JPS6127609Y2 - - Google Patents

Description

[Detailed description of the invention] The present invention uses a selective gas permeable membrane to concentrate and separate a specific gas from a mixture of two or more gases through the membrane. This provides a modular structure that has the following features. In particular, the present invention relates to a flat module structure that is effective when a homogeneous ultra-thin film of 1 μm or less is used as a selective gas permeable membrane.

Various modules with a flat plate structure have been proposed in the past, and a typical example is the US patent by SA Stern.
There is one described in specification No. 3332216.

This is a structure in which the membrane is lined with a fibrous sheet, which is pasted on both sides of a metal wire mesh, and the periphery is sealed, forming a unit that is laminated.

The above structure is sufficiently effective when the permeable membrane has sufficient mechanical strength and thickness, and when the gas to be separated is an inert gas. Furthermore, if the permeable membrane is an ultra-thin membrane with a thickness of 1 μm or less, there is a risk that the membrane will be deformed and damaged due to the pressure difference between the inlet and outlet sides. Furthermore, depending on the properties of the gas to be separated, the internal wire mesh may deteriorate due to corrosion. The inventors of the present invention have improved these points and provided a structure that does not damage the gas permeable membrane and does not cause corrosion or other deterioration. The feature of this invention is that a selective gas permeable homogeneous membrane part consisting of an ultra-thin membrane is integrated with a porous membrane to form a selective gas permeable composite membrane. Alternatively, it is formed by airtightly covering an elastic porous body composed entirely of open cells so that the porous membrane side faces the porous body.

One embodiment of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings. Fig. 1 is a perspective view showing the overall structure of this module, and 1 is an outer frame with a U-shaped cross section made of metal, plastic, wood, etc. , 2 is a porous elastic body having an open cell structure whose interior is partly or entirely breathable, 3 is the aforementioned selective gas permeable composite membrane, and 4 is a gas permeation port to be separated. Second
The figure shows a cross section of the module, in which the selective gas permeable composite membrane 3 covers the surface of the elastic body 2 and is attached to the frame 1.
It is glued to keep it airtight at the points. Figure 3 is an explanatory diagram of the operation when the membrane is in operation, that is, when there is a pressure difference between the front and rear sides of the membrane. be. In the case of A, the selective gas permeable membrane composite membrane 5 lined with a fibrous sheet follows the shape of the net 6.
It deforms as shown at c' and returns to its original position at c when the pressure difference is removed. As this action was repeated, the membrane 5 gradually began to expand, and after about 20 repetitions, the membrane 5 expanded outward from the mesh portion by about 5 mm compared to the initial size. In another example, pinholes occurred after about 45 repetitions. On the other hand, in the configuration B, no deformation of the composite membrane 3 was observed even after 500 repetitions, and the initial performance was sufficiently maintained.
The elastic body 2 that can be used here has a small pressure deformation, is breathable inside, and has a moderately soft surface, and the following can be used. Made of pressed soft urethane,
A material with a compression rate of about 5 to 15 times by pressing, or a material obtained by re-curing the above-mentioned soft urethane with isocyanate, or a material obtained by partially impregnating and curing a suitable resin such as polyvinyl chloride,
Alternatively, sintered bodies of polyolefin resins such as polyethylene and polypropylene showed suitable results.

Although the modular structure shown in Fig. 1 is square, it can be configured in any shape depending on the purpose, such as round or oval. 1, it is possible to take out an arbitrary number and arbitrary shape from an arbitrary part of the outer frame 1, for example, in the form of a slit.

In FIG. 2, the elastic body 2 is installed in contact with the outer frame 1, and the peripheral edge of the elastic body 2 forms a passage for the gas to be separated into a recess provided on the inner surface of the outer frame 1. It may be fitted leaving a space.

The cross section of the outer frame is not limited to a U-shape, but may be round or rectangular, and is preferably hollow. The membrane 3 is bonded to the outer frame 1 at the portion d, but there is no particular restriction on the bonding method.
Any adhesive method can be used as long as the airtightness is maintained.

Also, as outer frame 1, height 30cm, width 70cm, depth 0.5cm
Make a square outer frame with a frame width of 1 cm, and use it as elastic body 2.
Using 10 times pressed softened urethane FS-10 manufactured by Inoue MTP Co., Ltd., a composite film in which a polydimethylsiloxane film with a thickness of about 2000 Å is installed as a homogeneous film on 25μ porous polypropylene (trade name Jyuraguard) as the composite film 3. A module having the configuration shown in FIG. 1 was made using the membrane. The composite membrane 3 is d relative to the outer frame 1.
The part was glued with rubber adhesive. Using such a module, a vacuum pump is used to vacuum the air through the gas permeation port 4 to 150 mmHg, and as a result of sucking air, oxygen-enriched air with an oxygen concentration of 32% is obtained at a rate of 7 per minute. I was able to do it. With this configuration, the vacuum pump was turned on and off 500 times, but no abnormalities occurred in the module or composite membrane. Furthermore, although continuous operation was performed for 500 hours at a constant temperature of 80°C, no change was observed. In this way, the module of the present invention is lightweight, easy to manufacture, and inexpensive, and has excellent performance that does not cause any damage to the membrane part and maintains stable characteristics over a long period of time. Indicated. As described above, the present invention has a selective gas permeable composite membrane consisting of a selective gas permeable membrane and a porous thin film as a support. The porous thin film side of the composite membrane and the elastic porous body are held together by the elastic porous body composed of the above, and it is lightweight, easy to manufacture, and low in cost. The present invention provides a selective gas permeable membrane module that maintains stable performance over a long period of time without causing any damage to the membrane portion.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

FIG. 1 is an exploded perspective view showing an embodiment of the selective gas permeable membrane module according to the present invention, FIG. 2 is a partially enlarged cross-sectional side view of the selective gas permeable membrane module according to the present invention, and FIG. , b are explanatory diagrams of the operation of the selective gas permeable membrane module according to the conventional example and the present invention. 1...Outer frame, 2...Elastic body, 3...Selective gas permeation composite membrane, 4...Gas permeation port.

Claims (1)

[Claims for Utility Model Registration] (1) Consists of an elastic porous body that has elasticity and is partially or entirely composed of open cells, a selective gas permeable membrane made of an ultra-thin membrane, and a porous membrane. a selective gas permeable composite membrane, a means for airtightly covering the porous membrane side of the composite membrane so that it faces the elastic porous body, and a space containing the elastic porous body,
A selective gas permeable membrane module characterized by comprising means for isolating gas from a space outside the composite membrane and extracting gas from the space containing the isolated elastic porous body. (2) Surround the elastic porous material with an outer frame, adhere selective gas permeable composite membranes to parts of both sides of the outer frame,
Utility model registration claim 1 in which the elastic porous body is airtightly sandwiched between selective gas permeable composite membranes.
Selective gas permeable membrane module as described in .