JP3299323B2 - Hollow fiber membrane module and method of manufacturing the same - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a hollow fiber membrane module used for, for example, a household water purifier or an industrial or medical filtration device, and a method for producing the same.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventional hollow fiber membrane modules of this type include, for example, the following. A number of ceramic hollow fiber membranes serving as hollow fiber membranes are bundled, and a sealing material is sealed and fixed by filling a gap between the hollow fiber membranes with a sealing material at the end of the bundled ceramic hollow fiber membranes. There is a membrane module.

[0003] When sealing between ceramic hollow fiber membranes in the above method for manufacturing a ceramic hollow fiber membrane module, an epoxy adhesive or a urethane adhesive is conventionally used as a sealing material. By pouring the melted adhesive into the end of the ceramic hollow fiber membrane bundle, the gap between the ceramic hollow fiber membranes is filled and sealed and fixed.

However, since these adhesives as sealing materials do not have chemical resistance, a ceramic hollow fiber membrane module utilizing chemical resistance, which is one of the characteristics of ceramic hollow fiber membranes, cannot be obtained at present. It is.

[0005] Therefore, in order to make the sealing and fixing portion sealed and fixed by the sealing material of the ceramic hollow fiber membrane module excellent in chemical resistance, a resin excellent in chemical resistance is used for the sealing material. Was. The resin used is a fluorine-based resin (PT
FE, PFA, FEP, etc.), polyethylene, polypropylene, etc., which are determined by the solvent to be separated.

[0006]

However, when the sealing viscosity between the ceramic hollow fiber membranes is low, when the melt viscosity of the resin as the sealing material is low, the sealing is performed at the end of the ceramic hollow fiber membrane bundle as described above. Just by pouring the melted resin, it wraps around the gap between the ceramic hollow fiber membranes and is securely sealed and fixed.However, the above-mentioned chemical resistant resin, for example, a fluororesin, has a relatively high melt viscosity. There is a problem in that a wraparound defect into the gap between the ceramic hollow fiber membranes occurs and it is not possible to reliably seal and fix.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention has been made to solve the above-mentioned problems of the prior art, and an object of the present invention is to prevent a defect of sneaking into a gap between hollow fiber membranes regardless of the material of a sealing material. It is another object of the present invention to provide a hollow fiber membrane module capable of securely sealing and fixing between hollow fiber membranes and a method for manufacturing the same.

[0008]

In order to achieve the above object, according to the present invention, a bundle of a large number of hollow fiber membranes is sealed with a sealing material interposed between the hollow fiber membranes. in the fixed hollow fiber membrane module, wherein the encapsulant Ri tubular der to be inserted into the hollow fiber membranes, each being pressurized heated after insertion
It is characterized in that the space between the hollow fiber membranes is sealed .

In the manufacturing method, a large number of hollow fiber membranes are bundled, a sealing material is interposed in a gap between the bundled hollow fiber membranes, and the hollow fiber membranes are sealed with the sealing material. In the method for manufacturing a hollow fiber membrane module to be fixed, the sealing material is formed into a tubular shape to be inserted into each hollow fiber membrane, and the tubular sealing material is inserted into each hollow fiber membrane, and the tubular sealing material is formed. And pressurized and heated in the sealing and fixing portion into which the hollow fiber membranes are inserted to seal and fix between the hollow fiber membranes.

[0010]

According to the hollow fiber membrane module and the manufacturing method of the above construction, the sealing material is formed in a tubular shape, and the tubular sealing material is inserted into each hollow fiber membrane. Since the sealing material is interposed in the gap of and the pressure is heated in that state to seal and fix between the hollow fiber membranes,
Whatever the material of the sealing material, there is no occurrence of poor running into the gap between the hollow fiber membranes.

[0011]

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS The present invention will be described below with reference to the illustrated embodiments. FIG. 1 shows a pre-potting treatment step for sealing and fixing in a method of manufacturing a hollow fiber membrane module according to one embodiment of the present invention, and FIG. 2 shows a potting jig. FIG. 3 shows a hollow fiber membrane module according to one embodiment of the present invention.

First, a hollow fiber membrane module according to one embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to FIG. This hollow fiber membrane module 1 includes a ceramic hollow fiber membrane 2 as a hollow fiber membrane.
And a resin tube 4 as a tubular sealing material inserted into each ceramic hollow fiber membrane 2 at both ends of the ceramic hollow fiber membrane bundle 3. And a potting part 5 as a sealing fixing part which is sealed and fixed by heating.

Next, as a method of manufacturing a hollow fiber membrane module according to one embodiment of the present invention, a method of manufacturing the hollow fiber membrane module 1 having the above-described configuration will be described.

First, a pre-potting treatment step is performed for potting for sealing and fixing between the ceramic hollow fiber membranes 2 of the ceramic hollow fiber membrane bundle 3. In this potting pretreatment step, as shown in FIG. 1, a resin tube 4 is inserted into each ceramic hollow fiber membrane 2 to an arbitrary height and bundled by a predetermined number.

Next, the ceramic hollow fiber membrane bundle 3 is mounted on a potting jig 6 shown in FIG. The potting jig 6 is disposed in a hollow housing 7 and a hollow interior 8 of the housing 7, and the ceramic hollow fiber membrane bundle 3 is provided.
And a spring 10 for pressing the pressing portion 9 to the potting portion 5 side.

The housing 7 has a rectangular shape when viewed from above, and its hollow interior 8 has a pressing portion hole 81 in which a pressing portion 9 and a spring 10 are disposed, and a potting portion 5 of the ceramic hollow fiber membrane bundle 3. And a potting portion hole 82 into which a hole is inserted. The pressing portion hole 81 has a rectangular shape when viewed from above, and the potting portion hole 82 is formed continuously with the pressing portion hole 81 and has an arc shape when viewed from above.

The pressing portion 9 is substantially T-shaped when viewed from above, and is inserted into the potting portion hole 82. The distal end of the insertion portion 91 has an arc shape, and is configured to be substantially circular when viewed from above by the distal end of the insertion portion 91 and the potting portion hole 82.

A spring 10 is mounted on the pressing section 9 on the side opposite to the insertion section 91. The spring 10 has a pressing portion hole 81.
Are provided at a predetermined interval in the short side direction of the pressurizing unit 9, one end of which is in contact with the end surface of the pressing unit 9, and the other end of which is in contact with the end surface of the pressing unit hole 81, and the pressing unit 9 is potted. The pressure is applied to the side of the hole 82 by the pressing portion 9 from the side of the potting portion 5 of the ceramic hollow fiber membrane bundle 3.

Then, the potting portion 5 of the ceramic hollow fiber membrane bundle 3 is mounted in the potting portion hole 82 of the potting jig 6, and the pressing portion 9 presses the potting portion 5 at a predetermined temperature (resin tube). (Melting point of resin No. 4) and potting between the ceramic hollow fiber membranes 2.

As described above, since the potting portion 5 is heated by pressing with the potting jig 6 and potting is performed between the ceramic hollow fiber membranes 2, no air bubbles remain in the portion of the potting portion 5.

Further, in the above-described potting method, since the resin tube 4 is interposed between the ceramic hollow fiber membranes 2 in advance, the resin tube 4 of any material can be formed between the ceramic hollow fiber membranes 2. Pouring of the resin does not occur and potting is ensured.

Then, the above-mentioned potting operation is performed on both ends of the ceramic hollow fiber membrane bundle 3 to complete the ceramic hollow fiber membrane module 1 shown in FIG.

Then, the ceramic hollow fiber membrane module 1 is welded to an outer cylinder (material may be a chemical-resistant material) as necessary, or sealed using a sealing material (Teflon packing or the like). A chemical resistant module is obtained.

Hereinafter, specific examples of the method for producing the hollow fiber membrane module will be described.

An FE as a resin tube 4 is attached to one end of the ceramic hollow fiber membrane 2 (outside diameter 2 mm, length 300 mm).
A tube of P (inner diameter 2.2 mm, length 30 mm) was inserted. Sixty ceramic hollow fiber membranes 2 were bundled and mounted on a potting jig 6. Next, the potting jig 6 is heated to 270 to 330 ° C., preferably 280 ° C.
Hold for 60 min, preferably 20 min, then cool to room temperature. Take this out of potting jig 6,
The other end is similarly potted. The thus obtained ceramic hollow fiber membrane module 1 was fixed to an outer cylinder of PTFE with an O-ring (PTFE) to obtain a chemical resistant module.

In the above embodiment, an example using a ceramic hollow fiber membrane as the hollow fiber membrane has been described.
Of course, it is not limited to ceramics, but may be resin or the like. However, in this case, the melting point of the sealing material must be lower than the material of the hollow fiber membrane.

Further, in the above embodiment, the type in which both ends of the hollow fiber membrane bundle are sealed and fixed has been described as an example. However, the present invention can be similarly applied to a hollow fiber membrane module in which one side is sealed and fixed.

[0028]

The present invention has the above-described structure and operation. Since the sealing material is formed into a tube and the tube-shaped sealing material is inserted into each hollow fiber membrane, each hollow fiber is formed. Since the sealing material is interposed in the gap between the membranes and pressurized and heated in that state to seal and fix each hollow fiber membrane,
The sealing material of any material does not cause the wraparound failure between the hollow fiber membranes.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a schematic view showing a pre-potting treatment step of a method for manufacturing a hollow fiber membrane module according to one embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a top view of a potting jig.

FIG. 3 is a plan view of a hollow fiber membrane module according to one embodiment of the present invention.

[Explanation of symbols]

 DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Hollow fiber membrane module 2 Ceramic hollow fiber membrane (hollow fiber membrane) 3 Ceramic hollow fiber membrane bundle 4 Resin tube (tubular sealing material) 5 Potting part (sealing fixing part) 6 Potting jig 7 Housing 8 Hollow interior 81 Pressing portion hole 82 Potting portion hole 9 Pressing portion 91 Insertion portion 10 Spring

Claims (2)

(57) [Claims] 1. A hollow fiber membrane module in which a bundle of a large number of hollow fiber membranes is sealed and fixed with a sealing material interposed between gaps between the hollow fiber membranes, wherein the sealing material is attached to each hollow fiber membrane. The shape of the tube to be inserted
The hollow fiber membrane module is characterized in that the hollow fiber membrane module is pressurized and heated after insertion to seal between the hollow fiber membranes. 2. A hollow fiber membrane for bundling a number of hollow fiber membranes, interposing a sealing material in a gap between the bundled hollow fiber membranes, and sealingly fixing the hollow fiber membranes with the sealing material. In the method for manufacturing a module, the sealing material is formed in a tubular shape to be inserted into each hollow fiber membrane,
Inserting the tube-shaped sealing material into each hollow fiber membrane, and heating and pressurizing the sealing and fixing portion in which the tubular sealing material is inserted to seal and fix between the hollow fiber membranes. A method for producing a hollow fiber membrane module, comprising: