JPH01284305A - Production of hollow fiber membrane filter module - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To fix the ends of a hollow fiber bundle with resin by injecting a liq. resin with centrifugal force from a liq. resin reservoir provided at one end of a cylinder housing the hollow fiber bundle through a liq. resin injection pipe. CONSTITUTION:The hollow fiber bundle is housed in the cylinder with one end closed and the other end opened so that the ends to be fixed with resin are placed on the closed end side of the cylinder. The liq. resin reservoir 6 is placed on the opened end side of the cylinder. The liq. resin injection pipe 5 is extended from the reservoir 6 so that the other end of the pipe 5 is positioned in the vicinity of the closed end of the cylinder. The main cylinder body 1 is set in a centrifugal machine, and the liq. resin is injected by the centrifugal force into the closed end of the cylinder from the reservoir 6 through the pipe 5. As a result, the liq. resin can be uniformly distributed over the closed end. The resin-fixed ends are cut along with a sealing member to obtain a membrane module.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION [Field of Industrial Application] The present invention relates to a method for manufacturing a hollow fiber membrane filtration module that is effective in separating various fluids.

[Conventional technology]

In recent years, hollow fiber membrane modules having fluid separation capabilities have come to be widely used in the medical field, liquid and gas processing fields, and the like. Typical shapes of these membrane modules include those in which both ends of the hollow fiber membrane are open and fixed with resin, and those in which one end is sealed and the other end is fixed with resin in an open state. In addition, as a method of fixing with resin at the ends, applying centrifugal force, resin is supplied to the ends of the hollow fiber membranes, between the bundled hollow fiber membranes and the space between the hollow fiber membranes and the case wall. The most common method is to In this case, a method is usually adopted in which a membrane module manufacturing set consisting of a case containing the hollow fiber membrane and a resin liquid reservoir placed on the side thereof connected by a connecting tube is housed in a centrifuge and centrifugal force is applied. There is.

[Problem to be solved by the invention]

However, in this resin injection method, one membrane module set requires more space than the temperature of the centrifuge, making it difficult to improve production efficiency. In addition, in this method, as shown in Fig. 3, the resin must be fixed so that the positions of the resin liquid surfaces (B-B' planes) are the same in the membrane module storage case and the resin liquid reservoir. Resin will be wasted in the inside and connecting tube. Furthermore, if the resin liquid is also injected into the sides of the storage case, it becomes difficult to uniformly disperse and fix the hollow fiber membranes. For example, as shown in FIG. 4, the hollow fiber membranes will be fixed in a non-uniformly dispersed state. If a resin liquid with low viscosity is used and injected under strong centrifugal force, the resin tends to creep up the sides of the hollow fiber membrane bundle as shown in FIG. 6, making it difficult to uniformly distribute and fix the resin.

The present invention aims to provide a membrane module manufacturing method that improves the above-mentioned drawbacks, and increases the number of membrane module sets stored in conventional centrifuges, reduces waste of resin, and facilitates resin fixing operations. It is an object of the present invention to provide a method for easily improving the dispersibility of hollow fiber membranes by reducing the bias of the hollow fiber membrane during resin fixation.

[Means for Solving the Problems] The gist of the present invention is to provide a cylindrical body with one end closed and the other end open so that the end to which the resin is fixed is on the closed end side of the cylindrical body. A hollow fiber membrane bundle is housed, a resin liquid reservoir is arranged on the open end side of the cylindrical body, and a resin liquid insertion tube whose one end is communicated with the resin liquid reservoir is located at the other end near the closed end of the cylindrical body. The hollow fiber membrane bundle is placed in a centrifuge with its central part extending substantially parallel to the cylindrical body, and the resin liquid insertion tube is inserted from the resin liquid reservoir under the action of centrifugal force. The present invention provides a method for manufacturing a hollow fiber membrane filtration module, in which an end portion of a hollow fiber membrane bundle is fixed with a resin by injecting a resin liquid into the closed end portion of a cylindrical body.

FIG. 1 is a schematic sectional view showing the state immediately after being fixed with resin, and the manufacturing method of the present invention will be explained based on this drawing. In the figure, the cylindrical body with one end closed and the other end open is composed of a cylindrical body 1 and a closing member 2, both of which are open at both ends, and both are tightly attached by a fixing ring 3. The cylindrical body may be composed of a plurality of members as described above, or may be integrally molded as a whole. However, since it is necessary to cut the resin fixing part together with the resin fixing part after fixing the resin, it is preferable that at least the part to be cut is made of a material that can be easily cut.

In the figure, hollow fiber membranes whose ends are substantially sealed by welding or pressure bonding to prevent resin liquid from entering are bundled into a U-shape, and the ends are in contact with the closed end of the cylindrical body. It is stored like this.

Instead of having a U-shape, the hollow fiber membranes may be arranged in substantially parallel bundles, but in this case, it is necessary that the end on the side to which the resin is not fixed is completely sealed.

Alternatively, a hollow fiber membrane knitted fabric which is folded back without cutting the edges may be used as the hollow fiber membrane bundle.

As the hollow fiber membrane, for example, known membranes made of polyethylene, polyvinyl alcohol, polysulfone, polymethyl methacrylate, cellulose, etc. can be used. Further, as the resin liquid, known liquid resins such as polyurethane, unsaturated polyester, epoxy resin, silicone resin, etc. can be used.

The resin liquid reservoir is disposed on the open end side of the cylindrical body, but in order to facilitate retention, it is preferably disposed such that a portion thereof is housed inside the cylindrical body. This resin liquid reservoir has an opening 6a in the center of one end thereof for connection to a resin liquid insertion tube. The odor holder in the figure has an opening 6b at the other end, from which a necessary amount of resin liquid is poured, but the position of the opening is not particularly limited, and may be located, for example, on the side. The size of the resin liquid reservoir is not particularly limited as long as it can accommodate the amount of resin liquid required for fixing the resin.

The resin liquid insertion tube (hereinafter referred to as "insertion tube") is arranged at the center of the hollow fiber membrane bundle, and its size can be determined as appropriate in consideration of the viscosity of the resin liquid. Although the length is not particularly limited, the tip portion disposed on the closed end side of the cylindrical body should be located near the closed end of the cylindrical body. Usually, it is decided to make the insertion tube as long as possible without burying the distal end in the resin fixing part after fixing with the resin, but the distal end of the insertion tube may be buried in the resin fixing part. However, in that case, the insertion tube remains in the membrane module and is used. The insertion tube is usually connected to the connecting portion of the resin liquid reservoir by fitting or the like, but it may be integrally molded with the resin liquid reservoir. However, in that case, it is necessary to remove the resin from the system together with the resin liquid reservoir after fixing the resin.
It is preferable to determine the length so that the position of the tip part is not buried in the resin fixing part.

The order in which the hollow fiber membrane and the insertion tube are housed in the cylindrical body is not particularly limited, and either one may be housed first (or both may be housed at the same time).

As described above, the cylindrical body, hollow fiber membrane, insertion tube, and resin liquid reservoir are set in the predetermined positions, and normally the resin liquid reservoir is placed upward (as shown in Figure 1). Pour the required amount of resin liquid into the liquid reservoir and apply centrifugal force.Centrifugal force (apply using a known centrifuge, but the rotation speed and operating time should take into account the pore diameter of the porous membrane and the viscosity of the resin liquid. and set as appropriate.

After fixing with the resin, it can be used as a membrane module by cutting the ends fixed with the resin according to a conventional method.

〔Example〕

The present invention will be explained below with reference to Examples.

Example 1 A membrane joule set almost similar to that shown in FIG. 1 was used. A polyethylene molding frame (closing member) was attached to one end of a polycarbonate cylinder having an inner diameter of 40 tmφ and a length of 105 WN using a fixing ring to produce a cylindrical body. Next, the outer diameter is 0.38
2,600 tlφ polyethylene hollow fiber membranes were bundled into a figure 8 shape, the ends were trimmed to a length of 100 wings, the ends were sealed, and the membranes were housed in a cylindrical body. Subsequently, an insertion tube previously connected to a resin liquid reservoir was placed so that the insertion tube was in the center of the hollow fiber membrane. The insertion tube has an outer diameter of 61jlφ,
A polyethylene tube with an inner diameter of 4 mm and a length of 80 m was used.

Twenty-four sets of these 5 membrane modules were prepared, and urethane resin 25I was poured into each resin liquid reservoir, and immediately placed in a centrifuge and the centrifuge was operated. The rotation speed of the centrifuge was 220 rpm, and the centrifuge was operated for 80 minutes. After the centrifugation process was completed, the membrane module set was taken out and observed, and it was found that all of the resin liquid put in was used for resin fixation, and the distribution of resin in the resin fixation part was almost uniform, indicating that there was no flow from the centrifuge. It was also easy to take out.

After leaving it as it was for one day, the resin liquid reservoir and the fixing ring were removed, and then the resin fixed end was cut along with the sealing member at the line AA' in FIG. 2 to obtain a membrane module. The hollow fibers were well dispersed, and the cut surface was as shown in FIG.

〔Effect of the invention〕

The method of the present invention has the following excellent effects.

(1) The occupancy rate of the GL module section in the centrifuge is small, and when the same centrifuge as the conventional one is used, two to three times as many membrane modules can be produced at a time.

(2) There is no waste of resin liquid.

(3) In the resin fixing part, the resin can be fixed without causing a bias in the distribution of the hollow fiber membranes.

(4) The arrangement of the membrane module set is compact and easy to operate.

(5) Taking all of the above points into account, this method is extremely effective in streamlining operations and reducing manufacturing costs in membrane module manufacturing.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

FIG. 1 shows a schematic cross-sectional view of a membrane module set immediately after resin fixation in the method of the present invention. FIG. 2 shows a schematic sectional view of the membrane module set with the resin liquid reservoir and fixing ring removed after the process shown in FIG. 1. 1... Cylindrical body 2... Closing member (mold flask) 3... Fixing ring 4... Hollow fiber membrane 5... Resin liquid insertion tube 6.・・・Resin liquid storage 3 diagram

Claims (1)

[Claims] A hollow fiber membrane bundle is housed inside a cylindrical body with one end closed and the other open, so that the end to be fixed with resin is on the closed end side of the cylindrical body, and the hollow fiber membrane bundle is placed on the open end side of the cylindrical body. A resin liquid reservoir is arranged in the hollow fiber membrane bundle, and a resin liquid insertion tube whose one end communicates with the resin liquid reservoir is inserted into the cylindrical body at approximately the center of the hollow fiber membrane bundle such that the other end is located near the closed end of the cylindrical body. These are placed in a centrifuge in a state in which they extend substantially parallel to the cylinder, and under the action of centrifugal force, resin liquid is injected from the resin liquid reservoir into the closed end of the cylindrical body through the resin liquid insertion tube. A method for manufacturing a hollow fiber membrane filtration module, in which an end portion of a hollow fiber membrane bundle is fixed with a resin.