CA2030303A1 - Hollow fiber bundle element - Google Patents

Abstract

A hollow fiber bundle element is provided comprising a bundle of microporous hollow fibers disposed in a cylindrical impermeable casing. with respect to each fiber, its wall is selected to provide a permeability in the microfiltration range (0.05 to 5 micrometers). The bundle forms two longitudinal passageways, being the lumina of the fibers and the other being the void space between the fibers. A first of these passageways is densely and uniformly packed with minute solid particles. No binder is used to fix the particles - they maintain their distribution in the passageway as a result of having been densely packed under pressure. The ends of the first passageway are sealed and the fiber wall pores are smaller than the particles, whereby the particles are immobilized therein. The hollow fiber module packed with minute adsorbent particles in the first passageway provides an adsorber. A fluid mixture comprising a carrier and an adsorbate is introduced into the second passageway. The adsorbate diffuses through the fiber walls and is collected by the adsorbent particles. By way of result, the particles used in this adsorber can be of much smaller size than those used in a conventional fixed bed column. The use of small adsorbent particles enhances adsorption rate, and availability of a separate longitudinal flow passageway reduces pressure drop across the adsorber. Alternatively, the hollow fiber module may be packed with minute catalyst particles to provide an effective catalytic reactor with improved mass transfer between the catalyst particles in the first passageway and surrounding fluid containing the reactants, in the second passageway.