Appeal No. 1998-0387
Application 08/566,192
that the first recited element is a “vertically arranged wet
scrubber housing having an inlet at a bottom end . . . and an
outlet at an opposite top end . . .” We consider that Berman
meets these limitations. There is an inlet 25 at the bottom
of the housing, which consists of successive sections
containing spray chamber 12, heat exchanger 14 and region 16,
and an outlet 34 at the top of the housing. As for the
requirement that the housing be “vertically arranged,”
Berman’s housing meets that requirement when the term
“vertically arranged” is given its broadest reasonable
interpretation, because each succeeding section of Berman’s
housing is at a higher elevation than its predecessor.
The other limitation in claim 1 relating to the vertical
arrangement of components is in lines 14 to 17, where it is
recited that the array of tubular condensing heat exchangers
is positioned “above” the spray means. However, the use of
the term “above” does not distinguish over Berman’s apparatus,
in which the heat exchanger portion of the housing is offset
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