WO2011016514A1 - Reverse osmosis membrane module and water purification system having same mounted therein - Google Patents

Abstract

A reverse osmosis membrane module (1) provided with: a reverse osmosis membrane (11) formed in a bag shape; a permeated-water-side spacer (12) disposed on the inside of the reverse osmosis membrane (11); and a supplied-water-side spacer (13) disposed on the outside of the reverse osmosis membrane (11). An antibacterial and antifungal agent is blended in the supplied-water-side spacer (13) of the reverse osmosis membrane module (1), and as a result, when a faucet (7) is closed, the antibacterial and antifungal agent blended in the supplied-water-side spacer (13) is eluted into water which remains in the place in which the supplied-water-side spacer (13) is disposed.

Description

Reverse osmosis membrane module and water purification system incorporating the same

The present invention relates to a reverse osmosis membrane module and a water purification system incorporating the same.

Conventionally, as a water purification system, residual chlorine in raw water sent from a raw water tank is removed with an activated carbon filter, then softened by a water softening means, and the softened raw water is filtered by a reverse osmosis membrane module to create purified water Are known (see, for example, Patent Document 1).

In the water purification system of Patent Document 1, the produced purified water is temporarily stored in a purified water tank, and is taken out from the purified water tank for use.

Furthermore, in Patent Document 1, the water purification system is provided with a chemical solution tank for cleaning and disinfecting the reverse osmosis membrane module and the purified water tank, and the microorganisms are disinfected by cleaning and disinfecting the reverse osmosis membrane module with a chemical solution. Is prevented from being blocked by microorganisms.

JP 2004-8958 A

However, in such a conventional water purification system, it is necessary to clean the inside of the pipe after using the chemical solution, and it takes a lot of labor for the cleaning operation. Moreover, since it is necessary to stop a water purification system at the time of the washing | cleaning at the time of use and after use of a chemical | medical solution, there existed a problem that it could not always use.

Then, an object of the present invention is to obtain a reverse osmosis membrane module that can easily prevent the reverse osmosis membrane from being blocked by microorganisms and to obtain a water purification system that can be always used.

In the present invention, a reverse osmosis membrane formed in a bag shape, a permeated water side spacer disposed inside the reverse osmosis membrane, and a water supply side spacer disposed outside the reverse osmosis membrane And a reverse osmosis membrane module for separating the feed water introduced into the water supply side spacer into the permeate water and the concentrated water, wherein the water supply side spacer is blended with an antibacterial and antifungal agent.

Moreover, it has a reverse osmosis membrane formed in a bag shape, a permeated water side spacer disposed inside the reverse osmosis membrane, and a water feed side spacer disposed outside the reverse osmosis membrane, A reverse osmosis membrane module for separating feed water introduced into a spacer into permeate and concentrated water, wherein the water supply side spacer is formed of a light transmitting member, and the UV light is irradiated to the water supply side spacer Is provided.

ADVANTAGE OF THE INVENTION According to this invention, it can suppress easily that a reverse osmosis membrane is obstruct | occluded by microorganisms.

FIG. 1 is a partially exploded perspective view of a reverse osmosis membrane module according to a first embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 2 is a perspective view showing an assembling procedure of the main part of the reverse osmosis membrane module shown in FIG. 1 in order from (a) to (c). FIG. 3: is a whole block diagram which shows an example of the water purification system in which a reverse osmosis membrane module is integrated. FIG. 4 is a partially exploded perspective view of a reverse osmosis membrane module according to a second embodiment of the present invention.

Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the drawings. In addition, the same component is contained in several following embodiments. Therefore, in the following, those similar components are given the same reference numerals, and redundant explanations are omitted.

First Embodiment
The reverse osmosis membrane module 1 according to this embodiment is incorporated in a water purification system P that produces purified water from raw water, as shown in FIG. 3.

Specifically, the water purification system P used in the present embodiment is mainly used as a device for purifying potable water, and the first pre-filter 2A, the first activated carbon filter 2B and the second pre-filter 2A are used. A pretreatment device 2 comprising a filter 2C, a pump 3 disposed between the first prefilter 2A and the first activated carbon filter 2B, the reverse osmosis membrane module 1, the water purification tank 4, and a second And an activated carbon filter 5.

Then, the tap water (raw water) introduced to the water purification system P through the piping Pa is removed by the first prefilter 2A (about 5 um) and then pressurized by the pump 3 to remove the first waste water. It is sent to the activated carbon filter 2B. At this time, residual chlorine is removed, and fine particles are removed by the next second prefilter 2C (about 1 um) to perform pretreatment of the raw water.

The feed water whose pretreatment has been completed is supplied from the primary side flow passage 6a of the on-off valve 6 to the water supply port 1a of the reverse osmosis membrane module 1, and the permeated water (clean water) filtered by the reverse osmosis membrane module 1 It is fed from the outlet 1 b to the pipe Pb via the secondary side flow passage 6 b of the on-off valve 6. The piping Pb is branched into a path leading to the water purification tank 4 and a path leading to the second activated carbon filter 5 and the faucet 7, and the purified water treated by the reverse osmosis membrane module 1 is supplied to the water purification tank 4 The water is supplied from the faucet 7 through the second activated carbon filter 5. On the other hand, the concentrated water which has not been filtered by the reverse osmosis membrane module 1 is discharged from the concentrated water discharge port 1 c through the pipe Pc.

Further, the pressure switch 8 is provided in the pipe Pb, the check valve 9 is provided in the secondary side flow passage 6b of the on-off valve 6, and the throttling valve 10 is provided in the pipe Pc.

And the water purification system P operate | moves as follows by setting it as this structure.

First, when the faucet 7 is closed, the clean water in the piping Pb is supplied to the clean water tank 4 and the water pressure in the path rises at the same time, and when the constant water pressure is reached, the pressure switch 8 detects and the pump 3 stops. As described above, when the pump 3 is stopped, the secondary flow passage 6b of the on-off valve 6 is maintained at high pressure by the check valve 9, but the water pressure of the primary flow passage 6a is discharged to the piping Pc for discharging concentrated water. The water pressure gradually decreases because When the pressure difference between the secondary flow passage 6b of the on-off valve 6 and the primary flow passage 6a reaches a predetermined value, the valve provided inside the on-off valve 6 is pushed by the pressure of the secondary flow passage 6b. And the primary side flow path 6a is shut off.

Next, when the faucet 7 is opened, the water stored in the purified water tank 4 is supplied, whereby the water pressure in the secondary side flow passage 6b of the on-off valve 6 and the piping Pb drops, and the pressure is constant. When the pressure drops below the water pressure, the pressure switch 8 detects this and the pump 3 operates. In addition, when the pressure of the secondary flow passage 6b decreases, the on-off valve 6 opens the one flow passage 6a, and the feed water passing through the pretreatment device 2 is supplied to the water supply port 1a of the reverse osmosis membrane module 1. The purified water discharged from the permeated water discharge port 1b is supplied from the faucet 7 through the secondary flow passage 6b and the pipe Pb. Thus, by configuring the water purification system P so that the pump 3 operates and stops by opening and closing the faucet 7, the water purification system P is always in a state where it can supply clean water.

Here, the reverse osmosis membrane module 1 is configured as shown in FIG. That is, the reverse osmosis membrane module 1 is configured to filter water by the reverse osmosis membrane 11, and as this reverse osmosis membrane 11, NF known as RO membrane (Reverse Osmosis Membrane) or nano filter generally known A membrane (Nanofiltration Membrane) etc. can be used. The reverse osmosis membrane 11 may be any membrane as long as it has a property of permeating water and impermeable to impurities other than water such as ions and salts, and is not limited to the RO membrane and the NF membrane.

In the present embodiment, the reverse osmosis membrane module 1 is used in a state in which the reverse osmosis membrane 11 is wound. Specifically, the reverse osmosis membrane 11 is formed in a bag shape in which only the center side to be wound is opened, and the reticulated permeate water side spacer 12 is inside the reverse osmosis membrane 11 in a bag shape. A mesh-like water supply side spacer 13 is arranged outside the reverse osmosis membrane 11 in the bag-like shape. The reverse osmosis membrane 11 is adhesively fixed to the water collection pipe 14 such that the open end of the reverse osmosis membrane 11 communicates with the inside of the water collection pipe 14 disposed at the center. At this time, as shown in FIG. 1, the reverse osmosis membrane 11, the permeated water side spacer 12 and the water supply side spacer 13 are alternately stacked.

Then, the entire outermost periphery of the reverse osmosis membrane 11 in which the permeated water side spacer 12 and the water supply side spacer 13 are disposed is wound around the water collecting pipe 14, and the waterproof membrane 15 covers the entire outer periphery.

Here, based on FIG. 2, the outline of the manufacturing method of the reverse osmosis membrane module 1 is demonstrated. FIGS. 2 (a) to 2 (c) show the process of winding the reverse osmosis membrane 11, the permeated water side spacer 12 and the water supply side spacer 13 around the water collecting pipe.

First, as shown in FIG. 2A, with the permeate water side spacer 12 sandwiched between two reverse osmosis membranes 11 formed in a strip, the water collecting pipe 14 side of the two reverse osmosis membranes 11 is The peripheral portions of the removed three sides are pasted together with adhesive A in the form of a bag. And as shown in FIG.2 (b), the reverse osmosis membrane 11 of 2 sheets, and the permeated water side spacer 12 are pressed.

On the other hand, as shown in FIG. 2A, a slit 14a for inserting the open side of the reverse osmosis membrane 11 formed in a bag shape is formed in the axial direction of the water collection tube 14 on the outer periphery of the water collection tube 14. And as shown in FIG.2 (b), the open side edge part of the reverse osmosis membrane 11 and the permeated water side spacer 12 which were pressed is inserted in the slit 14a, and it adhere | attaches.

Then, as shown in FIG. 2C, the water supply side spacer 13 is attached to the outside of the bag-like reverse osmosis membrane 11, and these are wound around the water collection pipe 14. Thereafter, the outermost periphery is covered in a watertight manner with the waterproof film 15 (see FIG. 1) described above. Although one set of the reverse osmosis membrane 11, the permeated water side spacer 12, and the water supply side spacer 13 are shown in FIG. 2, a plurality of sets may be provided and wound as shown in FIG.

Thus, by winding the reverse osmosis membrane 11, the permeated water side spacer 12 and the water supply side spacer 13 and covering them with the waterproof membrane 15, as shown in FIG. It is formed in a cylindrical shape centering on the water collection pipe 14.

And while the 1st lid 16 which formed the supply port 1a is attached to one end (the near side in FIG. 1) of the water collection pipe 14, a permeated water discharge port is attached to the other end (the back side in FIG. 1). The 2nd lid 17 which formed 1b and concentrated water discharge mouth 1c is attached.

The first lid 16 is formed with a closed portion 16a at the central portion that closes the one end of the water collection pipe 14, and the supply ports 1a are radially formed around the closed portion 16a. Thus, by radially forming the supply ports 1a, the entire circumference of one end side of the water supply side spacer 13 is communicated with the supply ports 1a.

The second lid 17 is formed with a permeated water discharge port 1b communicating with the other end of the water collection pipe 14 at the central portion, and a concentrated water discharge port 1c is formed radially around the permeated water discharge port 1b. ing. As described above, by radially forming the concentrated water discharge port 1 c, the entire circumference of the other end side of the water supply side spacer 13 is communicated with the concentrated water discharge port 1 c.

The function of the reverse osmosis membrane module 1 thus configured is as follows.

First, when the feed water pretreated by the pretreatment device 2 is introduced from the feed port 1a, the feed water is supplied to the entire periphery on one end side of the feed water side spacer 13 with a constant pressure, and then the water feed side spacer 13 And move in the direction of the concentrated water outlet 1c. While the feed water moves along the feed water side spacer 13, the water excluding the impurities in the feed water permeates the reverse osmosis membrane 11. Then, the permeated water (clean water) that has permeated the reverse osmosis membrane 11 is collected in the water collecting pipe 14 along the permeated water side spacer 12 in the bag-shaped reverse osmosis membrane 11 and moves inside the water collecting pipe 14 It is discharged from the permeated water discharge port 1b. On the other hand, the concentrated water containing the impurities which did not permeate the reverse osmosis membrane 11 is discharged from the concentrated water discharge port 1 c along the water supply side spacer 13. In addition, the permeated water side spacer 12 and the water supply side spacer 13 are provided in order to form a clearance gap between the wound reverse osmosis membranes 11, and to ensure a flow path.

Here, in the present embodiment, an antibacterial and antifungal agent is blended in the water supply side spacer 13 into which the supply water is introduced from the supply port 1a. Specifically, the water supply side spacer 13 is made of a material such as polyester or polypropylene into which an antibacterial metal such as silver or copper or an antifungal agent (TBZ) is kneaded (a material containing an antibacterial / antifungal agent) Are formed in a net shape. On the other hand, the water permeable spacer 12 is formed in a net shape of a material such as polyester which does not contain an antibacterial and antifungal agent.

Thus, by mixing the antibacterial and antifungal agent into the water supply side spacer 13, the faucet 7 is closed and the water flow in the path of the water purification system P stagnates, and the water supply side spacer 13 is kneaded The incorporated antibacterial and antifungal agent is eluted in the water remaining in the arrangement of the water supply side spacer 13.

As described above, according to the reverse osmosis membrane module 1 of the present embodiment, the antibacterial / antifungal agent is compounded in the reticulated water supply side spacer 13 disposed outside the bag-like reverse osmosis membrane 11 ing. Therefore, when the water stagnates in the reverse osmosis membrane module 1, that is, when the faucet 7 is closed, the antibacterial and antifungal agent compounded in the water supply side spacer 13 remains in the water remaining in the arrangement of the water supply side spacer 13. Elute. And while it is suppressed that microorganisms proliferate by the water supply side spacer 13 by the eluted antibacterial and antifungal agent, the microbe which propagated by the water supply side spacer 13 can be bacterized. Therefore, it can be easily suppressed that the reverse osmosis membrane 11 is blocked by the microorganism.

In addition, since the antifungal agent does not permeate the reverse osmosis membrane 11, it is possible to prevent the antifungal agent from being mixed in the purified water. As a result, even immediately after water supply, since it can be used immediately without draining water, waste of water can be prevented.

Further, according to the present embodiment, the permeated water side spacer 12 is disposed inside the reverse osmosis membrane 11, and the water supply side spacer 13 is disposed outside the reverse osmosis membrane 11, and the reverse osmosis membrane 11 is formed into a bag shape. While being fixed so as to communicate the inside of the water collection pipe 14 with the open side end of the water collection pipe 14, it is wound around the water collection pipe 14, and the outermost periphery is covered watertight with a waterproof membrane 15. The reverse osmosis membrane module is attached by attaching the first lid 16 having the supply port 1a formed thereon and the second lid 17 having the permeated water outlet 1b and the concentrated water outlet 1c formed at the other end. Form one. Therefore, the reverse osmosis membrane module 1 can be made cylindrical, and can be easily incorporated into the water purification system P.

Moreover, if the reverse osmosis membrane module 1 according to the present embodiment is incorporated into the water purification system P, there is no need to wash the reverse osmosis membrane module 1 using a chemical solution or the like, and a water purification system P that can be always used can be obtained. it can.

By the way, although the antibacterial agent is not conventionally used for the spacer by the side of water supply, the main reason is that the aromatic polyamide of a synthetic membrane is generally used as a material of a reverse osmosis membrane. This aromatic polyamide is weak to a high concentration of chlorine compounds and oxidizing agents, which may cause material deterioration. Moreover, since a reverse osmosis membrane is generally used for industrial use in many cases, it can also be mentioned as a factor that it is cheaper to periodically wash it than the cost of blending an antibacterial agent into a spacer.

As the antibacterial and antifungal agent, it is preferable to use a silver-based antibacterial agent and an antifungal agent (TBZ) which are non-oxidative and act at a relatively low concentration, and by containing them in the water supply side spacer 13, It is possible to suppress the performance decrease due to the blockage of the reverse osmosis membrane 11 due to bacterial reproduction while making maintenance of the drug cleaning unnecessary. Further, the water purification system can be used not only as a household water purification system P but also as an industrial water purification system.

Second Embodiment
As shown in FIG. 4, the reverse osmosis membrane module 1A according to the present embodiment is basically formed into a bag shape and wound, similarly to the reverse osmosis membrane module 1 of the first embodiment. 11; a mesh-like permeated water side spacer 12 disposed inside the bag-shaped reverse osmosis membrane 11; a mesh-like water supply spacer 13 disposed outside the bag-shaped reverse osmosis membrane 11; have. Then, the permeated water generated by the feed water supplied from the water supply side spacer 13 passing through the reverse osmosis membrane 11 is guided to the permeated water discharge port 1 b along the permeated water side spacer 12 while the reverse osmosis The feed water which does not permeate the membrane 11 becomes concentrated water and is led to the concentrated water discharge port 1c.

Here, the present embodiment is mainly different from the first embodiment in that the water supply side spacer 13 is formed of a translucent member, and the water supply side spacer 13 is provided with a UV lamp 20 for irradiating ultraviolet light. It is in. Furthermore, in the present embodiment, an optical fiber is used as the light transmitting member.

In the present embodiment, the UV lamp 20 is disposed such that ultraviolet light is irradiated to the water supply side spacer 13 formed of an optical fiber. For example, one or more UV lamps 20 are provided so as to be in contact with the wound water-supply-side spacers 13, and the UV lamps 20 are wound together with the water-supply-side spacers 13 to supply water formed by optical fibers with ultraviolet light. It arranges so that side spacer 13 may be irradiated. At this time, the terminals 20a and 20b of the UV lamp 20 are projected from the water supply port 1a of the first lid 16, and the terminals 20a and 20b and the respective UV lamps 20 are electrically connected. There is.

As described above, the UV lamps 20 are arranged to be in contact with the wound water-supply-side spacers 13, and the water-supply-side spacers 13 are formed of an optical fiber which is a translucent member. Can be widely distributed through the optical fiber of the wound water supply side spacer 13.

According to the above-described embodiment, the same operation and effect as those of the first embodiment can be achieved.

Further, according to the present embodiment, the mesh-like water supply side spacer 13 disposed outside the bag-like reverse osmosis membrane 11 is formed of a light transmitting member, and UV is irradiated to the water supply side spacer 13 A lamp 20 is provided. For this reason, the ultraviolet light emitted from the UV lamp 20 spreads over the wide area of the water supply side spacer 13 through the optical fiber (light transmitting member) of the water supply side spacer 13. As a result, the microbes propagated by the water supply side spacer 13 can be bacterized by ultraviolet light, and the reproduction of microbes in the water supply side spacer 13 formed outside the bag-like reverse osmosis membrane 11 can be suppressed. Therefore, it can be easily suppressed that the reverse osmosis membrane 11 is blocked by the microorganism.

Moreover, according to this embodiment, the transmittance | permeability of the ultraviolet-ray irradiated from the UV lamp 20 can be raised by using an optical fiber as a translucent member. Therefore, ultraviolet rays can be spread over a wider range of the water supply side spacer 13, and the bacteriostatic efficiency of the water supply side spacer 13 can be further enhanced.

As mentioned above, although preferred embodiment of this invention was described, this invention is not limited to the said embodiment, A various deformation | transformation is possible. For example, it is also possible to incorporate the reverse osmosis membrane module according to the first and second embodiments into another water purification system.

According to the present invention, it is possible to obtain a reverse osmosis membrane module capable of preventing the reverse osmosis membrane from being blocked by microorganisms, and to obtain a water purification system that can be always used.

Claims (6)

A reverse osmosis membrane formed in a bag shape, a permeated water side spacer disposed inside the reverse osmosis membrane, and a water supply side spacer disposed outside the reverse osmosis membrane A reverse osmosis membrane module for separating introduced feed water into permeate and concentrated water, comprising:
A reverse osmosis membrane module characterized in that an antibacterial and antifungal agent is blended in the water supply side spacer. The reverse osmosis membrane module according to claim 1, wherein the water supply side spacer is formed in a net shape using a material in which an antibacterial and antifungal agent is blended. A reverse osmosis membrane formed in a bag shape, a permeated water side spacer disposed inside the reverse osmosis membrane, and a water supply side spacer disposed outside the reverse osmosis membrane A reverse osmosis membrane module for separating introduced feed water into permeate and concentrated water, comprising:
A reverse osmosis membrane module characterized in that the water supply side spacer is formed of a translucent member and a UV lamp for irradiating the water supply side spacer with ultraviolet light is provided. The optical fiber was used as said translucent member, The reverse osmosis membrane module of Claim 3 characterized by the above-mentioned. In the reverse osmosis membrane module, the permeated water side spacer is disposed inside the reverse osmosis membrane and the water supply side spacer is disposed outside the reverse osmosis membrane, and the open side end of the bag-shaped reverse osmosis membrane is formed. While being fixed so as to communicate with the inside of the water collection pipe, the part is wound around the water collection pipe, the outermost periphery is covered with a waterproof film in a watertight manner, and a supply port is formed on one end side of the water collection pipe The method according to any one of claims 1 to 4, characterized in that the first cover is attached and the other end is attached with a second cover having a permeated water outlet and a concentrated water outlet formed. The reverse osmosis membrane module according to claim 1 or 2. A water purification system incorporating the reverse osmosis membrane module according to any one of claims 1 to 4.

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