JPH0554367B2 - - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION (Field of Industrial Application) The present invention relates to a flat membrane type gas permeation cell that selectively separates a desired gas from a mixed gas using an organic membrane.

(Prior Art) In recent years, various methods have been attempted to selectively separate necessary gases from oxygen-enriched gases, nitrogen-enriched gases, or hydrogen and other mixed gases using organic membranes. In particular, oxygen-enriched gas is widely used as an energy-saving resource for combustion, medical use, vegetable gardening, fish farming, etc., and research into gas permeable membrane cells (hereinafter simply referred to as cells) has become active. It's coming.

In a conventional cell, as a passageway through which gas separated and enriched by a gas permeable membrane flows out of the cell, as disclosed in Utility Model Application No. 1983-68929,
A support for supporting a permeable membrane with a roughened surface is interposed between the permeable membranes, and the concave portion of the rough surface is utilized, or as shown in Utility Model Application No. 56-68930, it is continuous. There are some types in which a support with pores is sandwiched between permeable membranes and the pores are used as gas passages.In order to ensure the gas passages created by these recesses or pores, the permeable membrane is attached to the outer wall frame. Enriched gas is obtained by holding and sealing the container and suctioning it from the gas outlet provided in the outer wall frame. In addition, in a laminated structure cell constructed by laminating multiple cells, a spacer is provided between each unit cell in order to ensure a gap for the gas to be separated to pass through and be supplied to the surface of the permeable membrane. or made of metal or resin, etc.
A stacked box with guide rails is used.

Hereinafter, the above-mentioned conventional example will be explained in more detail with reference to the drawings.

Figure 3 shows an example in which a support with a roughened surface is used as an outflow path for enriched gas, Figure 4 shows an example in which a support with continuous pores is used, Figures 5 and 6 Each figure is a perspective view of a laminated box of laminated cells provided with a spacer and a guide rail as means for forming a gap. In the figures, the same materials are indicated by the same numbers.

In Fig. 3, reference numeral 1 denotes a permeable membrane made of an organic material for selectively separating a mixed gas, which is attached using adhesive 3 to both the upper and lower surfaces of an outer wall frame 2 for holding the cell body. ing. 4 is a support with a roughened surface, and 5 is a protective paper. The enriched gas that is selectively passed through the permeable membrane 1 by suction from the outlet 6 can flow out of the cell through the recessed space 7 between the protective paper 5 and the support 4.

In FIG. 4, a support 8 having a large number of continuous pores 8' is used as a support, and the other symbols are 3
As in the illustration, the enriched gas exits from the outlet 6 through the pore 8'.

FIG. 5 is a perspective view of a unit cell to show a spacer for securing a gas passage between unit cells when configuring a cell with a laminated structure. 9 is the spacer, and the other symbols are the same as in the previous figures. Follows.

FIG. 6 is a perspective view of a laminated box for laminated cells, in which the mutual positions of the unit cells are defined by guide rails 10 to maintain a gap between the cells, and the spacer 9 in FIG. It is designed to form a passage.

(Problems to be Solved by the Invention) Conventionally, as described above, the support 4 with a roughened surface and the support 8 provided with communicating pores 8' have been used as an outflow path for enriched gas. Therefore, an outer wall frame 2 is required as a seal for the permeable membrane 1. or,
It is very difficult to make constant the uneven shape of the roughened surface of the support 4 and the pore diameter and density of the support 8 provided with continuous pores 8', and it is difficult to maintain a constant suction pressure to the permeable membrane cell. Even if the pressure is applied to the permeable membrane 1, the pressure acting on the permeable membrane 1 is not constant in each cell due to variations in the space of the enriched gas outflow path. The amount and concentration of enriched gas is governed by the pressure acting on the permeable membrane 1.
Therefore, the quality of each cell is not constant. Furthermore, in the method of forming a gap through which the gas to be separated passes and is supplied to the permeable membrane surface using spacers 9 or guide rails 10 as shown in FIGS. 5 and 6,
After completing the permeable membrane cell, it is necessary to paste the spacer 9 and insert it into the guide rail 10.
At that time, defects such as scratches are likely to occur on the surface of the permeable membrane.
It causes quality deterioration. In other words, conventional permeable membrane cells had the problem of a large number of parts and inconsistent quality.

In view of the various drawbacks mentioned above, the present invention aims to reduce the number of parts of the permeable membrane cell, reduce costs, and stabilize quality by applying a constant suction pressure to the permeable membrane of each cell. This method eliminates the causes of scratches during the completion of the permeable membrane cell and prevents deterioration in quality.

(Means for Solving the Problems) In order to solve the above problems, the present invention provides a structure in which a plurality of concave grooves, which serve as passages for enriched gas, intersect vertically and horizontally on the surface of a support forming a cell body. set up so that
In addition, a space forming part that forms a gap for passing and supplying the gas to be separated to the surface of the permeable membrane and an outlet through which the enriched gas flows out are integrally formed with the support.

(effect) The operation of the present invention described above is as follows.

By suctioning the outlet through which the enriched gas flows out using a suction pump, a pressure difference is created between the inside and outside of the permeable membrane, and the gas to be separated from the mixed gas passes through the permeable membrane and is selected and separated. The separated gas passes through vertical and horizontal concave grooves that are intersected in a lattice pattern by molding, machining, etc. on the surface of the support that forms the cell body, and then flows to the outlet that is integrated with the support. It is collected and leaked out of the cell. At this time, pressure is applied to the permeable membrane from the uniform concave grooves formed by molding, machining, etc., so that cells of stable quality with no variation among the permeable membrane cells are formed. The cell is sealed by directly attaching the permeable membrane with an adhesive to the flat part of the outer periphery formed around the groove at the same height as the surface of the support.

In addition, when stacking permeable membrane cells, the gap for allowing the mixed gas to be separated to pass through and be supplied to the permeable membrane surface is formed by a space formed integrally with the support on the opposing end surfaces of the gas permeable membrane cells. The flat part of the
It is formed simply by superimposing it on a similar plane part of another gas permeable membrane cell. That is, after the gas permeable membrane cell is completed, it is possible to eliminate the work of pasting spacers and the work of inserting them into rail-shaped guides, thereby preventing quality deterioration due to defects such as scratches.

(Embodiment) FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a main part of a unit cell illustrating an embodiment of the present invention. In the figure, reference numeral 11 denotes a support for a permeable membrane (not shown), and its front and back surfaces are machined or molded at the same time as the support to form a plurality of passages for enriched gas that intersect in a lattice pattern. A recessed groove 11' is provided for this purpose. 12 is support 1
13 is a space forming part which is used to form a gap between the stacked cells when the unit cells shown in the figure are stacked (the state is shown in Fig. 7). This forms a passage through which the gas mixture to be separated passes and is supplied. Reference numeral 14 denotes a through hole for collecting the enriched gas that has passed through the recessed groove 11', which penetrates the front and back sides of the support body 11.

FIG. 2 shows a cross section of a unit cell made by adding a permeable membrane and the like to the structure of FIG. 1. The permeable membrane 1 is adhered to the flat part 12 forming the support 11 using an adhesive 3, and the selectively permeated gas enriched by passing through the permeable membrane 1 is passed through the permeable protective layer. It passes through the paper 5, passes through the recessed groove 11', is collected in the through hole 14, and is taken out of the cell through the outlet 6 (FIG. 1).

The present inventors have determined that the width of the recessed groove 11' is 1.5 mm and the depth is 0.5 mm.
mm, pitch between concave grooves 11' 2.5 mm, concave grooves 11'
A permeable membrane cell with outer end dimensions of 460 mm x 280 mm is constructed,
Oxygen was selectively separated from the atmosphere and the variation in oxygen concentration and flow rate was measured using 10 samples.At a suction pressure of 210 Torr, the oxygen concentration was
Good results with little variation were obtained, with a flow rate of 30.2 to 30.6% and a flow rate of 4.6 to 4.9/min. In addition, in experiments to measure damage to the permeable membrane due to repeated suction loads, both load (suction pressure 210 Torr, 10 seconds) and no load (atmospheric pressure, 5
Achieved 60,000 cycles without damage during load cycles (seconds).

In this way, by using a support whose surface is provided with uniform concave grooves formed by molding, machining, etc., a permeable membrane cell with stable quality can be obtained. or,
By creating a gap for the gas to be separated to pass through and be supplied using the space forming part that is integrated with the support, there is no need to attach spacers after the gas permeable membrane cell is completed, and there is no risk of quality deterioration. . Furthermore, the spacer and outer wall frame can be omitted.

(Effects of the Invention) As described above, the permeable membrane cell of the present invention has uniform intersecting concave grooves on the surface of the support constituting the permeable membrane cell body, and also forms a space through which the gas to be separated can pass and be supplied. Since the part is formed integrally with the support body, it is possible to maintain a constant quality, and there are fewer work steps, so it is highly efficient.
There is an advantage that a permeable membrane cell can be formed at low cost and without the risk of quality deterioration.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

Fig. 1 is a perspective view of essential parts of an embodiment of the present invention;
The figure is a sectional view in the thickness direction of the permeable membrane cell of the present invention.
5 and 4 are cross-sectional views showing a conventional permeable membrane cell, FIG. 5 is a perspective view showing a spacer used in the conventional permeable membrane cell, FIG. 6 is a perspective view similarly showing a rail-shaped guide, and FIG. The figure is a perspective view of an example in which a plurality of permeable membrane cells of the present invention are stacked. 11... Support body, 11'... Concave groove, 12...
Flat part, 13... Space forming part, 14... Through hole.

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1. A permeable membrane that selectively separates necessary gases from a mixed gas (including the atmosphere) is layered with a protective paper to protect it, and a support is provided with an outlet for the enriched gas produced by selectively separating it. In the permeable membrane cell stuck on both sides, the support has a plurality of concave grooves crisscrossing each other on both surfaces to form passages for enriched gas, and when used in a stacked manner with other supports. ,
A permeable membrane cell characterized in that it is provided with a spacer for forming a laminated gap and a through hole for conducting separated enriched gas to the outside.