JP2740860B2 - Hollow fiber bundle alignment device - Google Patents

Description

Description: BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION The present invention relates to a sizing device used for adjusting the turbulence of a hollow fiber bundle composed of a large number of selectively permeable hollow fiber membranes made of various polymers. .

(Prior art and problems to be solved by the invention) Hollow fiber membranes having a selective permeation function are used for solution separation and gas separation by ultrafiltration, reverse osmosis, etc., and are used in medical, electronic, food, and other industries. Used in various industries.

In the production of such a hollow fiber membrane, dry-wet or wet spinning is generally performed, and starting with the discharge of the raw material dope from the nozzle, water washing and wet membrane in which coagulation to form the membrane and washing of residual solvent and the like are performed. In addition to drying into a dry film, a production method that goes through a series of processes such as immersion in a humectant solution to maintain the performance as a selectively permeable hollow fiber membrane even after drying is adopted. At this time, a case where one hollow fiber is spun in one independent line and a case where many hollow fibers are spun simultaneously in the same line can be considered. Obviously, in order to obtain a large amount of hollow fibers by the former production method, a multi-line is necessary. Considering the cost in terms of equipment, the latter method of spinning a large number of fibers at the same time is advantageous. However, conversely, when a large number of hollow fibers are simultaneously fed to the same line, a problem that cannot occur when spinning one by one occurs. Part 1
Distortion of the yarn bundle due to twisting, sagging, entanglement, etc. of the manufactured hollow fiber bundle is mentioned.

That is, when a plurality of hollow fibers are simultaneously spun, in order to flow many hollow fibers from one process to the next process, equipment such as a roll is naturally required between those processes. And the transverse force is applied to each of a number of hollow fibers flowing through the line, except in special cases where the axes of all the rolls are horizontal and perpendicular to the direction of travel of the hollow fibers. Will be added. Due to this lateral force, it is extremely difficult for many hollow fibers to move on the same plane, and each of them flows in a twisted state with each other, or hollow fibers that are extremely slack with respect to other yarns appear. Results.

Yarn twisting is a phenomenon that occurs when one or more yarns ride on another yarn as a result of a lateral force being applied to a hollow yarn on a roll. The running distance of each thread changes subtly by
It is considered that the slack and twist twisted and dispersed in the length direction of the hollow fiber that was forcibly pulled are concentrated in one place, and the slack becomes large during traveling in the air or liquid. In this way, a large number of hollow fibers do not flow in an orderly line,
There is a very large problem that the fiber is spun in a disordered state and remains after a series of steps.

Further, when the hollow fiber is wound by a circular bobbin, the yarn may be disturbed. In other words, when a circular bobbin is wound, the circumference of the hollow fiber changes in the process of winding and thickening on the bobbin, and hollow fibers of essentially different lengths constitute a bundle, and the yarn bundle wound on the bobbin is Naturally, after the bundle is cut to a predetermined length, it has a certain degree of curvature, and if this is forcibly stretched, the curvature will appear as a disorder of the yarn. The disturbance of the yarn bundle causes a problem that the number of filled hollow fibers during assembly of the hollow fiber membrane module is reduced.

Conventionally, in order to eliminate the above-described disturbance of the yarn bundle, it is necessary to perform an operation of extracting a turbulent yarn existing inside or on the surface of the bundle after the bundle is taken. However, this operation is extremely complicated and requires There is also a drawback in that, when extracting the existing turbulent yarn, other yarns are damaged, and as a result of extracting a large number of turbulent yarns, the number of hollow fibers in the yarn bundle is reduced. Furthermore, no substantial improvement can be expected with this method, and it is virtually impossible to completely eliminate the irregularity of the yarn bundle.

(Means for Solving the Problems) The present inventors have solved a problem described above, and have provided a sizing device that can perform sizing more effectively than the conventional one without the operation of extracting a turbulent yarn. As a result of various studies, the present invention has been achieved.

That is, the present invention provides a yarn bundle fixing portion capable of holding and suspending an upper end portion of a selectively permeable hollow fiber bundle, a bundle regulating liquid tank, and a discharge port provided directly above the upper end portion of the hollow fiber bundle. A pump for supplying a sizing solution from the sizing solution tank, a filter between the pump and the discharge port, and a unit for collecting the sizing solution directly below the hollow fiber bundle. It is an object of the present invention to provide a hollow fiber bundle bundling device characterized in that a bundled liquid can be circulated and used.

Hereinafter, the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the drawings. First, the bundle of hollow fibers 1 to be bundled is hung by a clamp 2 for hanging a bundle of yarns, and fixed between the bundled liquid discharge port 8 and the funnel 3. At this time, it is important that the upper end of the hollow fiber bundle 1 is held and bound by the clamp 2 while the other parts of the yarn bundle are not bound. Next, by driving the liquid feed pump 5, the tied liquid in the tied liquid tank 4 is discharged from the tied liquid discharge port 8 through the filter 7, and the supply amount of the tied liquid at this time is adjusted. It is adjusted by a flow control valve 6 provided on the return line to the liquid tank. The sizing liquid discharged from the discharge port 8 falls to the upper end of the hollow fiber bundle 1 held by the clamp 2 and travels along the surface of the fiber bundle or the gap between the hollow fibers constituting the fiber bundle, and the like. At this time, the yarn bundles are aligned.

The sizing principle is that the contact between the hollow fiber bundle and the liquid greatly reduces the sliding friction coefficient acting between the hollow fibers, and the flow resistance when the liquid flows relatively to the hollow fibers. The point where the tension is generated in the yarn is the point.Since one end of the hollow fiber is fixed, the hollow fiber receiving this tension is linearly extended in the flow direction of the liquid. Is what is done.

On the other hand, what matters here is the amount of the sizing liquid supplied to the hollow fiber bundle 1 from the sizing liquid discharge port 8. It is expected that a larger amount of sizing liquid will be required for a yarn bundle having a larger bundle diameter. The value divided by the cross-sectional area of bundle 1;
In other words, good results can be obtained if the average linear velocity of the sizing liquid flowing on the surface and inside of the yarn bundle is 3 m / min or more, more preferably 5 m / min or more, whereas the average linear velocity is 3 m / min. min.
It has been found that a sufficient sizing effect cannot be exerted when the temperature is not reached. This is considered to be because the sliding frictional resistance acting between the hollow fibers cannot be sufficiently reduced with the amount of the sizing liquid that does not reach the average linear velocity of 3 m / min.

In addition, the sizing solution that has passed down the hollow fiber bundle 1 and has further flowed down from the yarn bundle is collected by the funnel 3 and then flows into the sizing solution tank 4 to be circulated.

(Examples) Hereinafter, the present invention will be described more specifically with reference to examples, but the present invention is not limited to these examples.

Example 1 Selectively permeable hollow fiber membrane 21 having an inner diameter of 1200 μm and an outer diameter of 2000 μm
Tightening was performed using a bundle of 100 yarns having a length of about 130 cm and a bundle diameter of about 11 cm. This bundle of yarns has not been subjected to any bundling work after being bundled, and in appearance, most of the hollow fibers are straight, whereas about 5% of the yarns are included in a bent state. I was Using this yarn bundle, the apparatus shown in FIG. 1 holds only the upper end of the yarn bundle with a clamp as shown in FIG. Is supplied to the upper end of the yarn bundle at a rate of 90 / min., And a regular columnar yarn bundle in which each hollow fiber extends straight is obtained.
No upset yarn was observed at all.

Example 2 Permselective hollow fiber membrane 4000 having an inner diameter of 210 μm and an outer diameter of 350 μm
The yarn was bundled using a yarn bundle having a length of about 130 cm and a bundle diameter of about 2.6 cm. The yarn bundle had not been subjected to any bundling work after being bundled, and the entire yarn bundle had a wavy curve.

In the same manner as in Example 1, the upper end of the yarn bundle is bound and fixed with a clamp, hung below the sizing liquid discharge port, and the sizing liquid is 9 / mi.
When the yarn was fed to the upper end of the yarn bundle in n., a straight cylindrical yarn bundle in which each hollow fiber stretched straight was obtained, and no turbulent yarn was observed at all.

(Effects of the Invention) The hollow fiber bundle bundled by the apparatus of the present invention has an extremely good appearance, and the apparatus of the present invention has a problem in that the hollow fiber bundle is damaged or a shortage of fibers is caused by the conventional bundle operation. The present invention also solves the problem, and therefore the present invention greatly contributes to the development of the industry in the field of hollow fiber membranes.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a schematic configuration diagram showing an embodiment of the present invention, and FIG. 2 is a schematic diagram of a hollow fiber bundle fixed to a clamp. 1… hollow fiber bundle, 2… clamp for hanging bundle, 3… funnel, 4… bundled liquid tank, 5… liquid feed pump, 6… flow control valve, 7… filter, 8… … Bundling liquid discharge port

Claims (1)

(57) [Claims] 1. A bundle fixing portion capable of holding and suspending an upper end portion of a selectively permeable hollow fiber bundle, a bundle regulating liquid tank,
A pump for supplying a sizing liquid from the sizing liquid tank to a discharge port provided directly above the upper end of the hollow fiber bundle, a filter between the pump and the discharge port, and directly below the hollow fiber bundle And a means for collecting the sizing liquid, whereby the sizing liquid can be circulated and used.