System for maintaining a clean skein of hollow fibers while filtering suspended solids
US5944997A · kind A · utility
Assignee
Inventors
Key dates
| Filing date | Feb 17, 1998 |
| Grant date | Aug 31, 1999 |
| Priority date | — |
| Expiry date | Feb 17, 2018 |
Classification
- Technology area (CPC Y)Emerging Cross-Sectional Technologies
- CPC primaryY10S261/70
- WIPO fieldChemical engineering
- WIPO sectorChemistry
Abstract
The outer surfaces of hollow fiber membranes in a skein, or a bank or cassette of stacked skeins, are kept essentially free of solids by maintaining a substantially uniform flow of a stream of coarse bubbles through each of plural orifices in an aerator disposed beneath the fibers. Aerators for skeins used in microfiltration of wastewater in a tank are periodically flushed by injecting flushing air into permeate returned to the tank over a short period. The air is injected into returning permeate for less than 1 minute, preferably less than 20 sec so as to produce discrete masses of water which are flowed laterally through the body of the aerator, cleaning its walls and maintaining the orifices essentially free from plugging.
Source: USPTO / EPO open patent data. Objective bibliographic and citation counts.