JPS59179108A - End-face treatment of hollow yarn membrane separation module - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To repair completely the leak parts by sending a gas into a hollow yarn membrane from one end face of the hollow yarn separation module wherein both end parts are bonded and fixed with a casting resin, and providing the casting resin for repairing to the other end face. CONSTITUTION:While sending a gas such as the pressurized gas or air into a hollow yarn membrane from one end face of a module, a casting resin such as an epoxy resin or a urethane resin is provided to the other end face to repair the improperly bonded parts of the module. As the gas is sent into the hollow yarn membrane, the opening part of the hollow yarn is closed by the intrusion of the resin which is properly provided to the end face of the module to fill the improperly bonded parts.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION The present invention relates to a method for treating the end face of a hollow fiber membrane separation module, and more particularly to a method for completely and easily repairing leak spots on the end face of a module.

Hollow fiber membrane separation modules are widely used for processing various industrial liquids and gases, for medical purposes, and as equipment for producing ultrapure water.

In such a hollow fiber membrane separation module, for example, the hollow fiber membranes and the cylindrical case housing them are adhesively fixed at both ends with a cast resin, and the hollow fiber membranes are opened at the end faces of the cast resin. What is done is known.

When separating liquids using the above module, the stock liquid is supplied from one open end of the hollow fiber membrane, the concentrated liquid is flowed out from the other open end, and the obtained permeate is placed in a cylindrical case. The permeate is discharged from the permeate outlet. In this case, the stock solution and concentrated solution must not leak to the permeate side, and if leakage occurs, the performance of the module will deteriorate and it will become unusable. The cause of this leak is often due to poor adhesion between the casting resin, hollow fiber membrane, and cylindrical case at the end, and therefore, it is necessary to repair this poor adhesion.

Conventionally, as the above-mentioned repair methods, repair methods using decompression method (Japanese Patent Application Laid-open No. 135675/1982) and repair method using pressurization method (Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 138874/1989) have been proposed. Since the opening of the hollow fiber membrane is blocked during this process, the end must be further cut to open the hollow fiber membrane, which is very complicated and disadvantageous in terms of cost. Was.

The present invention has been made to solve the drawbacks of the prior art, and provides a method for repairing the end face of a module without blocking the openings of the hollow fiber membranes.

That is, the present invention provides a module in which a plurality of parallel hollow fiber membranes are adhesively fixed to each other with casting resin so that the hollow fiber membranes are open at both ends, and the inside of the hollow fiber membranes is formed from one end surface of the module. The present invention relates to a method for treating an end face of a hollow fiber membrane separation module, characterized in that a repair casting resin is applied to the other end face while blowing gas to the end face of the hollow fiber membrane separation module.

In the present invention, a gas such as pressurized gas or air is blown into the hollow fiber membrane from one end face of the module, and a repair casting resin is applied to the other end face to repair defective adhesion on the end face of the module. It is something to do.

Through this operation, the above repair casting resin is applied to the module end face without clogging the opening of the hollow fiber membrane due to intrusion of the resin because air is blown inside the hollow fiber membrane, and the repair casting resin is applied to the module end face and satisfactorily fills the defective adhesion area. be done.

When blowing gas, it is usually better to blow the air at a pressure of 0.5 kg/cn+ or more, preferably 1.5 to 2 kg/cnl, and if the pressure is 0.5 kg/cJ or less, the repair casting resin is a hollow fiber. May enter membrane openings.

In addition, as a repair casting resin, its viscosity is usually 200~200~
10,000cp, preferably 500-2,000cp
(7) Although there are no particular limitations as long as the resin is of the same type as the casting resin constituting the module, such as epoxy resin or urethane resin, it is preferable to use one.

The method of applying the above-mentioned repair casting resin to the mosier end face (q) is not particularly limited, but in addition to brushing, spraying, etc., for example, a repair casting resin layer can be applied uniformly and removably on the surface of the foam. It is possible to use a method such as pressing a repair material made of a resin into contact with the end face of the module, or contacting a transfer material made of a mesh screen coated with a repair casting resin against the end face.

Further, the hollow fiber membrane to which the present invention is applied has an inner diameter of 20 to 3,000 μm, usually 500 to 1.5 μm. ．． 500μm
, film thickness is 5-1,000μm, usually 100-500μm
Examples include m.

As described above, according to the present invention, by applying the repair casting resin to the other end of the module while blowing gas into the hollow fiber membrane from one end of the module, the hollow fiber membrane openings 93 are not obstructed. Since the repair casting resin can be applied to the end face of the module, there is an advantage that defective adhesion on the end face of the module can be completely and easily repaired.

Hereinafter, the present invention will be specifically explained with reference to Examples.

Example 3,700 polysulfone hollow fiber membranes with an inner diameter of 500 μm and a membrane thickness of 250 μm were housed in a vinyl chloride cylindrical case with an inner diameter of 77 mm and a length of 1077 mm, and both ends were adhesively fixed with epoxy resin. After the resin solidified, the hollow fiber membranes were assembled. A hollow fiber membrane separation module was obtained by cutting both ends so that they were open.

When a leak test was conducted by supplying pressurized gas to the outside of the hollow fiber membrane of this module, it was found that the pressure of the pressurized gas decreased and a leak point occurred.

Therefore, first, an epoxy resin with a viscosity of 500 cp was uniformly applied as a repair casting resin onto a polypropylene sheet, and this epoxy resin was transferred to a water-impregnated polyurethane foam to produce a repair material.

Next, air is introduced into the hollow fiber membrane from one end of the module.
While blowing air at a pressure of 5 to 2 kg/crl, the repair material was pressed against the other end surface of the module to transfer and solidify the epoxy resin.

A leak test was conducted again on the Mosier, which had undergone the end face treatment as described above, but no leakage points were observed. Further, the openings of the hollow fiber membranes were not blocked in any way.

patent applicant Nitto Electric Industry Co., Ltd. Representative Sanbe Hijikata

Claims (1)

[Claims] In a module in which multiple hollow fiber membranes are bundled in parallel and the membranes are adhesively fixed to each other with casting resin so that the hollow fiber membranes are open at both ends, gas is blown into the hollow fiber membranes from one end surface. 1. A method for treating an end face of a hollow fiber membrane separation module, the method comprising: applying a repair casting resin to the other end face of the hollow fiber membrane separation module.