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, claims 1-9 in the reply filed on June 4, 2026 is acknowledged. The traversal is on the ground(s) that the pending claims are not directed to different inventions rather they vary in breath. This is not found persuasive because the inventions require different fields of search, different search queries and the apparatus can be used in different processes.
The requirement is still deemed proper and is therefore made FINAL.
Specification
The specification has not been checked to the extent necessary to determine the presence of all possible minor errors. Applicant’s cooperation is requested in correcting any errors of which applicant may become aware in the specification.
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.
Claims 1-9 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over WO2023049570 (appears on PTO-1449).
WO teaches an H2-rich fuel gas stream produced by reforming a hydrocarbon/steam mixture into a reformed stream, followed by cooling the reformed stream in a waste-heat recovery unit to produce a high-pressure steam stream, shifting the cooled reformed stream to obtain a crude gas mixture stream comprising H2 and CO2, and recovering a CO2 stream from the crude gas mixture stream. The H2-rich stream is combusted to provide thermal energy needed for residential, office, and/or industrial applications including in the H2-rich fuel gas production process. The H2-rich fuel gas production process is integrated with an olefins production plant comprising a steam cracker (abstract).
A preferred type of the reforming reactor in the syngas producing unit is an SMR. An SMR comprises one or more heated reforming tubes containing the reforming catalyst inside. The hydrocarbon/steam feed stream enters the tubes, heated to a desired elevated temperature, and passes through the reforming catalyst to effect the desirable reforming reaction mentioned above. While an SMR can have many different designs, a preferred SMR comprises a furnace enclosure, a convection section (e.g., an upper convection section), a radiant section (e.g., a lower radiant section), and one or more burners located in the radiant section combusting a fuel to produce a hot flue gas and supply thermal energy to heat the radiant section and the convection section. The hydrocarbon/steam feed stream enters the reforming tube at a location in the convection section, winds downwards through the convection section, whereby it is pre-heated by the ascending hot flue gas produced from fuel combustion at the burner(s), and then enters the radiant section proximate the burners combustion flames, whereby it contacts the reforming catalyst loaded in the reforming tube(s) in the radiant section, to produce a reformed stream exiting the SMR from a location in the radiant section. (see para 0028).
A modern olefins production plant usually operates by feeding a hydrocarbon feed (e.g., ethane, propane, butanes, naphtha, crude oil, and mixtures and combinations thereof) and steam into a steam cracker, heating the hydrocarbon feed/steam mixture to an elevated cracking temperature for a desirable residence time, thereby cracking the hydrocarbon feed to produce a steam cracker effluent comprising H2, CH4, ethane, propane, butanes, C2-C4 olefins, C4 dienes, and C5+ hydrocarbons exiting the pyrolysis reactor. The heating can include a preheating step in the convection section of the steam cracker, followed by transfer to the radiant section, where additional heating to the elevated cracking temperature and cracking occur. The thermal energy need for the preheating in the convection section and the heating in the radiant section is typically provided by a plurality of steam cracker burners combusting a steam cracker fuel gas. The high-temperature steam cracker effluent is immediately cooled down by quenching and/or indirect heat exchange, and separated to produce, among others, a process gas stream comprising C1-C4 hydrocarbons. The process gas stream is then typically compressed and supplied to a product recovery section including a chill train and multiple distillation from which one of more of the following may be produced: (i) a steam-cracker H2 stream, which may preferably comprise H2 at a molar concentration of from 80%-98%, based on the total moles of molecules in the steam-cracker H2 stream; (ii) an ethylene product stream (see para 0046).
An olefins production plant may comprise a combined-cycle power plant comprising one or more duct burners combusting a duct burner fuel to generate thermal energy. In such case, it is highly advantageous to supply a portion of the H2-rich stream, the steam-cracker H2 stream, and/or the joint H2-rich stream to the duct burners as a portion of the duct burner fuel needed (see para 0051).
FIG. 1 schematically illustrates processes/systems 101 including an SMR for producing a H2-rich fuel stream. As shown, a hydrocarbon feed stream 103 is first fed into an optional sulfur removal unit 105 to produce a sulfur-abated stream 107. Upon optional preheating via, e.g., a heat exchanger or a furnace (not shown), stream 107 is combined with an HPS stream 179 to form a hydrocarbon/steam mixture stream 109. Upon optional preheating via, e.g., a heat exchanger or a furnace (not shown), stream 109 is then fed into a pre-reformer 111 which can be an adiabatic reactor containing a pre-reforming catalyst therein. On contacting the pre-reforming catalyst, the heavier C2+ hydrocarbons are preferentially converted into methane (thus preventing the formation of coke in the downstream primary reforming reactor) to produce a pre-reforming effluent 113 comprising methane and steam. Stream 113 is then fed into a tube 120 a in the upper section 114, sometimes called convection section, of an SMR 115, where it is heated. SMR 115 comprises a lower section 116, sometimes called radiant section, housing one or more tube 120 b which is in fluid communication with tube 120 a receiving the stream 113 heated in tube 120 a. As shown in FIG. 1, tube 120 a may exit the convection section to the exterior of the SMR furnace, and then re-enters at the entrance to tube(s) 120 b, via, e.g., a manifold (not shown). SMR 115 comprises one or more burners 118 in the radiant section 116, where a SMR fuel combusts to supply energy to the radiant section 116 and then the convection section 114 of SMR 115. For the convenience of illustration, tubes 120 a and 120 b in the SMR are shown as comprising multiple straight segments. In practice, certain portions of tubes 120 a and 120 b, particularly tube 120 a, may be curved, or even form serpentine windings (see para 0059). WO meets the limitations of the claims other than the differences that are discussed below.
WO does not specifically set forth that the steps are performed exactly as set forth in the claims. However, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art to determine which steps would be required to obtain a cracked gas stream comprising ethylene and hydrogen, especially given that WO teaches that the cracked stream may include a major amount of H2 and a minor proportion of ethylene.
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure. The reference teaches integration of hydrogen-rich fuel gas production with olefins production plant.
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to CEPHIA D TOOMER whose telephone number is (571)272-1126. The examiner can normally be reached Monday-Friday.
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If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Prem Singh can be reached at 571-272-6368. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/CEPHIA D TOOMER/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 1771 18786224/20260708
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