JPH044002A - Defoaming device - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To increase the frequency of contact between the bubbles in a liq. flowing in a vessel and a tube and to improve gas-liq. separation efficiency by arranging plural porous gas-liq. separation membrane type tubes across the liq. flow in the vessel and evacuating the tube. CONSTITUTION:Plural porous gas-liq. separation membrane tubes 2 are arranged across the liq. flow in a vessel 1 in which a liq. contg. bubbles 3 flows. The tube 2 is evacuated by an evacuating device 11. Consequently, the frequency of contact between the bubbles in the liq. flowing in the vessel and the tube 2 is increased, and the gas-liq. separation efficiency is improved. Furthermore, this small-sized device can be used in many liqs. to separate the gas and liq. in the liqs.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION [Field of Industrial Application] The present invention relates to a defoaming device used in microgravity environments and the like.

[Prior art] In a conventional defoaming device using a porous gas-liquid separation membrane, a liquid containing bubbles is passed through a tube made of the separation membrane or on the surface of the separation membrane, and the bubbles adhering to the separation membrane are separated. It is removed by the pressure difference on both sides of the membrane.

FIG. 3 shows a conventional flat membrane defoaming device as an example. A porous gas-liquid separation membrane 04 is provided at the bottom of the water passage O1 having an inlet 02 and an outlet 03 over the entire length of the water passage 01, and a decompression chamber 05 is provided below the separation membrane 04, so that the pressure on both sides of the separation membrane 05 is The difference separates air bubbles from the water passing through the water passage O1.

(Problems to be Solved by the Invention) In a conventional defoaming device using a porous gas-liquid separation membrane, in order to make bubbles in the liquid adhere to the porous membrane efficiently, the width of the liquid passage is narrow to some extent, Therefore, in order to increase the processing capacity, a large number of long liquid passages are required, resulting in a large device.

The present invention aims to solve the above-mentioned drawbacks of conventional defoaming devices using porous gas-liquid separation membranes.

[Means for Solving the Problems] The defoaming device of the present invention includes a container through which a liquid containing bubbles flows, and a plurality of tubes made of a porous gas-liquid separation membrane arranged in the container across the flow of the liquid. , and an exhaust device to reduce the pressure inside the tube.

[Effect]

The bubble-containing liquid flows around multiple porous gas-liquid separation membrane tubes that are placed across the flow of the liquid and have reduced pressure inside, thereby separating the bubbles in the liquid and the porous gas-liquid separation membrane. This increases the frequency of contact between the two and improves the defoaming efficiency.

This allows a large amount of liquid to be processed with a small device.

C Embodiment] An embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to FIGS. 1 and 2.

This embodiment consists of a defoaming section 10 and a vacuum evacuation device 11 such as a vacuum pump.

As shown in FIG. 2, the defoaming unit 10 has a liquid inlet 4 and a liquid outlet 5 on both sides of the liquid containing bubbles, and the liquid flows from the liquid inlet 4 to the liquid outlet 5.
It consists of a container 1 with a rectangular cross section through which the liquid flows, and a number of tubes 2 arranged horizontally in a mesh pattern at right angles to the flow of liquid in the container 1. Each tube 2 is made of a porous hydrophobic gas-liquid separation membrane, for example, with a pore size of 0.02 to 1.
It is composed of a membrane made of a fluororesin such as polytetrafluoroethylene with a porous surface of 5μ, and the inside of the tube 2 is connected to a vacuum exhaust device 11 (maximum vacuum pressure I Xl0-'torr). .

In this embodiment, the liquid containing bubbles enters the container 1 through the liquid inlet 4, flows around the plurality of tubes 2, and flows out through the liquid outlet 5. The inside of each tube 2 is vacuum-exhausted by a vacuum exhaust device 11.
Due to the reduced pressure, the bubbles contained in the liquid pass through the porous gas-liquid membrane tube 2 and enter the tube 2 due to the pressure difference between the inside and outside of the tube 2, but the liquid's surface tension Therefore, the gas cannot pass through the porous hydrophobic gas-liquid separation membrane, and gas-liquid separation is performed.

As described above, in this embodiment, since a plurality of tubes 2 are arranged in the container 1 at right angles to the flow of the liquid, the bubbles 3 in the liquid come into contact with the tubes 2 frequently, and a large amount of liquid Effective gas-liquid separation can be carried out.

In addition, in a microgravity space such as outer space, bubbles are randomly mixed in the liquid, so they are separated from the liquid by each tube 2, so this embodiment is especially suitable for microgravity spaces. 2 In the above embodiment, the plurality of tubes 2 are arranged horizontally and perpendicular to the flow of the oil, but in the present invention, the tubes 2 are arranged vertically and at any arbitrary angle across the flow of the oil. It can be placed in the direction of

〔Effect of the invention〕

In the present invention, a plurality of porous gas-liquid separation membrane tubes are arranged in a container across the flow of liquid, and by reducing the pressure inside the tubes, bubbles in the liquid flowing in the container come into contact with the tubes. This increases the frequency of separation of gas and liquid, improving the efficiency of gas-liquid separation, and in conjunction with this, it is possible to perform gas-liquid separation of a large amount of liquid with a small-sized device.

[Brief explanation of drawings]

Fig. 1 is an overall brochure diagram of a defoaming device according to an embodiment of the present invention, Fig. 2 is a sectional view of the defoaming section of the same embodiment, and Fig. 3 is a sectional view of a conventional flat membrane defoaming device. It is. ■... Container, 2... Tube. 5...Liquid outlet IO...Defoaming section 11...Evacuation device.

Claims (1)

[Claims] A container in which a liquid containing bubbles flows, a plurality of tubes made of a porous gas-liquid separation membrane arranged across the flow of the liquid in the container,
and a defoaming device comprising an exhaust device for reducing the pressure inside the tube.