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 .
This is a first action on the merits of the application. Claims 1-12 are pending.
Claim Objections
Claims 7-9 are objected to because of the following informalities:
Claim 7: In lines 2 and 3, “the gas” appears to be a misstatement of “the gas phase” (e.g., claim 1, line 12).
Claim 8: In line 6, “gas phase” lacks the required article, e.g., “the gas phase.”
Claim 9: In lines 3-4, “wherein transmitting . . . comprise” appears to be a typographical error for “wherein transmitting . . . comprises.”
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 6 and 7 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.
Claim 6: The claim recites, “in response to periodically monitoring the flow pressure, determining that the flow pressure of the gas phase exceeds the threshold flow pressure.” It is unclear what gas phase and flow pressure are being referenced. As background, it is noted that in the claims, and in the above quotation of claim 6, “the gas phase” is taken to refer to the gas phase in the first gas flow pathway (claim 1, lines 2-3), just as “the gas phase” without reference to a pathway appears to consistently refer to the gas phase in the first gas flow pathway throughout the claims 1-7, whereas each instance in which the gas phase flowed through the second gas flow pathway appears to be intended, that stream is identified explicitly as such. Claim 6 is unclear because it recites, “a flow pressure through the first gas flow pathway,” which is apparently different from the gas phase flowed to the second gas flow pathway at the “first flow pressure” (claim 1, lines 2-3). In other words, claim 1 appears to refer to a gas phase at “a first flow pressure” as it is flowing to the second gas flow pathway, whereas claim 6 refers to “a flow pressure” in the first gas flow pathway, which is apparently different from the aforementioned first flow pressure of claim 1. But lines 4-5 recite, “the flow pressure of the gas phase,” raising uncertainty about which flow pressure is intended, as the “flow pressure” of claim 6, lines 2-3 is not explicitly associated with “the gas phase,” as the “first flow pressure” is. Although claims 1-5 are not rejected as indefinite, Applicant is respectfully advised to consider using unambiguous terms in the claims such as “first gas phase” and “second gas phase” to increase the clarity of the claims and overcome the rejection of claim 6.
Claim 7 is rejected because of its dependence from claim 6.
Allowable Subject Matter
The following is a statement of reasons for the indication of allowable subject matter:
A thorough search for pertinent prior art did not locate any prior art that discloses or suggests the invention recited in claims 1-12.
The concept of a method comprising: flowing a gas phase from a first gas oil separation plant (GOSP) through a first gas flow pathway to a second gas flow pathway at a first flow pressure; flowing the gas phase from the second gas flow pathway to a central gas plant at a second flow pressure greater than the first flow pressure, the second gas flow pathway receiving a gas phase from a second GOSP; while flowing the gas phase through the first gas flow pathway, determining a decrease in the first flow pressure below a threshold flow pressure; and in response to determining the decrease in the first flow pressure below the threshold flow pressure, operating a gas-gas ejector, fluidically coupled to the first gas flow pathway and the second gas flow pathway, to drive a flow of the gas phase to the central gas plant using the gas phase flowed through the second gas flow pathway at the second flow pressure as a motive gas (claim 1)
is considered to define patentable subject matter over the prior art.
The concept of a non-transitory computer-readable medium storing instructions executable by one or more computer systems to perform operations comprising: receiving signals representing flow pressure of a gas phase flowing through a first gas flow pathway from a first gas oil separation plant (GOSP) to a second gas flow pathway, wherein, while the gas phase is flowed from the first gas flow pathway to the second gas flow pathway, gas phase is flowed to the second gas flow pathway from a second GOSP; determining, at a first time instant, that the flow pressure is less than a threshold flow pressure; in response to determining that the flow pressure is less than the threshold flow pressure, transmitting control signals to operate a gas-gas ejector fluidically coupled to the first gas flow pathway and the second gas flow pathway, to drive a flow of the gas phase to the central gas plant using gas from the second gas flow pathway as a motive gas (claim 8)
is considered to define patentable subject matter over the prior art.
The closest prior art appears to be Nazimov et al. (RU2743550C1), which discloses a jet pump 3 with a corresponding bypass pipeline 8, the jet pump being fed by a pressure pipeline 2 ([0013]) connected at its low pressure inlet to a low-productivity/low-pressure pump of a collection pipeline 4 ([0013]), wherein a valve 9 of the bypass pipeline is controlled by a control unit 10 to maintain the operation of the low-pressure pump within the limits of maximum efficiency ([0013]), with a vacuum chamber 7 of the jet pump maintaining a required pressure in the gathering pipeline 4 (i.e., to drive a flow/as a motive gas) based on the pressure characteristics of the pressure pipeline 2 ([0016], end).
However, Nazimov does not suggest a gas-gas ejector ([0013]: oil well products; oil treatment plant) or flow pathways from gas oil separation plants ([0013]: well 1; wells 5.
Claims 6 and 7 would be allowable if rewritten to overcome the rejection(s) under 35 U.S.C. 112(b) or 35 U.S.C. 112 (pre-AIA ), 2nd paragraph, set forth in this Office action and to include all of the limitations of the base claim and any intervening claims.
Conclusion
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/GABRIEL E GITMAN/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 1772
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