Appeal No. 1998-3179
Application No. 08/718,696
P1 q(P2)
C =
P2 q(P1)
where q(P1) denotes the quantity of nitrogen adsorbed at
pressure P1 and
q(P2) that adsorbed at pressure P2, and
the pressures P1 and P2 are defined respectively from the high
and low pressures of the PSA cycle in question,
C being at least equal to 2.9.
In the rejection of the appealed claims, the examiner relies
upon the following references:
Coe et al. (Coe) 5,152,813 Oct. 6, 1992
Chao et al. (Chao) 5,413,625 May 9, 1995
Appellants' claimed invention is directed to a process for
separating nitrogen from a gas mixture, such as air, utilizing a PSA
process conducted at a temperature greater than 50°C. The process
makes use of a zeolite adsorbent which conforms to the parameter C,
as defined in claim 1. According to appellants, they have
surprisingly found that:
[S]ome zeolites which cannot be utilized on an industrial
scale for separating air and nitrogen in the usual
temperature conditions employed in the pressure swing
adsorption processes, namely a temperature lower
than or equal to the ambient temperature, can be
advantageously employed, providing that the pressure
swing adsorption process is used at a temperature
preferably greater than 50°C [sentence bridging pages 2
and 3 of Brief].
-2-
Page: Previous 1 2 3 4 5 Next
Last modified: November 3, 2007