JPH0318373A - Method and device for detecting leak of hollow fiber membrane type liquid processor - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To detect the presence and absence of leak even when a hollow fiber membrane with a full extended tip exists in a hollow fiber bundle by detecting a moving distance in a route means on a boundry between charged water and gas with pressure drop by using a gauge or a sensor. CONSTITUTION:A gas lead-in port opening/closing valve 9a is closed and a charging water lead-in port opening/closing valve 8a is opened. Then, charging water (RO water) is charged through a route tube body 7 and a blood port 5b into a hollow fiber membrane 2a. Continuously, the opening/closing valve 8a is closed and the gas lead-in port opening/closing valve 9a is opened. Then, pressurization with high pressure is executed by a pressurizing pump. After the pressurization, the opening/closing valve 9a is closed and left for prescribed time. When there is a pin hole, etc., in any hollow fiber membrane 2a, the RO water is leaked from the part and the internal pressure falls down by the leakage. Then, in a leak discriminating part A, a boundary 11 between the RO water and air is moved to the side of the hollow fiber membrane 2a. Accordingly, by detecting the moving quantity of this boundary 11 with a gauge 12 and calculating the moving quantity for each unit time, the presence and absence of the leak can be discriminated.

Description

[Detailed Description of the Invention] [Industrial Application Field] The present invention is directed to leak detection of a hollow fiber membrane type liquid processing device in which a hollow fiber bundle consisting of a large number of hollow fiber membranes is housed in a housing as a liquid processing section. The present invention relates to a method and a risk detection device.

[Prior Art] Generally, hollow fiber membranes are widely used in artificial organs such as artificial lungs, water purifiers, etc., and polypropylene or the like is generally used as the material.

By the way, since this hollow fiber membrane is extremely thin, it is easy to form holes during manufacturing, and it is also easy to break or cut when assembling the device. For this reason, leaks are likely to occur, and if such leaks occur, not only will the product lose its practical value, but it will also be a fatal defect in the medical field.

Conventionally, the method for detecting the presence or absence of such leaks is to fill the space on the surface side of the hollow fiber membrane with liquid and pressurize it at a pressure lower than the pressure at which the liquid starts to continuously penetrate into the pores of the hollow fiber membrane. There was a method using the so-called external pressure method, which detects the liquid generated by penetrating the hollow fiber opening ends of the hollow fiber bundle (Japanese Patent Publication No. 63-1 5858).

[Problems to be Solved by the Invention] However, in such a conventional leak detection method using an external pressure method, if the hollow fiber bundle contains a hollow fiber membrane with its tip fully extended, , since the tip functions as a check valve, there is a problem in that leaks are difficult to detect and detection accuracy is reduced.

The present invention has been made in view of such problems, and includes:
Leak detection method and leak detection device for a hollow fiber membrane type liquid processing device capable of detecting the presence or absence of a leak even if there is a hollow fiber membrane whose tip is fully extended in a hollow fiber bundle and improving detection accuracy The purpose is to provide

Means for Solving the Problems] In order to solve the above problems, a leak detection method for a hollow fiber membrane type liquid processing device according to the present invention stores a hollow fiber bundle consisting of a large number of hollow fiber membranes in a housing, A method for detecting the presence or absence of a leak in a hollow fiber membrane type liquid processing device in which both ends of a hollow fiber bundle are respectively fixed to the housing, the method comprising:
a step of sealing the opening side of one end of the hollow fiber membrane with a sealing member, and communicating passage means having a filling water inlet and a gas inlet with the opening of the other end of the hollow fiber membrane; filling the interior of the hollow fiber membrane with filling water through the filling water inlet with the gas inlet closed;
After filling the filling water, closing the filling water inlet and opening the gas inlet, and pressurizing the inside of the hollow fiber membrane by introducing gas through the gas inlet; The method is characterized in that it includes a step of determining whether or not there is a leak based on the state of pressure drop inside the hollow fiber membrane after a predetermined period of time has elapsed after the pressure has been applied. Specifically, the determination of the presence or absence of a leak is performed by using a scale or a sensor to detect the distance that the interface between the filled water and the gas moves within the passage means due to a pressure drop.

Further, the nok detection device for a hollow fiber membrane type liquid treatment device according to the present invention stores a hollow fiber bundle made of a large number of hollow fiber membranes in a housing, and fixes both ends of the hollow fiber bundle to the housing. A device for detecting the presence or absence of a leak in a hollow fiber membrane type liquid processing device, comprising a sealing means for sealing an opening side at one end of the hollow fiber membrane, and a sealing means for sealing an opening side at the other end of the hollow fiber membrane. passage means communicating with each other and having a filling water inlet and a gas inlet; a filling means for filling the inside of the hollow fiber membrane with filling water through the filling water inlet;
a pressurizing means for pressurizing the inside of the hollow fiber membrane filled with the filled water through the gas inlet; an opening/closing means for opening and closing the filled water inlet and the gas inlet; and the pressurized hollow fiber membrane. The present invention is characterized by comprising a leak determining means for determining the presence or absence of a leak based on the state of drop in the internal pressure.

Here, the leak determination means is specifically a scale provided in the movement range of the interface between the filled water and the gas in the passage of the passage means, and when the change in the reading of this scale exceeds a certain value. When this occurs, it is determined that there is a leak. Alternatively, a sensor may be disposed at a position a predetermined distance away from the reference position of the interface between the filled water and the gas in the passage of the passage means toward the hollow fiber membrane, and leakage can be detected by detecting the interface of the sensor. It may be determined that it is present.

Further, it is preferable that at least a portion of the passage means corresponding to the movement range of the interface has a wall surface formed of a transparent member.

[Function] In the leak detection method and leak detection device of the hollow fiber membrane type liquid processing device according to the present invention configured as described above, when the hollow fiber membrane is sufficiently filled with water and pressurized at high pressure. If all the hollow fiber membranes have no holes or damage, the filled water will not leak out from inside the hollow fiber membranes even if left for a predetermined period of time, and therefore almost no pressure drop will occur. However, if there are pinholes or the like in the hollow fiber membrane, the filled water will leak through the pinholes and the pressure will gradually drop. With this pressure drop, the interface between the filled water and gas in the pipe moves toward the east of the hollow fiber, and the amount of this movement is detected by a scale or sensor, and as a result, the presence or absence of a leak is determined. .

[Example] Hereinafter, an example of the present invention will be specifically described with reference to the drawings.

FIG. 1 is a diagram showing the overall configuration of a leak detection device for a hollow fiber membrane oxygenator according to an embodiment of the present invention. In the figure, 1 is a cylindrical housing, and within this housing 1 is housed a hollow fiber bundle 2 consisting of a large number of hollow fiber membranes (50 μm thick) 2a. Both ends of the hollow fiber bundle 2 are fluid-tightly fixed to the housing 1 by partition walls 3 made of a botting agent such as urethane. The housing l has oxygen-containing gas ports h4a, 4b on its side.
A blood bowl is provided at each end.
~5a, 5b are formed. One blood boat 5a
is sealed by a sealing plug 6 to prevent RO water (filled water) from flowing out from the boat 5a. Further, one end portion of the passage pipe body 7 is connected to the other nine blood vessels 1-5b. The other end of this passage pipe body 7 branches into two directions, one being a filling water inlet 8 and the other being a gas inlet]9. Further, the passage pipe body 7 is made of a transparent material such as vinyl chloride, so that the inside can be visually observed from the outside. The inner diameter of the passage pipe body 7 is O. The thickness is preferably 1 to 5.0 mm, particularly preferably 1.0 mm. In order to improve inspection accuracy, it is better to make the inner diameter smaller, but if it is made too small, problems such as bubbles and pressure loss will occur.

RO water is introduced into the filling water inlet 8 by a bomb (not shown), and the RO water is filled into each hollow fiber membrane 2a and the boat 1 through the passage tube 7 and the blood boat 5b. There is. On the other hand, gas, such as air, is fed into the gas inlet 9 via a pressure pump (not shown), so that the inside of the hollow fiber membrane 2a is pressurized to a high pressure via the RO water mentioned above. It has become.

The filling water inlet 8 is provided with a filling water inlet opening/closing valve 8a, and the gas inlet 9 is provided with a gas inlet opening/closing valve 9a.

Further, a pressure measuring device 10 is connected to the passage tube body 7 near the blood boat 5b, and the pressure measuring device 10 detects a drop in the pressure inside the hollow fiber membrane 2a.

FIG. 2 shows an enlarged view of the leak detection section A between the pressure measuring device 10 and the blood boat 5b. A scale 12 is provided.

Next, a detection method using the above leak detection device will be explained. That is, first, the gas inlet opening/closing valve 9a is closed, the filling water inlet opening/closing valve 8a is opened, and the passage pipe body 7 is opened.
Then, RO water is filled into the hollow fiber membrane 2a through the blood boat 5b.

Subsequently, after closing the filling water inlet opening/closing valve 8a, the gas inlet opening/closing valve 9a is opened, and high pressure is applied by the pressurizing pump. If this pressure is too high, it will destroy the hollow fiber membrane 2a, while if it is too low, it will be difficult to detect leaks, so the pressure should be between 0.3 and 10.
Approximately 0 kgf/cm2 is preferable.

After pressurizing, the gas inlet opening/closing valve 9a is closed and left for a predetermined period of time. The amount of filling water to be injected and the pressurizing force of the gas must be adjusted so that the position of the interface between the filling water and the gas is at the predetermined position of the leak detection section A at the time when the gas inlet opening/closing valve 9a is closed. is preferred. Here, if there is a bottle hole or the like in any of the hollow fiber membranes 2a, RO water will leak from the hole, and the internal pressure will therefore drop. Then, as the pressure decreases, the interface 1l between the RO water and air in the leak determination section A moves toward the blood boat 5b, that is, toward the hollow fiber membrane 2a. Therefore, the presence or absence of a leak can be determined by detecting the amount of movement of this interface 1l using the scale 12 and calculating the amount of movement per unit time. For example, set the pressure to 0. When the pressure is 4 kgf/cm2, the pressure decreases to 0 within 7 minutes after pressurization. If the value has decreased to 3 kgf/cm2, it is determined that there is a leak.

In this way, in the leak detection device of this embodiment, l 2 detects the presence or absence of a leak by the so-called internal pressurization method. According to this method, the hollow fiber membrane 14a cut in a straight line as shown in FIG.
) and (c), even if the hollow fiber membranes 14b and 14c are present, the tips of which are fully elongated, the presence or absence of a leak can be easily detected.

In the above embodiment, the presence or absence of a leak is indicated on the scale 12.
However, as shown in FIG. 3, an optical sensor 15 is installed at a predetermined position, and this
If the interface 11 between RO water and air is detected in accordance with 5, it may be determined that there is a leak.

In the above embodiment, the leak detection device of the present invention was applied to detect the presence or absence of a leak in an artificial lung, but it can also be applied to other artificial organs such as an artificial kidney, as well as water purifiers and other liquids using hollow fiber membranes. It can be applied to any detection of processing devices. Further, the hollow fiber membrane may be either a porous membrane or a diffusion membrane.

13 Next, the inventor conducted the following experiment to confirm the effectiveness of the leak detection device of the present invention.

(Experiment example) Using the above leak test device (inner diameter of passage pipe body 7: 1.0 mm), 0. Apply a pressure of 4 kgf/cm2 to 100
When we conducted a leak test on 0 oxygenators, we found that the decompression amount standard for defective products was O. l kgf/am2 or more,
There were 8 defective products. Further, the interfacial movement amount distance at that time was 96 mm or more.

FIG. 5 shows the relationship between the amount of interface movement and the amount of pressure reduction in the above experimental example.

From this figure, it can be seen that there is a correlation between the amount of movement of the interface and the amount of pressure reduction. Therefore, it becomes possible to easily determine the amount of pressure reduction, which is a reference for determining the presence or absence of a leak, based on the amount of movement of the interface.

[Effects of the Invention] As explained above, according to the leak detection method and leak detection device for a hollow fiber membrane type liquid processing device according to the present invention, the presence or absence of a leak is determined by the so-called internal pressurization method. Even if there is a hollow fiber membrane whose l 4 tip is fully extended in the fiber bundle, the presence or absence of liquefaction can be easily detected, and therefore the detection accuracy is significantly improved.

[Brief explanation of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a cross-sectional view showing the overall configuration of a leak detection device according to an embodiment of the present invention, FIG. 2 is an enlarged view showing the configuration of the leak determination section of the device in FIG. Figures 4(a) to 4(a) are diagrams illustrating the configuration of a leakage determination unit according to another embodiment of the invention.
(C) is a diagram showing the cut state of the hollow fiber membrane, and FIG. 5 is a diagram showing the relationship between the amount of bubble movement and the amount of pressure reduction in an experimental example. 1...Housing, 2...Hollow fiber bundle 2a
...Hollow fiber membrane, 3...Partition walls 4a, 4b
...Oxygen-containing gas ports 5a, 5b...Blood boat, 6...Sealing plug 7...
・Passage pipe body, 8... Filling water inlet 8a
... Filling water inlet opening/closing valve, 9... Gas inlet 9a.
...Gas inlet opening/closing valve l 5 10... Pressure measuring device l1... RO water and air interface, l3... Optical sensor 12... Scale

Claims (6)

[Claims] (1) Detecting the presence or absence of a leak in a hollow fiber membrane type liquid processing device in which a hollow fiber bundle consisting of a large number of hollow fiber membranes is housed in a housing, and both ends of the hollow fiber bundle are respectively fixed to the housing. The method includes sealing an opening side of one end of the hollow fiber membrane with a sealing member, and communicating passage means having a filling water inlet and a gas inlet with an opening at the other end of the hollow fiber membrane. a step of filling the inside of the hollow fiber membrane with filling water through the filling water inlet with the gas inlet closed, and closing the filling water inlet after filling the filling water. and a step of pressurizing the inside of the hollow fiber membrane by opening the gas inlet and introducing gas through the gas inlet, and a pressure drop inside the hollow fiber membrane after a predetermined period of time has passed after the pressurization. 1. A method for detecting a leak in a hollow fiber membrane type liquid processing device, the method comprising: determining the presence or absence of a leak depending on the state. (2) The leak detection method for a hollow fiber membrane type liquid processing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the presence or absence of a leak is determined by the movement of the interface between the filled water and the gas within the passage means as the pressure drops. (3) Detecting the presence or absence of leaks in a hollow fiber membrane type liquid processing device in which a hollow fiber bundle consisting of a large number of hollow fiber membranes is housed in a housing, and both ends of the hollow fiber bundle are respectively fixed to the housing. The apparatus includes a sealing means for sealing an opening side of one end of the hollow fiber membrane, and a passage communicating with the opening side of the other end of the hollow fiber membrane and having a filling water inlet and a gas inlet. a filling means for filling the inside of the hollow fiber membrane with filling water through the filling water inlet; a pressurizing means for pressurizing the inside of the hollow fiber membrane filled with the filling water through the gas inlet; It is characterized by comprising an opening/closing means for opening and closing the filling water inlet and the gas inlet, and a leak determining means for determining the presence or absence of a leak based on the state of pressure drop in the pressurized hollow fiber membrane. Leak detection device for hollow fiber membrane type liquid processing equipment. (4) The leak determination means is a scale provided in the movement range of the interface between the filled water and the gas in the passage of the passage means, and when the change in the reading of this scale exceeds a certain value, 4. The leak detection device for a hollow fiber membrane type liquid processing device according to claim 3, wherein the leak detection device determines whether there is a leak. (5) The leak determination means is a sensor disposed at a position a predetermined distance away from the reference position of the interface between the filled water and the gas in the passage of the passage means on the hollow fiber membrane side. 4. The leak detection device for a hollow fiber membrane type liquid processing device according to claim 3, wherein the presence of a leak is determined by detecting an interface of the sensor. (6) The wall surface of at least a portion of the passage corresponding to the movement range of the interface is formed of a transparent member.
or 5. A leak detection device for a hollow fiber membrane type liquid processing device according to 5.