Appeal No. 96-1188
Application No. 08/240,800
This is an appeal from the final rejection of claims 23-
44, all the claims remaining in the present application.
Claim 23 is illustrative:
23. A process for desulfurizing sulfur dioxide-
containing gas comprising the steps of:
a) absorbing sulfur dioxide gas into an aqueous
sulfide solution to remove said sulfur dioxide
from a stream of gas, said aqueous sulfide
solution being contained in a reactor,
b) absorbing additional sulfur dioxide gas into said
reactor to form hydrogen sulfide gas,
c) removing hydrogen sulfide gas from said reactor,
d) absorbing additional sulfur dioxide gas in said
reactor, after said removal of hydrogen sulfide
gas, to form bisulfite in said reactor, and
e) removing aqueous bisulfite-containing solution
from said reactor, with said hydrogen sulfide and
bisulfite being the principal products of steps
b) and d).
The examiner relies upon the following references as
evidence of obviousness:
Strong et al. (Strong) 3,784,630 Jan. 8, 1974
Miller 4,837,001 Jun. 6, 1989
Talonen et al. (Talonen) 4,937,057 Jun. 26, 1990
Brannland et al. (Canada '378) 948,378 Jun. 4, 1974
(Canadian patent)
Appellants' claimed invention is directed to a process
for desulfurizing sulfur dioxide-containing gas which entails
-2-
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