JPS61141903A - Preparation of hollow yarn membrane module - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To uniformly distribute a stock resin between membranes without allowing the same to penetrate into the hollow part of each membrane, by coating the parts of porous hollow yarn membranes fixed in a fixing member with the stock resin prior to injecting and solidifying the stock resin of the fixing member to close fine pores on the surface of each membrane. CONSTITUTION:The vicinity of the end parts of the porous hollow yarn membranes 3 are coated with a liquid resin same to or highly compatible with a stock resin by an immersion method. the fine pores of the membrane wall of each hollow yarn membrane 3 is preliminarily closed by the coating treatment of said resin to prevent the liquid stock resin of a fixing member from penetrat ing into the hollow part of the hollow yarn member from penetrating into the hollow part of the hollow yarn membrane 3 through the fine pores of the membrane wall thereof by pressure applied when the hollow yarn membranes are fixed to a support member 1 by a centrifugal method. After the vicinity of the end parts of the hollow yarn membranes was subjected to coating treat ment, a hollow yarn membrane module is prepared by a usual mfg. process.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION [Industrial Application Field] The present invention relates to a method for manufacturing a hollow fiber membrane module, and more particularly to a method for pretreating a porous hollow fiber membrane used for manufacturing a hollow fiber membrane module.

[Prior art] Hollow fiber filtration membranes made of homogeneous membranes or porous membranes can have a larger membrane area than flat membranes, and are easier to handle than other filtration means. It is characterized by excellent filtration performance. For this reason, in recent years,
Application of modularized hollow fiber filtration membranes to fields requiring precision filtration or as artificial organs is being considered.

Conventionally, such hollow fiber membrane modules have been manufactured by filling the support member with liquid resin such as polyurethane, which is the raw material for fixing the hollow fiber membranes arranged in the support member of the module, and then using a centrifugal method. Generally, the liquid resin is manufactured by a method of solidifying the resin while moving it to a predetermined position within the support member of the module.

In the case of a hollow fiber membrane module that uses a homogeneous membrane as the hollow fiber membrane, the adhesive surface between the hollow fiber membrane and the fixing member is surface adhesion using a cylindrical surface. It was necessary to select the raw material resin for the fixing member in consideration of the material of the membrane.

On the other hand, in the case of a hollow fiber membrane module that uses a porous membrane as the hollow fiber membrane, the raw resin of the fixing member also penetrates into the pores of the membrane wall of the porous hollow fiber membrane and solidifies. The membrane and the fixing member were fixed in a physically fitted state, and there was almost no peeling between them.

[Problems to be Solved by the Invention] However, when manufacturing a hollow fiber membrane module using a porous hollow fiber membrane as a filtration membrane by a centrifugal method using a liquid resin, the following problem occurred. In other words, if a liquid resin with a relatively low viscosity is used as the fixing member, when the liquid resin is moved to a predetermined position by centrifugation and solidified, the liquid resin in the supporting member usually contains 0.
．． A pressure of about O1~0.5 Kg/cm2G is applied, but in order to improve adhesion even at this pressure, we have selected and used a liquid resin that is compatible with the material of the hollow fiber. The liquid resin sometimes penetrated into the hollow part of the hollow fiber membrane through the pores in the membrane wall of the porous hollow fiber membrane. This tendency becomes more pronounced as the size of the pores becomes larger. In extreme cases, the hollow portions of the hollow fiber membranes may become clogged and no longer function as a filtration membrane. On the other hand, if a highly viscous liquid resin is used to prevent this phenomenon from occurring, it becomes difficult to inject and solidify the liquid resin in a uniform manner between the multiple hollow fiber membranes. Ta. For these reasons, it has been difficult to manufacture hollow fiber membrane modules that use porous hollow fiber membranes as filtration membranes and have a predetermined performance while keeping the incidence of defective products low.

It is an object of the present invention to prevent the liquid resin, which is the raw material 1 of the fixing member, from penetrating into the hollow part of the porous hollow fiber membrane, and to provide a hollow fiber membrane in which the liquid resin is uniformly distributed between a large number of hollow fiber membranes. An object of the present invention is to provide a method for manufacturing a thread membrane module.

Another object of the present invention is to provide a method for manufacturing hollow fiber membrane modules having desired performance while keeping the incidence of defective products low.

[Means for solving the problems] That is, the method for manufacturing a hollow fiber membrane module of the present invention includes:
In a method for manufacturing a hollow fiber membrane module having a support member and a large number of porous hollow fiber membranes fixed inside the support member with fixing members, a fixing member is provided between the hollow fiber membranes arranged in the support member. Before injecting and solidifying the raw material resin, at least a portion of the portion of the porous hollow fiber membrane to be fixed within the fixing member is coated with resin, and at least a portion of the pores on the surface of the hollow fiber membrane are closed. The method is characterized by having a step of causing.

[Preferred embodiment for carrying out the invention] FIG. 1 is a schematic cross-sectional view showing a typical embodiment of a hollow fiber membrane module manufactured by the method of the present invention, and this drawing will be referred to below. The method of the present invention will be explained in detail.

The hollow fiber membrane module manufactured by the method of the present invention is
Basically, it is configured to include a support member 1, a fixing member 2, and a porous hollow fiber filtration membrane 3, and various other members may be added as desired. The support member 1 functions to support the entire hollow fiber filtration module, and typically has a cylindrical shape as shown in FIG. In some cases, one hollow fiber filtration module may have two or more supporting members l.

The porous hollow fiber filtration membrane 3 is made of thermoplastic resin such as polyethylene or polypropylene, and is bundled and fixed in a desired shape such as a U-shape or a straight line at a predetermined position on the support member 1 by the fixing member 2. ing.

In the method for manufacturing a hollow fiber membrane module of the present invention, first, the vicinity of the end of the hollow fiber membrane 3 constituting the module, that is, at least a portion of the portion fixed by the fixing member 2 is coated with a resin. The purpose of coating the hollow fiber membrane 3 with this resin is to close the pores in the membrane wall of the hollow fiber membrane 3 with the coating resin in advance, and when fixing the hollow fiber membrane 3 within the support member l by centrifugation, This is to prevent the liquid raw material resin of the fixing member from penetrating into the hollow portion of the hollow fiber v3 through the pores of the membrane wall of the hollow fiber membrane 3 due to the applied pressure. Therefore, it is preferable to carry out this coating treatment so that all the pores in the portion fixed by the fixing member 2 are closed, but only those with a relatively large diameter among the pores are closed, or It is only necessary that the pore diameter of the pores in the membrane wall be made smaller as a whole compared to before the coating treatment, so that it is difficult for the liquid resin to enter the hollow portion from the pores in the membrane wall.

As the resin used for coating the vicinity of the ends of the hollow fiber membrane, various types of resins such as liquid type and hot melt type can be used. Typically, liquid resins similar to those used as the raw material resin of the fixing member are exemplified, and examples thereof include polyurethane, unsaturated polyester, epoxy resin, silicone resin, and the like. In particular, in order to prevent peeling at the adhesive surface between the coated hollow fiber membrane and the fixing member, select a liquid resin that is the same type as the raw material resin for the fixing member or a liquid resin that has a high affinity with the raw material resin for the fixing member. It is better to do so.

Specifically, the resin coating treatment of the hollow fiber membrane is carried out by, for example, spray-coating the vicinity of the end of the hollow fiber with a liquid resin, or immersing the end of the hollow fiber membrane in droplet-shaped resin for a short time, and then The liquid resin is cured at room temperature or, if necessary, by heat treatment within a range that does not affect the porous structure of the hollow fibers. It is preferable that the thickness of the coating resin film formed on the surface of the single hollow fiber membrane by this coating treatment be as thin as possible. It can be adjusted by changing.

As for the manufacturing process of the hollow fiber membrane module after coating the vicinity of the hollow fiber membrane end, a conventionally known module manufacturing process can be adopted as is. That is, for example, after the hollow fiber membranes 3 are bundled into a desired shape and their open ends are closed or temporarily fixed, the hollow fiber membrane bundle is placed in a predetermined position within a support member, and then a liquid resin such as polyurethane or the like is used. A liquid raw material resin for the fixing member consisting of the following components is injected into the support member and between the hollow fiber membranes. Next, each member constituting the module is fixed using a suitable jig or the like, and at the same time, the liquid raw resin is sealed to prevent leakage, and then the liquid raw resin is moved to a predetermined position by centrifugation and solidified.

After the liquid raw material resin has almost solidified within the support member, the used jig is removed from the module, and the liquid raw material resin (resin has solidified) and unnecessary portions of the fixing member formed by the resin are cut and removed, and the hollow fiber membrane is removed. A hollow fiber membrane module is manufactured by opening the ends.

[Effects of the Invention] According to the method for manufacturing a hollow fiber membrane module of the present invention, the raw material resin of the fixing member does not penetrate into the hollow part of the hollow fiber membrane despite using a porous hollow fiber membrane. In addition, since a low-viscosity resin can be used as the raw material resin for the fixing member, it is possible to manufacture a hollow fiber membrane module in which the hollow fiber membranes are uniformly distributed within the support member. For this reason, it has become possible to manufacture various hollow fiber membrane modules containing porous hollow fiber membranes while keeping the incidence of defective products low, and it has become possible to expand the field of application of the modules.

[Example] Hereinafter, the method of the present invention will be explained in more detail with reference to Examples.

Example 1 Polyethylene hollow fiber [(EHF-207T, trade name,
Made by Mitsubishi Rayon■ Bubble point with ethanol
2.2Kg7cm2. For an inner diameter of 270 mm and a film thickness of 60 tiles, the entire part to be fixed within the fixing member was immersed in polyurethane adhesive (C-4403/N-4221) for about 3θ seconds, then pulled up and the excess adhesive flowed down. The film was coated by a method of removing the film, and was left to stand at room temperature for 4 hours to cure.

Approximately 1 hollow fiber membrane whose ends are covered with a thin film of polyurethane
Insert 0,000 pieces into a support member with a diameter of f1cmφ,
Next, polyurethane adhesive (C-4403/N-42
21) was injected into the support member and solidified by centrifugation at a rotation radius of 1.2 m and a rotation speed of +3 Orpm to form a hollow fiber module having a fixing member with a length of 6 cffi.

For the hollow fiber module manufactured in this manner, the fixing member portion was cut almost perpendicularly to the hollow fibers, and the hollow portions of the hollow fiber membranes were observed under a microscope, but no adhesive had entered the hollow portions. Ta.

Comparative Example 1 A similar hollow fiber module was produced under exactly the same conditions as in Example 1, except that the hollow fiber membrane was not coated with polyurethane.

When the hollow portions of the hollow fiber membranes were observed using a microscope in the same manner as in Example 1, it was observed that the adhesive had penetrated into the hollow portions of most of the hollow fiber membranes. Furthermore, in about half of them, the hollow portions were almost completely blocked.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

FIG. 1 is a schematic cross-sectional view showing a typical embodiment of a hollow fiber membrane module manufactured by the method of the present invention. 1: Supporting member 2: Fixing member 3: Hollow fiber membrane Figure 1

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1) In a method for manufacturing a hollow fiber membrane module having a support member and a large number of porous hollow fiber membranes fixed inside the support member by fixing members, a Prior to injecting and solidifying the raw material resin for the fixing member,
A hollow fiber characterized by comprising the step of coating at least a portion of the portion of the porous hollow fiber membrane fixed within the fixing member with a resin to close at least a portion of the pores on the surface of the hollow fiber membrane. A method for manufacturing a membrane module.