Appeal No. 2004-1644
Application No. 10/071,341
(CCPA 1972). We recognized that the process of Allender did not include
a hydrogenation step for some of the product produced during
dehydrogenation. (Decision, p. 4). However, persons of ordinary skill in the
art would have recognized that diolefin byproducts (dienes) are present in
the product resulting from dehydrogenation of hydrocarbon streams. (See
Vora, col. 1). As stated on page 4 of our decision, Vora describes a
process for hydrogenating some of the product produced during
dehydrogenation. Vora discloses that the selective hydrogenation of the
diolefin hydrocarbon product of dehydrogenation converts a substantial
amount of diolefinic hydrocarbon to monoolefinic hydrocarbon, which is
the desired product of the dehydrogenation unit, i.e., increased quality of
the monoolefin product. (See Vora, Col. 5). Thus, a person of ordinary skill
in the art would have found it obvious to incorporate a hydrogenation
process for the product from a dehydrogenation unit, such as described in
Allender, in order reduce the undesirable diolefin byproducts resulting from
the dehydrogenation zone and increase the monoolefinic hydrocarbon,
which is the desired product of the dehydrogenation unit.
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