Liquid purification or separation – Casing divided by membrane into sections having inlet – Each section having inlet
Reexamination Certificate
1999-09-28
2001-02-06
Kim, John (Department: 1723)
Liquid purification or separation
Casing divided by membrane into sections having inlet
Each section having inlet
C210S321790, C210S321880, C210S321890, C210S435000, C210S500230
Reexamination Certificate
active
06183639
ABSTRACT:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
The present invention relates to a membrane separation apparatus and, more specifically, relates to an improved filter module of the hollow fiber type, and a method of manufacturing such a module.
The membrane separation process is an operation that separates one or more components from a liquid comprising those components (and possibly other components) by the use of a membrane having a selective permeability to the liquid. Thus, depending on the permeability of the membrane, certain components can be filtered from the liquid while other components remain.
Despite many developments and improvements in hollow fiber filtration modules, the challenge to optimize the operability, efficiency, and durability of the modules continues. The hollow fibers of a conventional membrane separation apparatus are arranged tightly and uniformly around a hollow perforated pipe so that liquid is filtered through the hollow fibers and then collected and removed from the filter module by the hollow perforated pipe. Unfortunately, however, filtered liquid often does not flow efficiently from the individual fiber elements to the hollow tube, due to the dense packing of the fibers within a typical filter module. The impeded flow of the filtered liquid results in the filtered liquid flowing at a reduced rate of speed and, accordingly, increases the pressure differential required to operate the filter module at a given volume.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
Briefly stated, the present invention is directed to a filter module for filtering raw liquid that includes an outer housing having a longitudinal axis and raw liquid inlet and outlet ends. A hollow tube is located generally along the longitudinal axis of the outer housing and has a plurality of perforations for guiding filtered liquid from the module. A non-porous member is attached to each end of the outer housing to form a seal between the hollow tube and the outer housing. A plurality of hollow fiber filter elements are arranged in an annular space that is formed between the hollow tube and the outer housing, the plurality of fibers are secured by and penetrate through the non-porous member at each end to form channels for the raw liquid through the module. The plurality of hollow fiber filter elements are adapted to filter raw liquid by selectively passing liquid through their circumferential walls. A plurality of fins are disposed among the hollow fiber filter elements to separate the elements into a plurality of bundles. The fins extend radially outward from the hollow tube toward the outer housing. Each of the fins has a plurality of spaces abutting the hollow tube to form liquid pathways between each of the respective fins and the hollow tube.
The present invention is also directed to a method of manufacturing a filter module of the type in which a plurality of hollow fibers are arranged in a plurality of bundles that are secured in an outer housing for filtering raw liquid through a circumferential surface of the plurality of fibers and an interior hollow perforated tube is provided for guiding filtered liquid out of the module. According to the manufacturing method, the lateral spacing of the fibers in the bundles is increased by: securing a first end of a fiber bundle having a longitudinal axis; securing a second end of the bundle; rotating the second end of the bundle in a first direction about the longitudinal axis to twist the bundle and stretch the fibers; sliding a plurality of sleeve segments over the twisted bundle to fix the position of portions of the fibers at predetermined points along the length of the bundle; rotating the second end of the bundle in a second direction, opposite in direction to the first direction, to generate a plurality of outward bows of the fibers from the longitudinal axis of the bundle, thus creating spaces between the fibers in the bundle; and installing the bundle within the outer housing.
The present invention is also directed to a filter module for filtering raw liquid which includes an outer housing having a longitudinal axis and raw inlet and outlet ends. A hollow tube is located generally along the longitudinal axis of the outer housing and has a plurality of perforations for guiding filtered liquid from the module. A non-porous member is attached to each end of the outer housing to form a seal between the hollow tube and the outer housing. A plurality of hollow fiber filter elements are arranged in an annular space formed between the hollow tube and the outer housing. The plurality of fibers are secured by and penetrate through the nonporous members to form channels for the raw liquid through the module. The plurality of hollow fiber filter elements are adapted to filter raw liquid by selectively passing raw liquid through their circumferential walls. A plurality of fins are disposed among the hollow fiber filter elements to separate the elements into the plurality of bundles. A first plurality of nettings each enclose a separate one of the plurality of bundles and a second plurality of nettings are each positioned over one of the first plurality of nettings and have a coarser texture than the first plurality of nettings.
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Akin Gump Strauss Hauer & Feld L.L.P.
Hydranautics
Kim John
LandOfFree
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