Osmotic fiber systems
US4805343A · kind A · utility
Assignee
Inventors
Key dates
| Filing date | Oct 20, 1986 |
| Grant date | Feb 21, 1989 |
| Priority date | — |
| Expiry date | Oct 20, 2006 |
Classification
- Technology area (CPC B)Performing Operations; Transporting
- CPC primaryB01D2313/23
- WIPO fieldChemical engineering
- WIPO sectorChemistry
Abstract
A hollow fiber formed of hydrophilic material and having permeable walls is treated to enhance the permeability. Reactions used to treat the fiber have a gas inside and gas outside, a gas inside and liquid outside, a liquid inside and gas outside, and a liquid inside and a liquid outside. The treatments generally involve the plasticizing of the fiber material while having the inside of the fiber at a higher pressure than the outside. These treatments produce a structural change in the fiber from a flexible tube having strong walls to expanded, rigid and somewhat fragile walls. Where more than a short length of the treated fiber is to be used, an open mesh cage is used to confine the fiber to a desired volume during treatment and to protect it subsequently. A technique for joining flexible tubing to the treated fiber is presented. The treated fiber may be used in apparatus and methods involving osmosis and reverse osmosis. Novel plant irrigation methods and apparatus are disclosed, and structures for changing the solvent quanties of solutes and measuring the osmotic pressures of solutions are also presented.
Source: USPTO / EPO open patent data. Objective bibliographic and citation counts.