Vertical skein of hollow fiber membranes and method of maintaining clean fiber surfaces while filtering a substrate to withdraw a permeate
USRE37549E1 · kind E1 · reissue
Assignee
Inventors
Key dates
| Filing date | Jun 15, 1999 |
| Grant date | Feb 19, 2002 |
| Priority date | — |
| Expiry date | Jun 15, 2019 |
Classification
- Technology area (CPC —)General
Abstract
A vertical skein of “fibers”, opposed terminal portions of which are held in headers unconfined in a modular shell, is aerated with a gas-distribution means which produces a mass of bubbles serving the function of a scrub-brash for the outer surfaces of the fibers. The membrane device is surprisingly effective with relatively little cleansing gas, the specific flux through the membranes reaching an essentially constant relatively high value because the vertical deployment of fibers allows bubbles to rise upwards along the outer surfaces of the fibers. Further, bubbles flowing along the outer surfaces of the fibers make the fibers surprisingly resistant to being fouled by build-up of deposits of inanimate particles or microorganisms in the substrate provided that the length of each fiber is only slightly greater than the direct center-to-center distance between opposed faces of the headers, preferably in the range from at least 0.1% to about 5% greater. For use in a large reservoir, a bank of skeins is used with a gas distributor means and each skein has fibers preferably >0.5 meter long, which together provide a surface area >10 m2. The terminal end portions of fibers i…
Source: USPTO / EPO open patent data. Objective bibliographic and citation counts.