).
Claim(s) 3-5 and 8 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Balestrino in view of Matsumura in further view of Takagi (JP2010176939A) as submitted on Applicant's Information Disclosure Statement filed 10 May 2024.
In regards to claim(s) 3, Balestrino in view of Matsumura does not disclose wherein the high-temperature steam electrolysis device includes an electrolyte layer having a flat plate shape, a hydrogen electrode layer having a flat plate shape that is disposed on one surface side of the electrolyte layer, and an oxygen electrode layer having a flat plate shape that is disposed on the other surface side of the electrolyte layer, and the steam is supplied to the hydrogen electrode layer.
Takagi pertains to a solid oxide electrolysis cell that produces hydrogen/oxygen ([0004]) and is therefore in the same field of endeavor as Balestrino and Matsumura. Takagi discloses a planar SOEC with the planar electrode layers and planar electrolyte layer ([0018]-[0019]; Fig. 2). It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the modified Balestrino’ SOEC with Takagi’s planar SOEC because all claimed elements were known, each element merely performs the same function as it does separately (SOEC’s perform high temperature electrolysis to produce H2) and one of ordinary skill in the art would have recognized that the results of the combination were predictable. See MPEP 2143 I (A).
In regards to claim(s) 4, Balestrino discloses wherein a circulation path on a hydrogen side is disposed to return part of steam containing hydrogen discharged from a discharge side of the hydrogen electrode layer to an inlet side of the hydrogen electrode layer (Fig. 3; stream 12 through ejector 2 and back to the inlet).
In regards to claim(s) 5, Balestrino discloses wherein a circulation path on an oxygen side is disposed to return part of steam containing oxygen discharged from a discharge side of the oxygen electrode layer to an inlet side of the oxygen electrode layer (Fig. 3; stream 13 through ejector 3 and back to the inlet).
In regards to claim(s) 8, Balestrino discloses wherein a gas supply device (Fig. 3; AIR and turbine 4) supplies oxygen gas to the oxygen side of the SOEC (1a) and is heated by gas heating device (55) by using the heating medium (thermal vector 11).
Claim(s) 9 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Balestrino in view of Matsumura in view of Tsukihara (JPH04320999A) as submitted on Applicant's Information Disclosure Statement filed 30 July 2025.
In regards to claim(s) 9, Balestrino in view of Matsumura does not disclose wherein a high-temperature gas furnace is disposed as a heat source for generating the thermal energy, and the heat exchanger heats steam by using a heating medium heated by thermal energy of high-temperature helium generated in the high-temperature gas furnace.
Tsukihara pertains to hydrogen production (abstract) and is therefore in the same field of endeavor as Balestrino in view of Matsumura. Tsukihara discloses a high-temperature gas furnace (5; [0008]) in order to heat the helium. It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to substitute the nuclear reactor of Balestrino with the high-temperature gas furnace of Tsukihara because the substituted components were known, their functions were known in the art (providing thermal energy to helium), one of ordinary skill in the art could have substituted one known component for another and that the results of the substitution would have been predictable. See MPEP 2143 I (B).
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 6-7 are objected to as being dependent upon a rejected base claim, but would be allowable if rewritten in independent form including all of the limitations of the base claim and any intervening claims.
The following is a statement of reasons for the indication of allowable subject matter: In regards to claim(s) 6, prior art does not disclose, teach or suggest a hydrogen production system comprising a steam generator that generates the steam to be supplied to the high-temperature steam electrolysis device via a steam supply path, wherein the heat exchanger includes a first heat exchanger disposed on the steam supply path and a second heat exchanger disposed on a downstream side with respect to the first heat exchanger on the steam supply path, and the heating medium is supplied from the second heat exchanger to the first heat exchanger. Balestrino is the closest prior art and uses the instantly claimed heating medium. While Balestrino teaches a first heat exchanger (EVA 56; Fig. 3) that is heated by the heating medium and teaches a second heat exchanger to super heat the steam (steam super heater 8), the second heat exchanger is not heated by the heating medium but is instead super-heated by part of the cathode exhaust 12 from stack 1.
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to NICHOLAS A SMITH whose telephone number is (571)272-8760. The examiner can normally be reached M-F 7:30am-3:30pm.
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/NICHOLAS A SMITH/Supervisory Primary Examiner, Art Unit 1752
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