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 Objections
Claim 1 is objected to because of the following informalities: on line 13, of page 1, in claim 1, the recitation “dewaterd” appears to be a typo of “dewatered”. 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 2-7 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.
Regarding claims 2-7, in claim 2, the phrase "and components other than gases" renders the claim(s) indefinite because the claim(s) include(s) elements not actually disclosed (those encompassed by " components other than gases "), thereby rendering the scope of the claim(s) unascertainable. See MPEP § 2173.05(d). Applicant can amend this limitation to recite specifically what other portions are separated and recovered to overcome this rejection. No new matter should be added.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 102
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 the appropriate paragraphs of 35 U.S.C. 102 that form the basis for the rejections under this section made in this Office action:
A person shall be entitled to a patent unless –
(a)(1) the claimed invention was patented, described in a printed publication, or in public use, on sale, or otherwise available to the public before the effective filing date of the claimed invention.
Claim(s) 1 and 9-10 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Buttmann (WO 2017102814, with reference made to Espacenet Machine Translation of WO 2017102814 Obtained 16 July 2026).
Regarding claim 1, Buttmann teaches a sewage (organic waste) digestion and hydrothermal carbonization system (title, abstract), Buttmann teaches the system comprising: a storage tank configured to receive and store organic waste (settling tanks from wastewater treatment plants [0007,0040], further it is noted that storage tanks are inherent to linked processes such as a WWTP associated with the digester system of Buttmann and are necessary in order to buffer differences in operation between two processes such as these without necessarily being explicitly shown, which is apparent to PHOSITA); an anaerobic digester configured to digest organic waste from the storage tank, digest organic matter, and generate biogas (digester 8); a dewatering unit configured to primarily dewater organic waste discharged from the anaerobic digester (see dewatering machine 3); a hydrothermal carbonization device configured to receive and hydrothermally carbonize the dewatered organic waste (see HTC device 4); and a filter press configured to secondarily dewater the hydrothermally carbonized product discharged from the hydrothermal carbonization device (see second dewatering machine 6, preferably a filter press) (see Fig 1, [0035-0057]).
Regarding claim 9, Buttman as set forth above has taught the organic waste is sewage from wastewater treatment.
Regarding claims 10, Buttman further teaches nitrogen separating device 11 of the filtrate 10 (Fig 1, [0037]).
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.
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.
Claim(s) 8 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Buttmann (WO 2017102814, with reference made to Espacenet Machine Translation of WO 2017102814 Obtained 16 July 2026).
Regarding claim 8, Buttmann teaches all limitations as set forth above, including returning filtered water 17 back to digesters 8, while not explicitly teaching this is provided to the tank, storage tanks are inherent as set forth above, and returning the water to these tanks would be obvious to buffer operation of the systems with the expected result of still mixing the sewage with water for digestion 8 as taught by Buttmann.
Claim(s) 11 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Buttmann (WO 2017102814, with reference made to Espacenet Machine Translation of WO 2017102814 Obtained 16 July 2026) as set forth above and further in combination with Cho et al (US 2020/0079668).
Regarding claim 11, Buttmann teaches all limitations as set forth above, including partial nitrification and stripping in separation device 11 (Fig 1, [0037]), however Buttmann does not teach the AOB and annamox separation of nitrogen as claimed.
Cho teaches annamox reactor for water treatment (title, abstract), Cho teaches anammox reactor 100 may include a first chamber 10 configured to accommodate ammonium oxidizing bacteria (AOB) and annamox bacteria, a water feed pipe 11 through which raw water is supplied to the first chamber 10, a first controller 20 configured to measure a concentration of nitrogen compounds contained in the raw water supplied to the first chamber 10, and a second controller 30 configured to control a feed flow rate of the raw water flowing into the first chamber 10 such that a concentration of ammonium ions (NH.sub.4.sup.+) contained in the raw water stored in the first chamber 10 is maintained within a predetermined range, the technique achieves improving nitrogen removal efficiency in an annamox reaction process (Fig 1, 6, [0054-0069,0088-0094]).
Therefore it would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the invention to incorporate the AOB and Annamox treatment in plural tanks as taught by Cho into the system of Buttmann to further improve nitrogen removal efficiency as taught by Cho and therefore overall process effectiveness of Buttmann.
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 2-7 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.
The following is a statement of reasons for the indication of allowable subject matter: Considering claim 2 and its dependents, the prior art does not teach or fairly suggest the claimed organic waste reduction and biogas enhancement system combined with a hydrothermal carbonization device, the system comprising: a storage tank configured to receive and store organic waste; an anaerobic digester configured to digest organic waste from the storage tank, digest organic matter, and generate biogas; a dewatering unit configured to primarily dewater organic waste discharged from the anaerobic digester; a hydrothermal carbonization device configured to receive and hydrothermally carbonize the dewatered organic waste; and a filter press configured to secondarily dewater the hydrothermally carbonized product discharged from the hydrothermal carbonization device wherein the hydrothermal carbonization device comprises: a preheating tank configured to receive the organic waste discharged by the dewatering unit and to preheat the organic waste; a plurality of hydrothermal carbonization reactors each configured to receive the preheated organic waste from the preheating tank and to hydrothermally carbonize the preheated organic waste within a preset environment; a decompression tank configured to receive all of remaining products except some of gaseous components, among the hydrothermally carbonized products, from each hydrothermal carbonization reactor, separate a gaseous component and components other than gases, and discharge the gaseous component to the preheating tank and discharge remaining products; a steam-water separator configured to receive some of the gaseous component, among the hydrothermally carbonized products, from any one hydrothermal carbonization reactor, separate a gaseous component and a liquid component, and discharge the gaseous component to another hydrothermal carbonization reactor and the liquid component to the decompression tank; a heat exchanger configured to receive the hydrothermally carbonized product discharged from the decompression tank, cool the hydrothermally carbonized product at a preset temperature, and supply the hydrothermally carbonized product to the filter press; and a controller configured to control an operation of each of the components within the hydrothermal carbonization device.
Buttmann (WO 2017102814) is regarded as the closest relevant prior art, Buttmann teaches a sewage (organic waste) digestion and hydrothermal carbonization system (title, abstract), Buttmann teaches the system comprising: a storage tank configured to receive and store organic waste (settling tanks from wastewater treatment plants [0007,0040], further it is noted that storage tanks are inherent to linked processes such as a WWTP associated with the digester system of Buttmann and are necessary in order to buffer differences in operation between two processes such as these without necessarily being explicitly shown, which is apparent to PHOSITA); an anaerobic digester configured to digest organic waste from the storage tank, digest organic matter, and generate biogas (digester 8); a dewatering unit configured to primarily dewater organic waste discharged from the anaerobic digester (see dewatering machine 3); a hydrothermal carbonization device configured to receive and hydrothermally carbonize the dewatered organic waste (see HTC device 4); and a filter press configured to secondarily dewater the hydrothermally carbonized product discharged from the hydrothermal carbonization device (see second dewatering machine 6, preferably a filter press) (see Fig 1, [0035-0057]), however Buttmann does not teach the hydrothermal carbonization system comprising a plurality of hydrothermal carbonization reactors each configured to receive the preheated organic waste from the preheating tank and to hydrothermally carbonize the preheated organic waste within a preset environment; a decompression tank configured to receive all of remaining products except some of gaseous components, among the hydrothermally carbonized products, from each hydrothermal carbonization reactor, separate a gaseous component and components other than gases, and discharge the gaseous component to the preheating tank and discharge remaining products
Pertinent Art
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure. Fassbender (US 6,893,566) teaches sewage treatment. Heilmann (US 9,475,698) teaches sewage treatment. Troger (US 2016/0362649) teaches organic waste processing. Chauzy (US 2017/0327387) teaches thermal hydrolysis of sludge. Xu (US 2019/0263700) teaches hydrothermal waste processing. Coronella (US 2020/0055762) teaches organic waste processing. Josse (US 11m286m507) teaches organic waste processing.
Conclusion
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/JONATHAN MILLER/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 1772
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