JPH01151906A - Production of hollow yarn membrane module cartridge - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To obtain a membrane module in which the aperture ends of hollow yarn are formed in a cutting plane by containing a collected hollow yarn bundle into the hollow part of a tubular structural body and fixing it with a potting material and thereafter cutting it. CONSTITUTION:A collected hollow yarn bundle is contained into the hollow part of a tubular structural body and the hollow yarn is liquidtightly fixed to the inner face of the tubular structural body by a potting material. Then at least one end face of the potting material part is cut to form the aperture end of hollow yarn in the cutting plane. The tubular structural body incorporated at least one or more kinds of material selected from among an adsorbent, an absorbent, a reactive medicinal agent and a filter medium. Further, as the tubular structural body, when a columnar body having the hollow part capable of containing the porous hollow yarn bundle in the central part is used, any shape may by used. As the potting material used in the potting material part, polyurethane or epoxy is preferably used.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION [Field of Industrial Application] The present invention relates to a method for manufacturing a hollow fiber membrane module cartridge that is easy to replace and store and is used for various treatments such as purifying, absorbing, and separating liquids or gases.

[Conventional technology and its problems]

Recent developments in hollow fiber membranes have been remarkable, and their applications range from the chemical industry, food industry, pharmaceutical industry, fermentation industry, cosmetics manufacturing industry, semiconductor manufacturing industry, medical field, nuclear power generation, seawater desalination, and wastewater treatment. Products with various performances are used in many fields, including water purifiers for general households.

Hollow fiber membranes are generally modularized by bundling hollow fibers or converging them into a U-shape. Therefore, it has the characteristics that the membrane area can be larger than that of a flat membrane, and the module or device can be made smaller.

Conventionally, for example, in manufacturing a hollow fiber membrane module in which a bundle of hollow fiber membranes is bundled and fixed, first, the hollow fiber membranes that have been cut to a predetermined length and bundled are placed in the housing of the module, and then this is It is common to manufacture the potting material through a process of temporarily fixing it and cutting the end face of the potting material. In modules manufactured by this method, the housing made of synthetic resin or metal has only the role of regulating the flow of the material to be treated and the role of the housing's original structure. These modules are generally useful only for performing specific treatments on specific fluids.

Therefore, in order to provide a module with a combination of functions such as adsorption, absorption, drug reaction, filtration (pre-filtration, post-filtration), etc. A hollow fiber membrane module cartridge has been proposed in which a porous hollow fiber bundle is housed in the hollow part of a tubular structure made of the above-mentioned material. of,
If the housing is housed in the hollow part of the tubular structure, not only will the housing become useless, but the flow of fluid will be restricted, resulting in low processing efficiency and impractical.

[Means for solving problems]

The present invention relates to a method for manufacturing a hollow fiber membrane module cartridge used for various treatments of liquids or gases, in which a bundle of porous hollow fibers is disposed within a hollow portion of a tubular structure made of various materials.

Particularly, the present invention provides a tubular structure made of a structural material containing at least one of an adsorbent, an absorbent, a reactive agent, and a filtration material, both end surfaces of which are sealed with a sealing material. A method for manufacturing a hollow fiber membrane module cartridge in which a bundle of porous hollow fibers is housed in a hollow portion, and a porous hollow fiber bundle is fluid-tightly fixed with a potting material while at least one of the open ends is kept open. , After storing the bundled hollow fiber bundle in the hollow part of the tubular structure and fixing the hollow fiber bundle fluidly to the inner surface of the tubular structure using a potting material, at least one end surface of the potting material part is cut, and the cut surface is The present invention relates to a method for manufacturing a hollow fiber membrane module cartridge characterized by forming open ends of hollow fibers.

The tubular structure is made of a structural material containing at least one of an adsorbent, an absorbent, a reactive agent, and a filtration material. In addition to the above-mentioned various materials, the structural material may also contain an adsorption filter material, an ion exchanger, a desiccant, a flocculant, a neutralizing agent, an oxidizing agent, and the like.

The properties of the structural material are not particularly limited, and may be in the form of powder, granules, granules, flakes, fibers, strings, cotton, fibrils, coils, nets, etc.

Adsorbents include activated carbon, coal, carbonaceous adsorbents such as coke, silica, alumina, activated alumina, activated clay,
Silica-alumina adsorbents made of zeolite, etc., adsorbents made of inorganic fine particles containing metal oxides, hydroxides, or their salts such as magnesium, lead, iron, cobalt, nickel, copper, etc., polystyrene, (meth)acrylic acid methyl,
(meth)acrylic acid ester polymers such as (meth)ethyl acrylate and butyl (meth)acrylate, polyvinyl acetate, polyvinyl chloride, polyvinylidene chloride, polyacrylonitrile, polyurethane, polyethylene terephthalate, aromatic polyamide, polysulfone, Adsorbents made of polymeric materials such as polyethersulfone, polycarbonate, ethylene-propylene copolymer, polybutadiene, and polyisoprene, and natural products such as asbestos, clickil, kaolinite, feldspar powder, diatomaceous earth, titanium oxide, and peat. Examples include adsorbents such as

Examples of the absorbent include calcium chloride, calcium carbonate, and silica.

Reactive agents include ion exchangers such as cation exchange resins and anion exchange resins, and silver ion generating agents such as polyaluminum chloride, sodium bicarbonate, sodium thiosulfate, silver chloride, silver bromide, and silver iodide. Examples include disinfectants containing silver salts.

Examples of the filtration material include a filtration material made of tightly wound fibers, a filtration material made of a nonwoven fabric, a filter paper, a porous flat membrane, and the like.

The tubular structure of the present invention may be a columnar body having a hollow part in the center that can accommodate a porous hollow fiber bundle, and the cross section may be any shape such as circular, elliptical, triangular, quadrangular, or polygonal. Alternatively, the tubular structure may be entirely composed of the same material, or may be composed of a plurality of materials laminated in the radial direction in order to provide multi-functions to the hollow fiber membrane module cartridge. Good too.

Of course, the tubular structure may be composed only of structural material, but if a material with low shape self-retention is used as the structural material, or if strength is required for the hollow fiber membrane module cartridge depending on the application, Alternatively, the inner cylindrical surface, outer cylindrical surface, or both inner and outer surfaces of the tubular structure may be protected and supported by a material such as nonwoven fabric, mesh metal, porous or mesh ceramic.

Both end surfaces of the tubular structure are liquid-tightly and airtightly sealed with a sealing material.

To seal the end face, the end of the hollow fiber bundle housed in the hollow part of the tubular front structure is immersed in a potting mold filled with a potting material, and the hollow fiber bundle is sealed fluidly into the tubular structure by the potting material. During potting molding to be fixed to the inner surface of the tubular structure, the end surface of the tubular structure may be simultaneously sealed with the same potting material, or depending on the material of the potting mold, a part of the mold itself may be used to seal the end surface of the tubular structure. Sealing may be achieved by creating a structure that functions as a sealing material.Furthermore, it may be carried out by directly applying an adhesive such as epoxy, urethane, or silicone, or by directly applying an adhesive such as rubber or resin. Molded products made of metal or the like may be bonded with the above-mentioned adhesive.If the material used for sealing and the structural agent can be fused, sealing may be performed by fusion bonding.

Porous hollow fiber membranes constituting the porous hollow fiber bundle include hydrophilic porous hollow fiber membranes made of hydrophilic resins such as cellulose resins and polyvinyl alcohol, polyolefin resins, fluorocarbon resins, polyester resins, and polyamides. Hydrophobic porous hollow fiber membranes made of hydrophobic resins, such as hydrophobic resins, and these hydrophobic porous hollow fiber membranes treated to make them hydrophilic with surfactants, grafted with hydrophilic monomers, or coated with hydrophilic polymers. Examples include those that have been treated to make them hydrophilic. In addition, in the present invention, ceramic membranes and non-porous hollow fiber membranes made of polysulfone resins, polyethersulfone resins, polyimide resins, polyamide resins, cellulose resins, etc. can also be used.

The potting material used in the potting material portion is not particularly limited, but it is preferable to use polyurethane-based or epoxy-based resin.

The hollow fiber membrane module cartridge of the present invention can be used in a variety of ways depending on the structure of the tubular structure, the type of structural material constituting it, the type of porous hollow fiber membrane constituting the porous hollow fiber bundle, its properties, and combinations thereof. Can be used for processing various types of liquids and gases. For example, treatment of industrial wastewater from oil refineries, paint factories, metalwork factories, degreasing and cleaning factories, treatment of wastewater from repair and maintenance of various vehicles and ships, circulating water such as boiler water, industrial water, swimming pools, aquaculture ponds, etc. Examples include purification of raw material gas, exhaust gas, etc., separation of natural gas, petroleum industrial gas, reaction gas, etc., prevention of air pollution caused by automobile exhaust gas, and purification of raw water in water and sewage systems.

The present invention will be explained in detail below by way of examples.

Example 1 Porous polypropylene hollow fiber with an outer diameter of 400 pm and a peripheral wall thickness of 50 am (trade name: Reftan, manufactured by Ube Industries@) 90
0 fibers were bundled to form a hollow fiber bundle. This hollow fiber bundle was inserted into the hollow part of a tubular filter made of heat-bondable special polypropylene (trade name: Chisso CP Filter, manufactured by Chisso ■), and both ends were placed on a potting mold. After injecting and curing the potting material, the potting mold is removed and the potting material is cut in a direction perpendicular to the axial direction, with the hollow fibers opening in the cross section. A hollow fiber membrane modular cartridge was manufactured in which the module was integrated and both end surfaces of the tubular filter were sealed fluid-tightly.

Example 2 A hollow fiber bundle similar to Example 1 was pushed into the hollow part of a tubular activated carbon molded product whose outer periphery was covered with a polypropylene nonwoven fabric, and both ends were placed in a potting mold made of soft vinyl chloride resin. Next, a potting material made of polyurethane was injected into the potting mold, and after curing, the potting mold and the potting material were cut together in a direction perpendicular to the axial direction, so that hollow fibers were opened in the cross section. . The tubular activated carbon molded product and the hollow fiber membrane module were integrated into a molded product thus produced, and on both end faces of the activated carbon molded product, annular natural rubber pads were attached using a silicone adhesive. By this, a hollow fiber membrane module cartridge in which both ends of the activated carbon molded product were sealed fluid-tight was manufactured.

〔Effect of the invention〕

The method for manufacturing a hollow fiber membrane module cartridge of the present invention involves directly fixing a filter body made of a hollow fiber bundle to a filter body made of a tubular structure in a flow-tight manner using a potting material, which involves unnecessary steps. Hollow fiber membrane module cartridges can be manufactured with simple operations. Moreover, since the obtained hollow fiber membrane module cartridge does not have an unnecessary housing, the flow of fluid is not restricted, and it has extremely high throughput.

Claims (1)

[Scope of Claims] Both end surfaces of a tubular structure made of a structural material containing at least one of an adsorbent, an absorbent, a reactive agent, and a filtration material are sealed with a sealing material. , a method for manufacturing a hollow fiber membrane module cartridge in which a porous hollow fiber bundle is housed in a hollow portion, with at least one of the open ends kept open, and fixed in a fluid-tight manner with a potting material, After storing the bundled hollow fiber bundle in the hollow part of the tubular structure and fixing the hollow fiber bundle fluidly to the inner surface of the tubular structure using a potting material, at least one end surface of the potting material part is cut, and a hollow fiber is placed on the cut surface. A method for manufacturing a hollow fiber membrane module cartridge, which comprises forming an open end of a fiber.