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 .
Drawings
The drawings are objected to as failing to comply with 37 CFR 1.84(p)(5) because they do not include the following reference sign(s) mentioned in the description: item “80”. Corrected drawing sheets in compliance with 37 CFR 1.121(d) are required in reply to the Office action to avoid abandonment of the application. Any amended replacement drawing sheet should include all of the figures appearing on the immediate prior version of the sheet, even if only one figure is being amended. Each drawing sheet submitted after the filing date of an application must be labeled in the top margin as either “Replacement Sheet” or “New Sheet” pursuant to 37 CFR 1.121(d). If the changes are not accepted by the examiner, the applicant will be notified and informed of any required corrective action in the next Office action. The objection to the drawings will not be held in abeyance.
Specification
Applicant is reminded of the proper content of an abstract of the disclosure.
A patent abstract is a concise statement of the technical disclosure of the patent and should include that which is new in the art to which the invention pertains. The abstract should not refer to purported merits or speculative applications of the invention and should not compare the invention with the prior art.
If the patent is of a basic nature, the entire technical disclosure may be new in the art, and the abstract should be directed to the entire disclosure. If the patent is in the nature of an improvement in an old apparatus, process, product, or composition, the abstract should include the technical disclosure of the improvement. The abstract should also mention by way of example any preferred modifications or alternatives.
Where applicable, the abstract should include the following: (1) if a machine or apparatus, its organization and operation; (2) if an article, its method of making; (3) if a chemical compound, its identity and use; (4) if a mixture, its ingredients; (5) if a process, the steps.
Extensive mechanical and design details of an apparatus should not be included in the abstract. The abstract should be in narrative form and generally limited to a single paragraph within the range of 50 to 150 words in length.
See MPEP § 608.01(b) for guidelines for the preparation of patent abstracts.
Claim Objections
Claims 1-10 are objected to because of the following informalities:
Claim 1, line 1: “LNG” should read “Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG)”
Claim 1, lines 13-14: “one or several of the units” should read “one or several units of the plurality of units”
Claim 1, line 17: “one or several of the units” should read “one or several units of the plurality of units”
Claim 3, line 3: “at least one of said units” should read “at least one unit of said plurality of units”
Claim 4, lines 4-5: “at least one of said units” should read “at least one unit of said plurality of units”
Claim 5, line 2: “4claim 1,” should read “claim 1,”
Claim 5, lines 3-4: “at least one of said units” should read “at least one unit of said plurality of units”
Claims 2-5 and 10 are also objected to by virtue of their dependency on claim 1.
Claims 6-9 are also objected to by virtue of their dependency on claim 5.
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 7-8 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.
Regarding claim 7, the phrase "for example" renders the claim indefinite because it is unclear whether the limitation(s) following the phrase are part of the claimed invention. See MPEP § 2173.05(d). For purposes of examination, the Examiner will interpret the limitations following “for example” to be optional recitations of the claims.
Regarding claim 8, the phrase "for example" renders the claim indefinite because it is unclear whether the limitation(s) following the phrase are part of the claimed invention. See MPEP § 2173.05(d). For purposes of examination, the Examiner will interpret the limitations following “for example” to be optional recitations of the claims.
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.
The factual inquiries for establishing a background for determining obviousness under 35 U.S.C. 103 are summarized as follows:
1. Determining the scope and contents of the prior art.
2. Ascertaining the differences between the prior art and the claims at issue.
3. Resolving the level of ordinary skill in the pertinent art.
4. Considering objective evidence present in the application indicating obviousness or nonobviousness.
Claims 1-5, 7-8, and 10 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Noccioni et al. (WO 2020244809), hereinafter Noccioni in view of Amidei et al. (US 20240003619), hereinafter Amidei.
Regarding claim 1, Noccioni discloses an installation comprising an LNG production facility adapted for producing liquefied natural gas from a feed gas containing methane, and a renewable electricity facility adapted for producing renewable electricity (Fig. 5, integrated LNG system 1, pipeline 12, energy collector 20; Abstract, An integrated natural gas liquefaction system is disclosed. The system comprises a refrigerant circuit adapted to circulate at least one refrigerant therein, wherein the refrigerant circuit includes at least one refrigerant compressor. An energy collector collects energy from at least one renewable energy resource. A mechanical power generator, drivingly coupled to the refrigerant compressor, converts energy provided by the energy collector into mechanical power), the LNG production facility comprising:
a liquefaction unit (Fig. 5, refrigerant circuit 3; Pg. 7, paragraph 27, In the schematic of Fig. 1, as well as in the remaining figures, the core of the thermodynamic cycle of the LNG system, which processes the one or more refrigerant fluids, includes at least one refrigerant circuit 3. The refrigerant circuit 3 includes at least one refrigerant compressor. In the schematic ofFig.1, compressor 5 is representative of one or more compressors or compressor trains to process one or more refrigerant fluids. The refrigerant circuit further comprises a chiller 7, an expander 9 and a heat exchanger 11. The refrigerant delivered by refrigerant compressor 5 is chilled in chiller 7, e.g. in heat exchange relationship with air, water or a further refrigerant of another refrigerant circuit. The compressed and chilled refrigerant is expanded in expander 9 to achieve a sufficiently low temperature, such that heat can be removed therewith from a flow of natural gas (NG) delivered by a pipeline 12 and flowing through the heat exchanger 11. At the exit side of the heat exchanger 11 liquefied 20 natural gas (LNG) is obtained, which is collected in an LNG tank 15; Pg. 11-12, paragraph 47, While the remaining components of the integrated LNG system 1 of Fig. 3 could be the same as shown in Figs l and 2, in the exemplary embodiment shown in Fig.3 a different way of using mechanical power from the auxiliary mechanical driver is shown), and
at least one thermal energy storage system adapted for storing electricity as thermal energy, and for converting at least part of the stored thermal energy into electricity, heat, or cold (Fig. 3, energy storage system 29; Fig. 4B, energy storage system 29; Pg. 19, paragraph 80, The electric distribution grid 19 can be functionally coupled to an energy storage system 29, as shown in Figs. 1, 2 and 3, not shown in Fig.5; Pg. 13, paragraph 51-52, With continuing reference to Figs. 1, 2 and 3, a different energy storage system 29 is shown in Fig.4B. This exemplary embodiment includes a cryogenic energy storage system, for instance a liquefied air storage system, also known as LAES system. The energy storage system, again labeled 29 as a whole, can include an air compressor 55 driven by an electric motor 57, which is electrically coupled to the electric distribution grid 19. Surplus of electric energy made available by the energy collector 20 is used to power the electric motor 57. The compressed air delivered by the air compressor 55 is chilled and liquefied and finally collected in a liquid air storage tank 59. More specifically, air liquefaction is achieved by compressing an air flow by means of air compressor 55, chilling the compressed air flow in heat exchangers 58A, 58B and expanding the chilled air flow in an expander or in a Joule-Thomson valve 60. The liquid air is maintained at low temperature in the liquid air storage tank 59. When energy is to be recovered from the cryogenic energy storage system 29, a cryogenic pump 62 delivers a flow of liquefied air through a heater 64 and the pressurized and heated air flow is expanded in an expander 66, for instance a turbo-expander. Mechanical power generated by the expander 66 drives an electric generator 68 and the electric power thus generated is delivered to the electric distribution grid 19 for driving the refrigerant compressor 5 of the integrated LNG system 1),
wherein the installation is adapted for switching at least between a charge configuration, in which the renewable electricity facility produces said renewable electricity, at least a fraction of said renewable electricity is stored in the thermal energy storage system as thermal energy and at least another fraction is supplied to one or several of the unit, and a discharge configuration, in which the thermal energy storage system converts at least part of the stored thermal energy into at least one of said electricity, said heat and said cold and said at least one of said electricity, said heat and said cold is supplied to one or several of the units (Pg. 10-11, paragraph 42-43, The LNG system 1 described above and schematically shown in Fig. 1 can operate in different modes depending upon the amount of energy available from the renewable energy resource and collected by the energy collector 20, and on the amount of power required to drive the refrigerant compressor 5. As noted above, if energy collector 20 provides more energy than required to drive the refrigerant compressor 5, surplus energy can be stored in the energy storage system 29. If insufficient or no power is available from the energy collector 20, energy from the energy storage system 29 can be used to drive the refrigerant compressor 5. For instance, energy from the energy storage system 29 can also be used for short time spans, during which the renewable energy resource provides insufficient energy. If no power or insufficient power is available from the renewable energy resource and the shortage cannot be balanced by energy from the energy storage system 29, the auxiliary mechanical driver 31 is used. The gas turbine engine 31 is started and used to generate electric energy via electric generator 33. The electric energy thus generated is converted into mechanical energy by the electric motor 17 to drive the refrigerant compressor 5; Pg. 15, paragraph 58-59, The energy storage systems 29 illustrated in Figs. 4A, 4B, 4C, 4D are shown by way of example only. Those skilled in the art of energy storage will understand that other energy storage systems can be used, either alone or in various combinations, in order to store energy surplus generated by the renewable energy resource. The selection of the energy storage technology may depend upon several factors, among which environmental conditions, availability of natural or artificial water reservoirs, air tanks or caverns, etc.. Energy from the energy storage system 29 can be used either to provide supplemental energy to cover peak power demand by the refrigerant circuit 3, or to provide energy when energy from the renewable energy resource is unavailable, for instance at night in case of a solar photovoltaic plant, or when no wind blows, in case of a wind farm).
However, Noccioni does not disclose the installation to include a plurality of units including a precooling unit.
Amidei teaches the installation to include a plurality of units including a precooling unit a liquefaction unit (Fig. 3, system 1, gas pretreatment facility 5, natural gas liquefaction facility 7; Fig 10, propane compressor 47A, driver 31A, propane condenser 13X, mixed refrigerant compressor 47B, driver 31B, mixed refrigerant condenser 13Y; Pg. 3, paragraph 38, The raw natural gas RNG can be pre-treated in a gas pretreatment facility 5. While for the sake of brevity reference will be made herein to a single gas pre-treatment facility 5, those expert in the field will understand that a plurality of systems or facilities may be foreseen, depending upon which kind of undesired components are to be removed from the raw natural gas RNG. For instance, the gas pre-treatment facility 5 can in turn include a sweetening system, a gas dehydration system, a heavy-hydrocarbons (HHC) removal system, a natural gas liquids (NGL) removal system, or combinations thereof; Pg. 6, paragraph 86, With continuing reference to FIGS. 1, 2, 3, 4 and 5, FIGS. 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 12 11, and 13 illustrate schematic diagrams of natural gas liquefaction facilities using various closed or open refrigeration circuits. Each of these natural gas liquefaction facilities can be used in combination with a rejection heat recovery arrangement as described above; Pg. 6, paragraph 90, FIG. 10 illustrates a propane/mixed refrigerant LNG system including a propane compressor 47A with a driver 31A and a mixed refrigerant compressor 47B with a driver 31B. Propane condenser 13X and mixed refrigerant condenser 13Y reject heat Q which can be partly recovered through the heat pump 23).
Noccioni fails to teach the installation to include a plurality of units including a precooling unit a liquefaction unit, however Amidei teaches that it is a known method in the art of LNG production facilities to include the installation to include a plurality of units including a precooling unit a liquefaction unit. This is strong evidence that modifying Noccioni as claimed would produce predictable results (i.e. efficiently providing a natural gas product with a composition compliant with consumer standards). Accordingly, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art prior to the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify Noccioni by Amidei and arrive at the claimed invention since all claimed elements were known in the art and one having ordinary skill in the art could have combined the elements as claimed by known methods with no changes in their respective functions and the combination would have yielded the predictable result of efficiently providing a natural gas product with a composition compliant with consumer standards.
Regarding claim 2, Noccioni as modified discloses the installation according to claim 1 (see the combination of references used in the rejection of claim 1 above), wherein the thermal energy storage system is a Carnot battery and is adapted, in the discharge configuration, for converting at least part of the stored thermal energy into at least said electricity (Noccioni, Fig. 3, energy storage system 29; Fig. 4B, energy storage system 29; Pg. 19, paragraph 80, The electric distribution grid 19 can be functionally coupled to an energy storage system 29, as shown in Figs. 1, 2 and 3, not shown in Fig.5; Pg. 13, paragraph 51-52, With continuing reference to Figs. 1, 2 and 3, a different energy storage system 29 is shown in Fig.4B. This exemplary embodiment includes a cryogenic energy storage system, for instance a liquefied air storage system, also known as LAES system. The energy storage system, again labeled 29 as a whole, can include an air compressor 55 driven by an electric motor 57, which is electrically coupled to the electric distribution grid 19. Surplus of electric energy made available by the energy collector 20 is used to power the electric motor 57. The compressed air delivered by the air compressor 55 is chilled and liquefied and finally collected in a liquid air storage tank 59. More specifically, air liquefaction is achieved by compressing an air flow by means of air compressor 55, chilling the compressed air flow in heat exchangers 58A, 58B and expanding the chilled air flow in an expander or in a Joule-Thomson valve 60. The liquid air is maintained at low temperature in the liquid air storage tank 59. When energy is to be recovered from the cryogenic energy storage system 29, a cryogenic pump 62 delivers a flow of liquefied air through a heater 64 and the pressurized and heated air flow is expanded in an expander 66, for instance a turbo-expander. Mechanical power generated by the expander 66 drives an electric generator 68 and the electric power thus generated is delivered to the electric distribution grid 19 for driving the refrigerant compressor 5 of the integrated LNG system 1).
Regarding claim 3, Noccioni as modified discloses the installation according to claim 1 (see the combination of references used in the rejection of claim 1 above).
However, Noccioni as modified does not disclose wherein the thermal energy storage system is adapted, in the charge configuration, for receiving fatal heat from at least one of said units.
Amidei teaches wherein the thermal energy storage system is adapted, in the charge configuration, for receiving fatal heat from at least one of said units (Fig. 3, natural gas liquefaction facility 7, condenser 13, thermal energy storage 21, heat pump 23, low-temperature heat transfer fluid circuit 23A, high-temperature heat transfer fluid circuit 23B; Pg. 3, paragraph 45-48, To improve the energy efficiency of the system 1, a thermal energy storage system 21 is provided, wherein thermal energy rejected by the natural gas liquefaction facility 7 is collected at a temperature higher than the rejection temperature, i.e. the temperature at which the thermal energy, or part thereof, is rejected from the natural gas liquefaction facility 7. A heat pump 23 driven by an electric motor 25 is provided to recover low-temperature thermal energy rejected from the refrigerant fluid and transfer said thermal energy at a higher temperature in the thermal energy storage system 21. A low-temperature heat transfer fluid circuit 23A is provided between the condenser 13 and the cold side of the heat pump 23, and a high-temperature heat transfer fluid circuit 23B is provided between the hot side of the heat pump 23 and the thermal energy storage system 21. Heat transfer fluids circulate in the respective circuits 23A, 23B by means of pumps (not shown). In one implementation the heat pump 23 can be a trans-critical heat pump. Mechanical power generated by the electric motor 25 is used to transfer the thermal energy from a lower temperature at the condenser 13 to the higher temperature at the thermal energy storage system 21).
Noccioni as modified fails to teach wherein the thermal energy storage system is adapted, in the charge configuration, for receiving fatal heat from at least one of said units feature, however Amidei teaches that it is a known method in the art of integrated renewable energy natural gas production facilities to include wherein the thermal energy storage system is adapted, in the charge configuration, for receiving fatal heat from at least one of said units. This is strong evidence that modifying Noccioni as modified as claimed would produce predictable results (i.e. providing efficient use of waste heat to improve overall system efficiencies). Accordingly, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art prior to the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify Noccioni as modified by Amidei and arrive at the claimed invention since all claimed elements were known in the art and one having ordinary skill in the art could have combined the elements as claimed by known methods with no changes in their respective functions and the combination would have yielded the predictable result of providing efficient use of waste heat to improve overall system efficiencies.
Regarding claim 4, Noccioni as modified discloses the installation according to claim 1 (see the combination of references used in the rejection of claim 1 above), wherein the thermal energy storage system is adapted, in the discharge configuration, for converting at least part of the stored thermal energy into steam and the installation is adapted for providing said steam to a steam turbine of one of said units (Noccioni, Fig. 5, steam turbine 109; Pg. 19, paragraph 80-81, The electric distribution grid 19 can be functionally coupled to an energy storage system 29, as shown in Figs. 1, 2 and 3, not shown in Fig.5. In some embodiments, if the mechanical power generated by the steam or vapor turbine l 09 exceeds the needs from refrigerant compressor 5, surplus power can be converted into electric power by electric motor/generator 133, which is operated in the generator mode, and stored in the energy storage system 29. Conversely, energy from the energy storage system 29 can be used if insufficient heat is available from the concentrated solar power plant 101 and/or from the boiler 123. In some embodiments, the integrated LNG system 1 of Fig.5 can further include a gas turbine engine 31, similar to the gas turbine engine 31 of Figs. 1 and 2. The gas turbine engine 31 can be operated to drive an electric generator 33 connected to the electric distribution grid 19, if energy from the concentrated solar power plant 101 and/or from the energy storage system 29 is insufficient and if no boiler 123 is provided or if said boiler 123 provides insufficient heat or is temporarily unavailable, for instance. Mechanical power generated by the gas turbine engine 31 is converted into electric energy by the electric generator 33. The electric energy is made available through electric distribution grid 19 to drive the electric motor/generator 133 in the motor mode and drive the refrigerant compressor 5 therewith, either alone or in combination with the steam or vapor turbine 109).
Regarding claim 5, Noccioni as modified discloses the installation according to claim 1 (see the combination of references used in the rejection of claim 1 above).
However, Noccioni as modified does not disclose further comprising at least one coupling heat exchanger connected to the thermal energy storage system for receiving a working fluid, and connected to at least one of said units for receiving a process fluid, the coupling heat exchanger being adapted for performing a heat exchange between the working fluid and the process fluid or supplying said heat or said cold.
Amidei teaches further comprising at least one coupling heat exchanger connected to the thermal energy storage system for receiving a working fluid, and connected to at least one of said units for receiving a process fluid, the coupling heat exchanger being adapted for performing a heat exchange between the working fluid and the process fluid or supplying said heat or said cold (Fig. 3, natural gas liquefaction facility 7, condenser 13, thermal energy storage 21, heat pump 23, low-temperature heat transfer fluid circuit 23A, high-temperature heat transfer fluid circuit 23B; Pg. 3, paragraph 45-48, To improve the energy efficiency of the system 1, a thermal energy storage system 21 is provided, wherein thermal energy rejected by the natural gas liquefaction facility 7 is collected at a temperature higher than the rejection temperature, i.e. the temperature at which the thermal energy, or part thereof, is rejected from the natural gas liquefaction facility 7. A heat pump 23 driven by an electric motor 25 is provided to recover low-temperature thermal energy rejected from the refrigerant fluid and transfer said thermal energy at a higher temperature in the thermal energy storage system 21. A low-temperature heat transfer fluid circuit 23A is provided between the condenser 13 and the cold side of the heat pump 23, and a high-temperature heat transfer fluid circuit 23B is provided between the hot side of the heat pump 23 and the thermal energy storage system 21. Heat transfer fluids circulate in the respective circuits 23A, 23B by means of pumps (not shown). In one implementation the heat pump 23 can be a trans-critical heat pump. Mechanical power generated by the electric motor 25 is used to transfer the thermal energy from a lower temperature at the condenser 13 to the higher temperature at the thermal energy storage system 21).
Noccioni as modified fails to teach further comprising at least one coupling heat exchanger connected to the thermal energy storage system for receiving a working fluid, and connected to at least one of said units for receiving a process fluid, the coupling heat exchanger being adapted for performing a heat exchange between the working fluid and the process fluid or supplying said heat or said cold, however Amidei teaches that it is a known method in the art of integrated renewable energy natural gas production facilities to include further comprising at least one coupling heat exchanger connected to the thermal energy storage system for receiving a working fluid, and connected to at least one of said units for receiving a process fluid, the coupling heat exchanger being adapted for performing a heat exchange between the working fluid and the process fluid or supplying said heat or said cold. This is strong evidence that modifying Noccioni as modified as claimed would produce predictable results (i.e. providing efficient use of waste heat to improve overall system efficiencies). Accordingly, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art prior to the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify Noccioni as modified by Amidei and arrive at the claimed invention since all claimed elements were known in the art and one having ordinary skill in the art could have combined the elements as claimed by known methods with no changes in their respective functions and the combination would have yielded the predictable result of providing efficient use of waste heat to improve overall system efficiencies.
Regarding claim 7, Noccioni as modified discloses the installation according to claim 1 (see the combination of references used in the rejection of claim 5 above), wherein the LNG production facility comprises a refrigeration cycle, for example using propane as a refrigerant, in order to bring cold at least to the precooling unit, wherein, in the coupling heat exchanger, the process fluid comes from said refrigeration cycle and receives the cold from the working fluid (Noccioni, Fig. 3, system 1, natural gas liquefaction facility 7; Fig 10, propane compressor 47A, driver 31A, propane condenser 13X; Pg. 6, paragraph 86, With continuing reference to FIGS. 1, 2, 3, 4 and 5, FIGS. 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 12 11, and 13 illustrate schematic diagrams of natural gas liquefaction facilities using various closed or open refrigeration circuits. Each of these natural gas liquefaction facilities can be used in combination with a rejection heat recovery arrangement as described above; Pg. 6, paragraph 90, FIG. 10 illustrates a propane/mixed refrigerant LNG system including a propane compressor 47A with a driver 31A and a mixed refrigerant compressor 47B with a driver 31B. Propane condenser 13X and mixed refrigerant condenser 13Y reject heat Q which can be partly recovered through the heat pump 23; As best understood, see 112(b) rejections above). Further, the limitations of claim 7 are the result of the modification of references used in the rejection of claim 1 above.
Regarding claim 8, Noccioni as modified discloses the installation according to claim 5 (see the combination of references used in the rejection of claim 5 above), wherein the LNG production facility comprises a refrigeration cycle for example using a mixed refrigerant chilled in the precooling unit, in order to bring cold at least to the liquefaction unit, wherein, in the at least one coupling heat exchanger, the process fluid comes from said refrigeration cycle and receives the cold from the working fluid (Fig. 3, system 1, gas pretreatment facility 5, natural gas liquefaction facility 7; Fig 10, mixed refrigerant compressor 47B, driver 31B, mixed refrigerant condenser 13Y; Pg. 6, paragraph 86, With continuing reference to FIGS. 1, 2, 3, 4 and 5, FIGS. 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 12 11, and 13 illustrate schematic diagrams of natural gas liquefaction facilities using various closed or open refrigeration circuits. Each of these natural gas liquefaction facilities can be used in combination with a rejection heat recovery arrangement as described above; Pg. 6, paragraph 90, FIG. 10 illustrates a propane/mixed refrigerant LNG system including a propane compressor 47A with a driver 31A and a mixed refrigerant compressor 47B with a driver 31B. Propane condenser 13X and mixed refrigerant condenser 13Y reject heat Q which can be partly recovered through the heat pump 23; As best understood, see 112(b) rejections above). Further, the limitations of claim 8 are the result of the modification of references used in the rejection of claim 1 above.
A process of producing liquefied natural gas from a feed gas containing methane (Abstract, An integrated natural gas liquefaction system is disclosed. The system comprises a refrigerant circuit adapted to circulate at least one refrigerant therein, wherein the refrigerant circuit includes at least one refrigerant compressor. An energy collector collects energy from at least one renewable energy resource. A mechanical power generator, drivingly coupled to the refrigerant compressor, converts energy provided by the energy collector into mechanical power), comprising:
providing an installation as described by claim 1 (see the combination of references used in the rejection of claim 1 above),
producing the liquefied natural gas from the feed gas using the LNG production facility (Pg. 17, paragraph 73, At the exit side of the heat exchanger 11, liquefied natural gas (LNG) is obtained, which is collected in an LNG tank 15),
switching the installation at least between the charge configuration, and the discharge configuration (Pg. 10-11, paragraph 42-43, The LNG system 1 described above and schematically shown in Fig. 1 can operate in different modes depending upon the amount of energy available from the renewable energy resource and collected by the energy collector 20, and on the amount of power required to drive the refrigerant compressor 5. As noted above, if energy collector 20 provides more energy than required to drive the refrigerant compressor 5, surplus energy can be stored in the energy storage system 29. If insufficient or no power is available from the energy collector 20, energy from the energy storage system 29 can be used to drive the refrigerant compressor 5. For instance, energy from the energy storage system 29 can also be used for short time spans, during which the renewable energy resource provides insufficient energy. If no power or insufficient power is available from the renewable energy resource and the shortage cannot be balanced by energy from the energy storage system 29, the auxiliary mechanical driver 31 is used. The gas turbine engine 31 is started and used to generate electric energy via electric generator 33. The electric energy thus generated is converted into mechanical energy by the electric motor 17 to drive the refrigerant compressor 5; Pg. 15, paragraph 58-59, The energy storage systems 29 illustrated in Figs. 4A, 4B, 4C, 4D are shown by way of example only. Those skilled in the art of energy storage will understand that other energy storage systems can be used, either alone or in various combinations, in order to store energy surplus generated by the renewable energy resource. The selection of the energy storage technology may depend upon several factors, among which environmental conditions, availability of natural or artificial water reservoirs, air tanks or caverns, etc.. Energy from the energy storage system 29 can be used either to provide supplemental energy to cover peak power demand by the refrigerant circuit 3, or to provide energy when energy from the renewable energy resource is unavailable, for instance at night in case of a solar photovoltaic plant, or when no wind blows, in case of a wind farm).
Claims 6 and 9 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Noccioni as modified by Amidei as applied to claim 5 above, and further in view of Marak et al. (WO 2014148395), hereinafter Marak.
Regarding claim 6, Noccioni as modified discloses the installation according to claim 5 (see the combination of references used in the rejection of claim 5 above), wherein the plurality of units comprises a purification unit, a water removal unit, and acid gas removal unit and a fractionation unit (Amidei; Fig. 3, system 1, gas pretreatment facility 5; Pg. 3, paragraph 38, The raw natural gas RNG can be pre-treated in a gas pretreatment facility 5. While for the sake of brevity reference will be made herein to a single gas pre-treatment facility 5, those expert in the field will understand that a plurality of systems or facilities may be foreseen, depending upon which kind of undesired components are to be removed from the raw natural gas RNG. For instance, the gas pre-treatment facility 5 can in turn include a sweetening system, a gas dehydration system, a heavy-hydrocarbons (HHC) removal system, a natural gas liquids (NGL) removal system, or combinations thereof).
However, Noccioni as modified does not disclose wherein, in the coupling heat exchanger, the process fluid comes from the purification unit and receives the heat from the working fluid.
Marak teaches the use of a process fluid that comes from the purification unit to perform heat exchanger in a heat exchange between the process fluid and the working fluid (Fig. 5, heat exchanger 44; Pg. 10-11, Thus, after NGL extraction using heat exchanger 31, flash tank 30, distillation column 28 and expander-compressor- 26, 27 a purified natural gas stream is compressed and cooled via compressor 34 and cooler 36. The process of Figure 5 differs considerably from the process of Figure 3 in that a new pre-cooling part 31 is added. This part takes compressed gas from the compressor 27 of the expander-compressor- 26, 27 in the NGL extraction part 11 and uses it for generating refrigeration in a heat exchanger 44 to pre-cool the refined natural gas stream NG' by auto-refrigeration. Thus, in Figure 5, the gas leaving the compressor 27 in the NGL extraction part 11 is passed to a compressor 46 for further compression, cooled to near ambient temperature in cooler 48 and expanded in expander 50 to provide refrigeration in the heat exchanger 44. Then the gas is compressed in compressor 34 before being cooled in aftercooler 36 by using air or water to ambient temperature (around 10-40 °C). The now treated gas NG', which is at a high pressure, is sent through 44 where it is pre-cooled to a temperature ranging from -10°C to -40°C.).
Noccioni as modified fails to teach wherein, in the coupling heat exchanger, the process fluid comes from the purification unit and receives the heat from the working fluid, however Marak teaches that it is a known method in the art of natural gas liquefaction facilities to include the use of the process fluid that comes from the purification unit to perform heat exchange in a heat exchanger between the process fluid and the working fluid. This is strong evidence that modifying Noccioni as modified as claimed would produce predictable results (i.e. providing efficient use of waste heat to improve overall system efficiencies). Accordingly, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art prior to the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify Noccioni as modified by Marak and arrive at the claimed invention since all claimed elements were known in the art and one having ordinary skill in the art could have combined the elements as claimed by known methods with no changes in their respective functions and the combination would have yielded the predictable result of providing efficient use of waste heat to improve overall system efficiencies.
Regarding claim 9, Noccioni as modified discloses the installation according to claim 5 (see the combination of references used in the rejection of claim 5 above).
However, Noccioni as modified does not disclose wherein, in the at least one coupling heat exchanger, the process fluid is natural gas obtained by purification of the feed gas, and receives the cold from the working fluid.
Marak teaches the use of a process fluid obtained by purification of the feed gas in a purification unit to perform heat exchange in a heat exchanger between the process fluid and the working fluid (Fig. 5, heat exchanger 44; Pg. 10-11, Thus, after NGL extraction using heat exchanger 31, flash tank 30, distillation column 28 and expander-compressor- 26, 27 a purified natural gas stream is compressed and cooled via compressor 34 and cooler 36. The process of Figure 5 differs considerably from the process of Figure 3 in that a new pre-cooling part 31 is added. This part takes compressed gas from the compressor 27 of the expander-compressor- 26, 27 in the NGL extraction part 11 and uses it for generating refrigeration in a heat exchanger 44 to pre-cool the refined natural gas stream NG' by auto-refrigeration. Thus, in Figure 5, the gas leaving the compressor 27 in the NGL extraction part 11 is passed to a compressor 46 for further compression, cooled to near ambient temperature in cooler 48 and expanded in expander 50 to provide refrigeration in the heat exchanger 44. Then the gas is compressed in compressor 34 before being cooled in aftercooler 36 by using air or water to ambient temperature (around 10-40 °C). The now treated gas NG', which is at a high pressure, is sent through 44 where it is pre-cooled to a temperature ranging from -10°C to -40°C.).
Noccioni as modified fails to teach wherein, in the at least one coupling heat exchanger, the process fluid is natural gas obtained by purification of the feed gas, and receives the cold from the working fluid, however Marak teaches that it is a known method in the art of natural gas liquefaction facilities to include the use of a process fluid obtained by purification of the feed gas in a purification unit to perform heat exchange in a heat exchanger between the process fluid and the working fluid. This is strong evidence that modifying Noccioni as modified as claimed would produce predictable results (i.e. providing efficient use of waste heat to improve overall system efficiencies). Accordingly, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art prior to the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify Noccioni as modified by Marak and arrive at the claimed invention since all claimed elements were known in the art and one having ordinary skill in the art could have combined the elements as claimed by known methods with no changes in their respective functions and the combination would have yielded the predictable result of providing efficient use of waste heat to improve overall system efficiencies.
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure.
Sassanelli et al. (US Patent No. 12,331,690) discloses a similar integrated LNG production facility with renewable energy.
Tartibi et al. (US 20140053554) discloses a similar integrated LNG production facility with renewable energy.
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/DEVON MOORE/Examiner, Art Unit 3763 June 09th, 2026
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