Appeal No. 95-3500
Application No. 08/065,438
The claims on appeal relate to a method for preparing an
oxygen-enriched gas stream using a gas turbine system.
Appellants acknowledge on page 8 of their brief that the
claims stand or fall together for the purposes of this appeal.
Accordingly, we will limit our consideration to representative
claim 1 which reads as follows:
1. A method for preparing a gas stream containing
nitrogen which contains greater than 21 mole % oxygen using a
gas turbine comprising an air compressor unit and an energy
production unit comprising a combustor unit and a first
expander mechanically linked to the air compression unit by a
shaft carrying a thrust bearing, comprising the steps of:
(a) compressing air in a compressor unit of a gas
turbine;
(b) contacting at least a portion of such compressed air
with a means which is preferential for the separation of O2
from said compressed air to produce one gas stream which is
enriched in O relative to nitrogen and a second gas stream
2
which is depleted in O relative to nitrogen;
2
(c) passing said oxygen depleted gas stream to the
combustor unit of said turbine;
(d) recovering said O enriched gas stream in an amount
2
which exceeds the capacity of the thrust bearing; and
(e) maintaining a mass flow within the energy production
unit in an amount which is within the capacity of the thrust
bearing by adding a non-combustible fluid to said energy
production unit.
All of the claims on appeal stand solely rejected under
2
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