JPH06262026A - Air separation membrane module - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To provide an air separation membrane module generating no lowering of capacity due to the pressure loss in a transmitted air passage and having high volumetric efficiency. CONSTITUTION:A transmitted air passage material 3 is held between flat air separation membranes 2 partially constituted of an air impermeable membrane 4 and the air separation membranes 2 are spirally wound around an air supply and discharge pipe 5 having an air supply pipe 6 and an exhaust pipe 7 integrally provided thereto along with a raw material air passage material 1 and one winding start parts of the membranes 2 communicate with the raw material passage material 1 and the air supply pipe 6. The air separation membranes 2 are bonded to the air supply and discharge pipe 5 so that the transmitted air passage material and exhaust pipe 7 communicate each other and the winding end parts thereof form the air separation membranes 2 into a bag shape so as to airtightly close the transmitted air passage material 3 and both side end parts in the winding direction are sealed so as to airtightly separate a raw material air passage and a transmitted air passage and, in the process from winding end to winding start, the transmitted air passage material 3 is made successively thick.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a spiral type gas separation membrane module formed by winding a flat gas separation composite membrane.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Generally, a spiral type gas separation membrane module formed by winding a flat membrane has a hole in which a permeable gas flow path member forming a permeable gas flow path is sandwiched between flat gas separation membranes. A gas separation membrane is adhered to the hollow pipe so that the permeation gas flow passage communicates with the hole of the hollow pipe, and the raw gas flow passage material forming the raw gas flow passage is wound around the hollow pipe. . In addition, in the Japanese Patent Application No. 4-249711, the inventors of the present invention have proposed a hollow tube in which a permeating gas flow channel material and a raw gas flow channel material communicate with the hole of a hollow tube having a plurality of independent holes. We have proposed a gas separation membrane module that is constructed by bonding a gas separation membrane and winding it around a hollow tube.

Separation and concentration of gas in the above conventional gas separation membrane module will be described with reference to the drawings in the case of separating and concentrating nitrogen by using a raw material gas as air.

FIGS. 5 and 6 show an example of a conventional spiral type gas separation membrane module, and FIGS. 5 (a) and 5 (b) respectively show a cross-sectional view and a gas separation membrane module of the conventional gas separation membrane module. Expanded sectional perspective view, FIG.
(B) and (c) are respectively the sectional view of the gas separation membrane module of conventional example 2, the sectional perspective view which developed the gas separation membrane module, and the sectional view which developed the gas separation membrane module which shows the flow of gas.

In FIG. 5, reference numeral 22 is a flat membrane-like gas separation composite membrane in which a gas separation membrane is formed on a porous support, and is folded back so as to sandwich the permeation gas flow path member 23, and the folded back portion is wound. It's over. Further, both ends of the gas separation composite membrane 22 in the winding direction (direction perpendicular to the hollow tube) are sealed with a sealing material 25, and one end at the beginning of winding is hollow with the permeable gas flow path material 23. The gas separation composite membrane 22 is bonded to the hollow tube 26 so that the tube 26 communicates. The raw material gas flow path is open.

In the above structure, when the raw material air is supplied to the raw material gas flow path constituted by the raw material gas flow path member 21 in the direction of the arrow (solid line), the raw material air preferentially permeates oxygen. Flowing over the surface of. At that time, oxygen preferentially permeates the gas separation composite membrane 22 and permeates the gas passage material 2
The permeable gas flow path constituted by 3 flows in the direction of the arrow (broken line) and is discharged from the hollow tube 26. Therefore, the air that has passed through the gas separation composite membrane and has come out of the gas separation membrane module is concentrated in nitrogen.

In FIG. 6, the permeable gas flow path member 23 is sandwiched between a flat membrane-like gas separation composite membrane 22 and a gas impermeable membrane 24, and together with the raw material gas flow path member 21, an independent air supply pipe 28 and exhaust pipe. In the spiral type gas separation membrane module wound around an air supply / exhaust pipe 27 having 29, a gas is provided so that the air supply pipe 28 and the raw material gas flow path member 21 and the exhaust pipe 29 and the permeation gas flow path member 23 communicate with each other. The separation composite membrane 22 and the gas impermeable membrane 24 are adhered to the air supply / exhaust pipe 27, and both ends in the winding direction are sealed so that the raw material gas passage and the permeation gas passage are hermetically separated.

When the raw material air is supplied from the air supply pipe 28 of this spiral type gas separation membrane module, it flows on the surface of the gas separation composite membrane 22 in the direction of the arrow (solid line) in the raw material gas supply passage, and the gas of the conventional example 1 is obtained. As with the separation membrane module, nitrogen can be concentrated by preferentially permeating oxygen. In this gas separation membrane module, since the raw material air flows in the winding direction, the distance that the raw material air flows on the surface of the gas separation composite membrane can be lengthened, and a gas separation membrane module with high concentration efficiency can be obtained.

[0009]

However, in any case, since the thickness of the permeable gas flow path member 23 of the conventional gas separation membrane module is constant in the process from the winding end to the winding start, the gas The cross-sectional area of the flow channel becomes constant. On the other hand, the flow rate of the permeating gas flowing in the permeating gas channel member 23 is sequentially integrated and increased in the process from the winding end to the winding start of the gas separation composite membrane as shown in FIG. 6C. In the part that communicates with the exhaust pipe 27,
The amount of permeated gas that has permeated the entire surface of the gas separation membrane 22 will pass. That is, constant thickness (the cross-sectional area of the flow path is constant)
In the permeable gas flow channel material, the flow resistance also increases in proportion to the increase in the flow rate, and if the permeable gas flow channel material is not thick enough, the flow resistance increases and a pressure loss occurs, causing a gas separation membrane. It becomes impossible to obtain a predetermined pressure difference via the, and it becomes impossible to secure sufficient performance.

Further, when the thickness of the permeable gas flow channel material is determined so that the pressure loss is sufficiently small in the portion communicating with the exhaust pipe where the permeable gas flow rate is maximum in the permeable gas flow channel, Since the thickness of the flow path material is constant, the permeated gas flow path material becomes thicker than necessary from the exhaust pipe to the end of winding, and the outer shape of the wound gas separation membrane module becomes large. The volume efficiency with respect to the performance of the separation membrane module will be reduced.

Generally, in a spiral type gas separation membrane module, a method of supplying a raw material gas under pressure is adopted, so that the volume of the supplied gas becomes a fraction of the atmospheric pressure. On the other hand, since the permeable gas is at atmospheric pressure, the flow rate of the permeable gas is several times that of the supply gas, and the thickness of the permeable gas channel material is several times that of the source gas channel material. Therefore, the volume ratio of the permeable gas channel material in the gas separation membrane module is high, and how thin the permeable gas channel material can be
It is an important issue to improve the volumetric efficiency, that is, to improve the performance and reduce the size.

The present invention is intended to solve the above conventional problems, and an object thereof is to provide a gas separation membrane module having excellent concentration efficiency and volume efficiency.

[0013]

In order to achieve this object, the gas separation membrane module of the present invention is configured such that the permeating gas flow path member is a flat membrane-like gas separation membrane, or a part of which is a gas impermeable membrane. The gas separation membrane sandwiching the permeating gas flow channel material and the raw material gas flow channel material are overlapped to form a set, and at least one set is an air supply pipe for supplying the raw material air. Spirally wound around the air supply / exhaust pipe in which the exhaust gas and the exhaust pipe for exhausting the permeated gas are integrated, and at one end of the winding, the raw gas flow path material and the air supply pipe of the air supply / exhaust pipe communicate The gas separation membrane is adhered to the supply / exhaust pipe so that the flow path member and the exhaust pipe of the supply / exhaust pipe communicate with each other, and the one end of the winding end is formed into a bag shape so as to hermetically close the permeated gas flow passage. , Both ends in the winding direction are sealed so that the source gas passage and the permeation gas passage are airtightly separated. It was a gas separation membrane module, in the process leading to the winding start from the end winding, and has a structure obtained by sequentially increasing the permeate passage material.

Further, the permeating gas channel material is sandwiched between flat gas separation membranes or flat gas separation membranes partially formed of gas impermeable membranes, and both end portions of the gas separation membrane are sealed. Then, the gas separation membrane sandwiching the permeating gas channel material and the raw material gas channel material are overlapped to form one set, and at least one set is spirally wound around the exhaust pipe, and one end of the winding start is The gas separation membrane is adhered to the exhaust pipe so that the exhaust pipe for exhausting the permeated gas and the permeated gas flow channel material communicate with each other, and the one end of the winding end is covered with the gas separation membrane so as to hermetically close the permeated gas flow channel. A gas separation membrane module having the above-mentioned shape, having a configuration in which the permeating gas flow channel material is sequentially thickened in the process from the winding end to the winding start.

[0015]

With this configuration, the permeated gas flow channel material having a high volume ratio can be reduced in the gas separation membrane module, and even if the permeated gas flow rate is gradually increased during the process from the end of winding to the beginning of winding, the permeated gas is accordingly increased. Since the flow path material becomes thicker and the flow path becomes larger, it is possible to realize a gas separation membrane module with high volume efficiency without performance deterioration due to pressure loss.

[0016]

【Example】

(Embodiment 1) An embodiment of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings. FIG. 1 (a) is a sectional view of the gas separation membrane module of the present embodiment, FIG. 1 (b) and FIG. 2 are sectional views of the developed gas separation membrane module, and FIG. 3 is a usage example of the present embodiment.

In FIG. 1, reference numeral 1 is a raw material gas flow path member, and one sheet of polyethylene mesh of 15 mesh having a thickness of 0.4 mm is used. Reference numeral 2 denotes a gas separation composite membrane, which has an asymmetric structure in which a gas separation membrane of poly (4-methylpentene 1) is laminated on a porous support, and polydimethylsiloxane is further laminated thereon, and the separation membrane side is the raw material gas flow path member 1 It is arranged to face.

Reference numeral 3 denotes a permeating gas flow path material, which has a thickness of 0.4 mm and is 1
5 mesh polyethylene molding net 1 from the end of winding
It is composed of 1 sheet up to 00 cm, and 1 sheet every 50 cm thereafter. 4 is a gas impermeable membrane and has a thickness of 1
It is a polyester film of 00 μm. Reference numeral 5 denotes an air supply / exhaust pipe, in which an air supply pipe 6 and an exhaust pipe 7 are independently arranged in parallel in the longitudinal direction, and the air supply pipe 6 and the exhaust pipe 7 each have a hole communicating with the outside.

The gas separation composite membrane 2 and the gas impermeable membrane 4 are connected to the air supply / exhaust pipe 5 so that the above-mentioned raw material gas flow passage material 1 communicates with the air supply pipe 6 and the permeated gas flow passage material 3 communicates with the exhaust pipe 7. After air-tightly adhering and spirally winding the material of the gas impermeable membrane 4 from the raw material gas flow path material 1 around the supply / exhaust pipe 5, the gas separation composite membrane 2 is formed at one end of the end of the winding of the gas separation composite membrane 2. 2 and the gas impermeable film 4 are airtightly adhered, and the other two sides are adhesively sealed by the sealing material 8 so as to airtightly separate the raw material gas passage and the permeable gas passage as shown in FIG.

In the gas separation membrane module configured as described above, the amount of the permeated gas flow channel material used is smaller than that of the gas separation membrane module similarly prepared by making only the permeated gas flow channel material to have a constant thickness. It was almost halved, and the outer diameter of the gas separation membrane module was reduced by 30 mm.

Further, as shown in FIG. 3, the gas separation membrane module is housed in the pressure vessel 9 and the air supply pipes 6 to 59 are provided.
Air pressurized to ² Pa (5 kgf / cm ² G) 4.2 × 1
0 ⁻⁴ m ³ / s (25 l / min) is supplied, and the flow rate of nitrogen-enriched air obtained from the flow rate control valve 10 is 8.3 × 10 ⁻⁵ m 2.
^When adjusted to ³ / s (5 l / min), the nitrogen concentration was 9
It was 7.5%.

As described above, according to the present embodiment, the permeable gas flow channel material is sandwiched between the gas impermeable membrane and the flat membrane-like gas separation membrane, and the permeable gas flow channel material is sandwiched and the raw material gas flow. The road material is overlapped to form one set, and one set or a plurality of sets is spirally wound around an air supply / exhaust pipe in which an air supply pipe for supplying raw material air and an exhaust pipe for exhausting permeated gas are integrated. , At one end of the winding start, the feed gas pipe and the air supply pipe of the air supply / exhaust pipe communicate with each other, and the gas permeation pipe and the gas non-permeable membrane and the gas supply / exhaust pipe communicate with the exhaust pipe of the air supply / exhaust pipe. The gas separation membrane is bonded, and the non-permeable gas permeable material and the gas separation membrane are bonded in a bag shape so that the permeate gas flow path is hermetically closed at one end, and both ends in the winding direction are the raw material gas flow path. And the permeable gas flow passage are hermetically sealed so that the permeable gas flow passage material is removed during the process from the end of winding to the beginning of winding. By following thick, high gas separation membrane module of volumetric efficiency.

The number of stacked nets constituting the permeation gas flow path member 3 of the gas separation membrane module of this embodiment and the length of each of the stacked nets are the space per unit volume of the net. , The gas permeation performance of the gas separation membrane, the gas separation performance, the recovery rate of the gas separation membrane module (the ratio of the nitrogen-enriched air amount to the supply air amount), etc., the optimum value is determined. The value is not limited.

The permeating gas flow path member 3 of the gas separation membrane module of this embodiment was formed by laminating polyethylene nets, which are nets made of resin such as polypropylene or polyvinyl chloride, or urethane, There is no particular limitation as long as it is a molded resin product that forms a gas flow path, such as foamed foam using polystyrene or the like, or nonwoven fabric using polyester or the like.

Further, in the present embodiment, the net having a constant thickness is laminated, but as shown in 3-1 of FIG. 2, the net and the above-mentioned flow path member are integrally formed so that the thickness can be smoothly changed. A molded structure may be used, in which case the volume efficiency is improved, deformation of the gas separation membrane due to the step of the net can be avoided, and the number of winding steps can be reduced.

(Embodiment 2) A second embodiment of the present invention will be described below with reference to FIG.

Reference numeral 1 is a raw material gas flow path material, which has the same structure as that of the first embodiment, but the length in the winding direction is halved.
Reference numeral 2 denotes a gas separation composite membrane, which has the same configuration as that of the first embodiment,
The permeable gas flow channel member 3 is folded back so as to sandwich it, the folded back portion is the end of winding, and both end portions are sealed.
Further, a gas non-permeable membrane 4 is adhered to the folded portion of the gas separation composite membrane 2, and the gas non-permeable membrane 4 covers the outer periphery of the gas separation composite membrane 2. Reference numeral 3 denotes a permeated gas flow channel material, which also has the same configuration as that of the first embodiment, but has one sheet from the end of winding to 50 cm, and thereafter has a configuration in which one sheet is added every 25 cm.

The gas separation composite membrane 2 is airtightly adhered to the air supply / exhaust pipe 5 so that the above-mentioned raw material gas flow channel material 1 communicates with the air supply pipe 6 and the permeated gas flow channel material 3 communicates with the exhaust pipe 7. The material of the gas impermeable membrane 4 is spirally wound around the air supply / exhaust pipe 5 from the gas flow path material 1. The outer diameter of this gas separation membrane module was 10 mm smaller than that of the gas separation membrane module of Example 1.

The gas separation membrane module configured as described above is housed in the pressure vessel 9 as shown in FIG. 3, and the air 4.2 pressurized from the air supply pipe 6 to 592 Pa (5 kgf / cm ² G). × 10 ^-4 m ³ 3 / s (25 l / min) is supplied,
The flow rate of nitrogen enriched air obtained from the flow rate control valve 10 is set to 8.3.
When adjusted to × 10 ^-5 m ³ / s (5 l / min), the nitrogen concentration was 97.4%.

As described above, according to this embodiment, the permeable gas flow channel member is sandwiched between the flat membrane-like gas separation membranes, a part of which is a gas impermeable film, and the permeable gas flow channel member is sandwiched. The gas separation membrane and the raw material gas flow path member are overlapped to form one set, and one set or a plurality of sets is used as a supply / exhaust pipe in which the supply pipe for supplying the raw material air and the exhaust pipe for exhausting the permeated gas are integrated. It is spirally wound around, and at one end of the winding start, the raw gas flow path material and the supply / exhaust pipe supply pipe are connected, and the permeated gas flow path material and the supply / exhaust pipe exhaust pipe are connected. Adhere a gas separation membrane to the tube so that one end of the winding end of the gas separation membrane becomes the folded portion of the gas separation membrane, and both ends in the winding direction air-tightly separate the raw gas passage and the permeation gas passage. Sealing, and by gradually increasing the thickness of the permeation gas channel material in the process from the end of winding to the beginning of winding. Further reduces the permeate channel material,
Volume efficiency can be further improved.

[0031]

As described above, according to the present invention, the permeable gas flow path member is sandwiched between flat gas separation membranes or flat gas separation membranes partially formed of gas impermeable membranes. , A gas separation membrane sandwiching the permeated gas channel material and a raw material gas channel material are overlapped to form one set, and one set or a plurality of sets is an air supply pipe for supplying the raw material air and an exhaust pipe for exhausting the permeated gas. Spirally wound around the air supply / exhaust pipe in which the and are integrated, and at one end of the winding start, the raw material gas flow path member and the air supply pipe of the air supply / exhaust pipe communicate with each other,
In addition, a gas separation membrane is bonded to the air supply / exhaust pipe so that the permeated gas flow path member and the exhaust pipe of the air supply / exhaust pipe communicate with each other, and a gas separation membrane is formed in a bag so as to hermetically close the permeated gas flow path at one end of the winding end. The both ends of the winding direction are sealed so that the raw material gas passage and the permeating gas passage are airtightly separated, and the permeating gas passage material is sequentially thickened in the process from the end of winding to the beginning of winding. The gas permeation channel material is sandwiched between flat gas separation membranes or flat gas separation membranes partially composed of gas impermeable membranes, and both ends of the gas separation membranes are sealed. The gas separation membrane sandwiching the permeation gas flow channel material and the raw material gas flow channel material are overlapped to form one set, and one set or a plurality of sets is spirally wound around the exhaust pipe, and one end of the winding start is Attach a gas separation membrane to the exhaust pipe so that the exhaust pipe that exhausts the permeated gas and the permeated gas channel material are in communication, and At one end, the gas separation membrane is formed in a bag shape so as to hermetically close the permeation gas flow path, and the permeation gas flow path material is gradually thickened in the process from the end of winding to the start of winding Even if the flow rate of the permeated gas gradually increases in the process of winding, the flow path material becomes thicker and the flow path becomes larger accordingly, so there is no performance loss due to pressure loss and the gas separation membrane module has high volume efficiency. Can be realized.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1A is a sectional view and FIG. 1B is a developed sectional view of a gas separation membrane module of Example 1.

FIG. 2 is a sectional view showing another gas separation membrane module of Example 1 which is developed.

FIG. 3 is a cross-sectional view showing an example of use of the gas separation membrane module of Examples 1 and 2.

FIG. 4 is a cross-sectional view of the gas separation membrane module of Example 2.

5A is a sectional view and FIG. 5B is a partially exploded perspective view of a gas separation membrane module of Conventional Example 1. FIG.

6A is a sectional view of a gas separation membrane module of Conventional Example 2, FIG. 6B is a partially exploded perspective view, and FIG. 6C is an exploded sectional view.

[Explanation of symbols]

 1 Raw Material Gas Channel Material 2 Gas Separation Composite Membrane 3 Permeable Gas Channel Material 4 Gas Non-Permeable Membrane 5 Air Supply / Exhaust Pipe 6 Air Supply Pipe 7 Exhaust Pipe 8 Sealing Material

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[Procedure amendment]

[Submission date] February 7, 1994

[Procedure Amendment 1]

[Document name to be corrected] Drawing

[Correction target item name] All drawings

[Correction method] Change

[Correction content]

[Figure 1]

[Fig. 2]

[Figure 4]

[Figure 3]

[Figure 5]

[Figure 6]

Front page continuation (72) Inventor Takaki Kobayashi 1006 Kadoma, Kadoma City, Osaka Prefecture Matsushita Electric Industrial Co., Ltd. (72) Inventor, Masaya Sugato 1006 Kadoma, Kadoma City, Osaka Matsushita Electric Industrial Co., Ltd.

Claims (2)

[Claims] 1. A permeation gas flow path member is a gas separation membrane in the form of a flat membrane,
Alternatively, it is sandwiched by flat membrane-shaped gas separation membranes partially composed of gas impermeable membranes, and the gas separation membrane sandwiching the permeation gas flow channel member and the raw material gas flow channel member are combined to form a set, and at least this A set is spirally wound around an air supply / exhaust pipe in which an air supply pipe that supplies the raw air and an exhaust pipe that exhausts the permeated gas are integrated, and one end of the winding starts with the raw material gas passage material and the exhaust gas. The gas separation membrane is adhered to the air supply / exhaust pipe so that the air supply pipe of the pipe communicates with the exhaust gas pipe of the air supply / exhaust pipe, and the permeate gas flow passage is airtight at one end of the winding end. The gas separation membrane is formed in a bag shape so as to be closed, and both ends in the winding direction are gas separation membrane modules in which the raw material gas passage and the permeation gas passage are hermetically separated from each other. A gas separation membrane module in which the permeating gas channel material is sequentially thickened in the process of starting the winding. . 2. A permeation gas flow path member is a flat membrane gas separation membrane,
Alternatively, it is sandwiched between flat gas separation membranes, which are partially composed of gas impermeable membranes, and both side ends of the gas separation membrane are sealed, and the gas separation membrane and the raw material gas sandwiching the permeation gas flow channel material. The flow path material is overlapped to form one set, and at least one set is spirally wound around the exhaust pipe, and one end of the winding start is such that the exhaust pipe that exhausts the permeated gas and the permeated gas flow path material are in communication with each other. The gas separation membrane is adhered to the exhaust pipe, and the gas separation membrane module is a bag-shaped gas separation membrane so that one end of the winding end hermetically closes the permeation gas flow path. A gas separation membrane module in which the permeating gas channel material is sequentially thickened in the process of reaching.