摘要:
In a process for filtering water containing solids using filtering membranes (24) in an open tank (120), feed water (14) is introduced into the tank to replace permeate removed (36) from the tank to keep the membranes preferably immersed in water while permeate is withdrawn. From time to time the concentration of solids in the water in the tank is reduced through deconcentration steps in which a volume of water having an increased concentration of solids compared to the initial concentration of solids is drained from the tank and a similar volume of feed water is introduced into the tank. The membranes may remain immersed in water during the deconcentrations by adding feed water to the tank while retentate is withdrawn from the tank.
摘要:
To pot membranes in a header, a dense, viscous liquid, suspension or, preferably, a thixotropic, water soluble gel (30), is placed in a header pan in space reserved for a permeate channel. A plurality of hollow fibre membranes (10) are collected together and their open ends are inserted into the gel. A fixing liquid, typically a resin (14), is placed over the gel (30). The fixing liquid (14) surrounds each membrane (10) and then solidifies, simultaneously sealing the outer surfaces of the membranes and forming a plug in the opening of the header to complete the permeate channel. After the fixing liquid has solidified, the gel (30) is removed by various means. The space initially occupied by the gel becomes part of the permeate channel after the gel is removed. In one embodiment, membranes are grouped by a cushioning adhesive which later surrounds the membranes where they exit the completed header.
摘要:
A filtering element has ultrafiltration or microfiltration hollow fiber membranes extending horizontally between a pair of opposed horizontally spaced, vertically extending headers. Side plates extending between the pair of vertically extending headers define a vertical flow channel through the element. Modules are created by placing the elements in place without obstructing the vertical flow channels. Each element may be released from the frame, however, and removed by sliding it in a direction substantially normal to its headers without disassembling the remainder of the module. The elements have associated releasable water tight fittings between the elements and a permeate collector, the releasable water tight fittings being releasable by removing an element from the frame. An aerator below the module has a plurality of air holes located to provide a line of air holes below each element or below a side plate between each pair of elements. In a preferred process, permeate flux is less than 50 L/m /h and preferably less than 35 L/m /h, aeration to scrub the membranes is provided during periods of time when permeation is periodically stopped and accumulated solids are removed by periodically emptying and refilling a tank containing the elements. A bubble point test is applied to each row of the module in turn, the presence of bubbles in a particular flow channel indicating which, if any, elements of a row are suitable.
摘要:
An improvement to an outside/in hollow fibre membrane filtration system includes a source of suction on the lumens of the membranes or pressure on the outside of the membranes operable without producing permeate and an air collector to collect any air that passes from the outside of the membranes to their lumens during an integrity test. A method for testing the integrety of filtering membranes involves exposing a first side of the membranes to air while a second side of the membranes remains exposed to water. A transmembrane pressure forces air through defects of concern in the membranes. Air that passes through a set of membranes is collected and its amount measured and compared to an acceptable amount of air to indicate whether there is a defect in the set of membranes. Preferably, air is collected individually from a plurality of membrane units in a filtration train and the amounts so collected compared to indicate if one of the membrane units is defective.
摘要:
A filtration module has a plurality of hollow fiber nanofiltration or reverse osmosis membranes suspended between a pair of opposed headers. The lumens of the membranes are the retentate or feed side. The membranes are arranged in groups, such as sectors of a cylinder, and form preceding or succeeding stages. A permeate collection plenum is in direct fluid communication with each stage. The stages are connected by caps typically having dividers located at the ends of the module. The module is used to filter water and, when optionally fitted with hollow fibre membranes adapted to selectively rehect hardness causing salts, is used to remove hardness. Methods of cleaning using acidic solutions or gaseous carbon dioxide are discussed. Cleaning methods include adding acid to the feed water continuously or periodically during permeation, flushing the module with an acidic solution while not permeating and holding an acidic solution or gaseaous carbon dioxide in the module for a period of time while not permeating followed by flushing. A filtration system is also disclosed.
摘要:
An apparatus for withdrawing filtered permeate from a substrate is described. The apparatus has a header with a plurality of hollow fibre membranes extending from a first face of the header. Ends of the membranes are open to a receptacle for collecting permeate in fluid communication with a second face of the header. A portion of the substrate drawn into the lumens of the fibres as permeate may flow into the receptacle and be extracted through a permeate outlet of the receptacle. A pipe with holes for discharging bubbles near the first face of the header extends from the first face of the header from a location within the plurality of membranes. Holes may be located at various locations around the circumference of the pipe, at various locations along the length of the pipe or in arms extending outwards from the pipe. A system for withdrawing filtered permeate from a substrate held in a container at ambient pressure uses an apparatus as described above. The apparatus is immersed in the substrate such that the first face of the header is generally horizontal and the membranes extend generally vertically upwards from the first face of the header. A source of suction is applied to the permeate outlet and operated to withdraw permeate from the lumens of the membranes. An aeration system supplies pressurised gas to the pipe.
摘要:
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-brush for the outer surfaces of the fibers. The membrane device is surprisingly effective with relatively little cleansing gas, the 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; each skein has fibers preferably > 0.5 meter long, which together provide a surface area > 10 m2. The terminal end portions of fibers in each novel header are kept free from fiber-to-fiber contact with a novel method of potting fibers.