JPH05184886A - Device for repairing leak of hollow-fiber membrane module - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To mechanize the detection and repaid of a leaking spot of a hollow- fiber membrane module. CONSTITUTION:A detecting gas A is supplied into the vessel 1 of a hollow-fiber membrane module M. When the gas A is supplied, the image of the part corresponding to an open end face M2 in a detecting membrane 42 is picked up by an image pickup device 43, and the picture signal (a) is outputted to a picture processor 44. The coordinate of the leaking spot is determined by the processor 44 from the picture signal (a), and the leaking spot signal (b) is outputted to the control circuit 50 of a sealant injector 5. The nozzle 51 of the injector 5 is moved in the X and Y directions and downward, and brought close to the leaking spot. A repairing sealant is then discharged from the nozzle 51 and injected into the leaking spot.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a leak repair device for detecting and repairing a leak location of a hollow fiber membrane module having a bundle of hollow fiber membranes as a filtration membrane loaded in a container.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Hollow fiber membrane modules are widely used as fluid treatment devices for water purifiers and artificial kidneys. An example of this type of hollow fiber membrane module is shown in FIGS. 6 and 7.

In FIG. 6, a hollow fiber membrane module M is constructed by loading a bundle F of hollow fiber membranes, which are a plurality of hollow fiber membranes f as a filtration membrane, which are bundled in a cylindrical shape, into a container 1.
The hollow fiber membrane module M is used as a water purifier, for example, by filling the container 1 with activated carbon (not shown) and further storing it in another container not shown.

FIG. 7B is an enlarged sectional view of a part of the bundle F of hollow fiber membranes. The open end face f2 of the hollow fiber membrane f of FIG. 7 (a) is open, and the gap S between the open end portions is S.
Is filled with a thermosetting resin as a sealing material C, and the bundle F of hollow fiber membranes is fixed to the container 1 (FIG. 6) by this sealing material C. On the other hand, the other end f of the hollow fiber membrane f of FIG.
As shown in FIG. 7C, 1 is blocked by the sealing material C1 and is loosened to form one or several blocks B. As shown in FIG. 7B, the fluid to be treated L is taken in through the gaps between the blocks B and the hollow fiber membranes f at the other end M1 of the module M, and minute filtration holes (not shown) of the hollow fiber membranes f. (5), the filtered component is filtered, passes through the hollow fiber membrane f, and is discharged from the open end face f2 of the hollow fiber membrane f.

Here, the sealing material C at the opening end is made of a thermosetting resin such as polyurethane having a low viscosity so as to sufficiently enter into the narrow gap S between the hollow fiber membranes f. However, if the hollow fiber membranes f are too closely attached to each other, the sealing material C made of a thermosetting resin does not sufficiently enter into the gap S between the hollow fiber membranes f, so that the fluid L
Part of the gas does not pass through the hollow fiber membrane f and leaks from the gap S as it is. Also, when injecting the sealing material C,
Even when the air is entrapped and the seal material C does not sufficiently enter the gap S, a leak similarly occurs. Even if the other end (lower end) M1 is not sufficiently sealed, or the hollow fiber membrane f is broken or broken, a part of the fluid L to be treated is hollow from the broken portion. Since it enters the thread film f, a leak occurs.

As a countermeasure against this, conventionally, a dry type leak inspection utilizing the Schlieren method (for example, Japanese Patent Publication No. 56-39) is used.
921), and divides into a non-defective product and a leaky hollow fiber membrane module (hereinafter referred to as “leakage product”) M.
Then, the leakage location of the leakage product M is identified. As a method of identifying the leaked portion, for example, the detection liquid is applied to the opening end face M2 of the module M, and the lower end face M is used.
A method is adopted in which air is pressure-fed from 1 and the determination is made by the generation of bubbles. In this way, for example, a pin is erected at the place where the bubble is generated, the above-mentioned detection liquid is dried, and then a resin having a high affinity for the sealant C is poured into the place for repairing.

[0007]

However, the hollow fiber membrane f
Is that when the wet one is dried, the microstructure of the membrane is changed and the selective permeability is lost.
It is necessary to perform pretreatment before applying the detection liquid to the opening end surface M2. Further, it is necessary to dry the applied detection liquid before repairing. As described above, in the above-described conventional technique, pretreatment and drying of the detection liquid are required, which requires time and effort for repair work, resulting in low productivity.

Further, in the above-mentioned prior art, since the leaked portion is visually judged depending on the presence or absence of generation of bubbles, it is impossible to mechanize the detection of the leaked portion and the repair work.

The present invention has been made in view of the above-mentioned conventional problems, and improves the manufacturability of the hollow fiber membrane module, and at the same time, the leak of the hollow fiber membrane module can be mechanized from the detection of the leaked portion to the repair work. The purpose is to provide a repair device.

[0010]

In order to achieve the above object, the present invention firstly provides a gas supply device for supplying a detection gas into a container of a hollow fiber membrane module, and an open end face of a bundle of hollow fiber membranes. And a detection film that reacts with the detection gas flowing out from the opening. Further, it is provided with an image pickup device that picks up an image signal of the detection film and outputs an image signal, an image processing device that receives the image signal, determines a leak point, and outputs a leak point signal, and a sealant injection machine. .. The seal material injecting machine receives the leak signal and injects the repair seal material into the leak area.

[0011]

According to the present invention, since the leak point is detected by using the detection gas and the detection film, the leak point can be identified by the dry method. Further, since the detection film is imaged by the imaging device, the leak location identified by the image processing device can be easily and accurately transmitted to the sealing material injecting device as a signal. Therefore, from the detection to the injection of the repairing sealing material. It can be easily mechanized.

[0012]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT An embodiment of the present invention will be described below with reference to FIGS.
Follow the instructions below. FIG. 1 shows a plan layout of the leak repair device 2. In this figure, the leak repair device 2
Is composed of a conveyer 3, a leak location detecting device 4, a sealant injecting device 5 and a dryer 6, and a leaking product M is supplied by a transfer robot 8 from an inspection line 7 indicated by a two-dot chain line. In the inspection line 7, whether or not there is a leak in the hollow fiber membrane module M is inspected by the above-mentioned schlieren method, and non-defective products and non-repairable products are lined out, and only leakable products M that can be repaired leak. It is supplied to the repair device 2.

FIG. 2 is a front view of the repair device 2. In this figure, the conveyor 3 comprises a pair of endless chains 31 indicated by a chain line, and a detection cup 32 attached at a constant pitch via a bracket (not shown). The conveyor 3 is intermittently driven at a constant pitch to detect the leaked product M placed on the detection cup 32 by the transfer robot 8 (FIG. 1) at the detection position P1, the pouring position P2, and the drying position P3. Move to.

In FIG. 3, the detection cup 32 described above is used.
Is the chain 31 of the conveyor 3 via the collar 32a.
A leaky product M of a hollow fiber membrane module in which a bundle F of hollow fiber membranes is fixed in the container 1 is attached to the detection cup 32. In this embodiment, the hollow fiber membrane module M is a loop type in which the hollow fiber membrane f is bent in a U shape and both ends thereof are open end faces M2.

At the detection position P1, the leak location detecting device 4 for detecting a leak location is provided. The leak location detecting device 4 includes a gas supply device 41, a detection film 42, an imaging device 43, an image processing device 44, and the like.

The gas supply device 41 includes a gas supply cup 41a which faces the opening 32b below the detection cup 32 at the detection position P1, a tube 41b which supplies the detection gas A into the gas supply cup 41a, and An air cylinder 41c that raises the gas supply cup 41a to contact the lower end of the detection cup 32 is provided, and the detection gas A is pressure-fed into the container 1 to be supplied. As the detection gas A, for example, absolutely dry air or hot air is used.

The detection film 42 is in the form of an endless belt, as shown in FIG. 4 in part, and is intermittently rotated by a driving device (not shown). A part of the detection film 42 is the opening end face M2 of the leaked product M at the detection position P1.
Close to the upper side of the hollow fiber membrane f (see FIG. 7)
The color, the density, and the like change in response to the detection gas A flowing out from the. As the detection film 42, for example,
When the detection gas A is absolutely dry air, a film impregnated with cobalt chloride can be used. In this case,
It changes from red to blue in response to extremely dry air. The detection film 42 passes through a high-humidity atmosphere in the reproducing section 45 provided in front of the detection position P1 and is reproduced in a state before use.

A container retainer 46 is provided above the leaked product M at the detection position P1. This container holder 4
6 is provided above the detection film 42 as shown in FIG.
As described above, the gas supply cup 41a described above is moved.
When the pressure rises, the container 1 is pressed through the detection film 42.

The image pickup device 43 picks up an image of the detection film 42 at the detection position P1 and outputs the image signal a to the image processing device 44. The image processing device 44
In response to the image signal a, for example, it is determined that a location where the color changes within a predetermined time is a leak location, and the control circuit 50 of the sealant injector 5 in FIG.
A leak point signal b including coordinates is output.

The sealing material injecting machine 5 has the injecting position P.
2 is provided, and receives the leak point signal b,
As shown in FIG. 5, a repair sealing material C2 such as a thermosetting resin such as polyurethane is poured into the leak portion N. The seal material injecting machine 5 includes a nozzle 51 for discharging the repair seal material C2 and a moving device 52 for moving the nozzle 51 in the vertical direction and the X and Y directions in FIG. 1 in accordance with a command from the control circuit 50 in FIG. Is equipped with. The leaked product M is detected at the detection position P1 and the injection position P.
At 2, a positioning device (not shown) is used for positioning.

Next, a method of repairing a leak portion having the above structure will be described. First, when the transfer robot 8 transfers the leaked product M onto the transfer conveyor 3, it is transferred to the detection position P1 by the transfer conveyor 3. After this conveyance, the container retainer 46 of FIG. 3 is slightly lowered as shown in FIG.
The detection film 42 is brought into contact with the opening end surface M2 and the container 1 is pressed down. Then, the air cylinder 41c of the gas supply device 41 extends to press the gas supply cup 41a against the bottom surface of the detection cup 32. After this pressing, the tube 41b
From the above, the detection gas A made of absolutely dry air is supplied into the container 1 of the module M through the gas supply cup 41a.

The detection gas A supplied into the container 1
Is permeated through the membrane of the hollow fiber membrane f and gently flows out from the opening end face M2, while the leak location N (FIG. 5) where the sealing material C is not filled between the hollow fiber membranes f is the hollow fiber. It does not pass through the membrane f, and flows out vigorously directly from the opening end face M2. Therefore, in the detection film 42, the portion in contact with the leak portion N (FIG. 5) quickly changes from red to blue.

While the detection gas A is being supplied, the image pickup device 43 is picking up an image of a portion of the detection film 42 corresponding to the opening end face M2, and the image signal a thereof is used as the image processing device 4.
Output to 4. The image processing device 44 determines the x and y coordinates of the leak point N (FIG. 5) from the image signal a, and outputs the leak point signal b to the control circuit 50 of the sealant injector 5 in FIG.

When the above detection is completed, the air cylinder 41
After c contracts, the container retainer 46 of FIG. 4 retracts upward. After this retreat, the detection film 42 rotationally moves in the direction of the predetermined pitch arrow D, and a new portion of the detection film 42 is detected at the detection position P1.
3 is driven to rotate by one pitch while the leaked product M at the detection position P1 is injected into the injection position P2.
Move to.

After this movement, the nozzle 5 of the sealant injector 5
1 moves in the X and Y directions (FIG. 1) and downwards to
As shown in FIG. Thereafter, the repair sealing material C2 is poured from the nozzle 51 into the leak portion N and injected. After this injection, the leaked product M is dried at the drying position P3 by the rotational driving of the above-mentioned transfer conveyor 31 in FIG.
Is sequentially conveyed to and the repair sealing material C2 (FIG. 5) is cured. The repaired module M is re-inspected on the inspection line 7 in FIG. In addition, the detection film 42 includes a reproducing unit 45.
Played in.

As described above, the leak repair apparatus 2 uses the detection gas A and the detection film 42 shown in FIG.
Since the detection of (FIG. 5) is performed, the conventional detection liquid is not applied, and therefore the pretreatment and the drying process of the detection liquid are not necessary. Therefore, the repair process is simplified,
Manufacturability is improved.

In particular, since the image pickup device 43 images the detection film 42 whose appearance has changed in response to the detection gas A, the leak location N (FIG. 5) can be easily grasped by the x, y coordinates. .. Therefore, this coordinate can be easily and accurately transmitted to the sealing material injector 5 as a signal,
Since the steps from the detection of the leak location N (FIG. 5) to the injection of the sealing material can be extremely easily mechanized and automated, unmanned repair can be performed.

As the detection gas A, besides the above-mentioned absolutely dry air, a high humidity or high temperature air or a gas such as CO ₂ which does not often exist in a normal atmosphere can be used. Further, if the detection film 42 has a reversible change,
Although it can be recycled endlessly and reused, it goes without saying that a non-reversible film can also be used.

Further, in the above embodiment, the container retainer 46 presses the container 1 together with the detection film 42 to bring the detection film 42 into contact with the opening end face M2 of the module M.
The container retainer 46 may press only the container 1 and the detection film 42 may detect the leak location at a position where the detection film 42 is slightly close to the opening end surface M2 and remains in proximity. Alternatively, the container retainer 46 may not be provided.

Further, in the above embodiment, the hollow fiber membrane f was
Although the loop type bent in a letter shape has been described, in addition to the water purifier of the type in which the present invention is closed at one end as shown in FIG. 6, a hollow fiber membrane module such as an artificial kidney having both ends of the hollow fiber membrane f opened Needless to say, this can also be applied to.

Although the inspection line 7 is provided in addition to the leak repairing apparatus 2 of FIG. 1 in the above embodiment, the inspection line 7 is not always necessary. If the inspection line 7 is not provided,
The leak repair device 2 also inspects whether there is a leak, and repairs only the leaked product M having a leak.

[0032]

As described above, according to the present invention, the leak location is detected by detecting the detection gas by the sensing membrane in the vicinity of the hollow fiber membrane module. Therefore, the leak location is identified by the dry method. Therefore, the repair process is simplified and the manufacturability is improved. In particular, since the detection film is imaged by the imaging device, the leak location identified by the image processing device can be easily and accurately transmitted to the seal material injection machine as a signal, so it is easy from detection to injection of the repair seal material. Can be mechanized into

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a plan layout view of a leak repair device showing an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a front view of the same.

FIG. 3 is a schematic configuration diagram showing a leak location detection device and a sealant injection machine.

4 is a sectional view taken along line IV-IV of FIG.

FIG. 5 is an enlarged cross-sectional view showing a method of injecting a repair sealing material.

FIG. 6 is a cross-sectional view showing an example of a hollow fiber membrane module.

7 (a), (b) and (c) are respectively an enlarged plan view, a vertical sectional view and a bottom view of a bundle of hollow fiber membranes.

[Explanation of symbols]

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 ... Container, 5 ... Sealing material injection machine, 41 ... Gas supply device,
42 ... Sensing film, 43 ... Imaging device, 44 ... Image processing device,
A ... Gas for detection, C2 ... Sealing material for repair, f ... Hollow fiber membrane, F ... Bundle, M ... Hollow fiber membrane module, M2 ... Open end face, N ... Leak point, a ... Image signal, b ... Leak point signal ..

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1. A leak repairing device for a hollow fiber membrane module in which a bundle of hollow fiber membranes is fixed in a container, comprising: a gas supply device for supplying a detection gas into the container; and a bundle of the hollow fiber membranes. A detection film which is close to the end face of the opening and reacts with the detection gas flowing out from the opening, an imaging device which images the detection film and outputs an image signal, and a leak location is determined by receiving the image signal and a leak location A leak repairing device for a hollow fiber membrane module, comprising: an image processing device that outputs a signal; and a sealant injection machine that receives the leaking point signal and injects a repairing sealant into the leaking point.