JPS6328648B2 - - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION The present invention relates to a hollow fiber type fluid separation element in which a large number of hollow fiber bundles having permselectivity are arranged in a specific structure, and a method for manufacturing the same.

A method for separating fluid mixtures using a membrane involves applying an energy gradient such as a pressure difference or a concentration difference to one or both sides of a selectively permeable membrane that preferentially allows certain components to permeate among the various components present in the fluid mixture. It is an operation that separates or condenses some components,
There are various applications for gases and liquids, including small-scale applications such as artificial kidneys and artificial lungs, and large-scale industrial applications such as desalination of seawater, concentration in the food industry, and even concentration of oxygen from air. Many specific examples include hydrogen separation in chemical plants.

On the other hand, the hollow fiber type is often used as a membrane type because it can increase the membrane area per unit volume and has a large capacity with a small size.Many proposals have been made for membrane separation devices using hollow fibers. The focus is on how to efficiently bundle yarns and form them into separated modules, and the focus is on the strength of hollow fiber single fibers, without mentioning problems such as single fiber breakage, and there are questionable productivity issues. can be seen.

For example, Japanese Patent Publication No. 44-5526 discloses a method of removing hollow fibers formed in a skein from the skein and manipulating a hook element to make the skein flat and lengthwise to form a single compact bundle. In this method, it is necessary to prepare a large number of the above-mentioned compact bundles to form a module, which has the disadvantage of poor productivity and the disadvantage that extra force is applied to the hollow fiber single fibers when making the compact bundles, which may cause the single fibers to break. have.

Furthermore, in JP-A No. 47-8595, a module is formed by winding a hollow fiber around a web, or in JP-A No. 47-22387, by winding a hollow fiber around a pair of supports positioned almost parallel to each other and winding the hollow fiber in a convoluted manner. However, productivity is poor because the means for feeding out the hollow fibers must be rotated at low speed to send out the hollow fibers, and the hollow fibers may be subjected to unexpected loads or torsion at the point where they are sent out. It also has the disadvantage of single thread breakage.

The inventors of the present invention have solved the above-mentioned drawbacks, and have made it possible to easily handle a large number of hollow fiber bundles and ensure reliable handling without damaging the hollow fibers. In order to achieve this, we have conducted extensive research and discovered that it is very effective to mold the material with a relatively gentle twist, and have arrived at the present invention.

That is, in the present invention, a hollow fiber bundle having permselectivity with respect to a fluid mixture is formed into a long and thin loop shape, and both ends are rotated relative to each other by 90 degrees or more to twist the hollow fiber bundle, thereby forming the entire hollow fiber bundle into a roughly cylindrical shape. After that, both ends are solidified and molded with a solidifying material while maintaining the twist to form a flow-tight structure, and an opening of the hollow fiber is provided at at least one end. An element; and a hollow fiber having permselectivity for a fluid mixture is wound around a winding device whose outer edge is missing at least one place, and a rod-shaped body is inserted into the missing portion of the outer edge of the device. After removing the yarn bundle from the device, the rod-shaped body and/or two other rod-shaped bodies are installed in the loop of the elongated loop-shaped hollow fiber bundle, and the rod-shaped bodies are relatively rotated by 90 degrees or more. After twisting the hollow fiber bundle to make the whole into a roughly cylindrical shape, both ends are solidified and molded with a solidifying material while maintaining the twist to form a fluid-tight structure, and at least one end is provided with an opening of the hollow fibers. A hollow fiber type fluid separation element manufacturing method is provided.

The hollow fiber used in the present invention means any hollow fiber having permselectivity that is normally used for fluid separation. In the present invention, one or more hollow fibers are wound multiple times to form a loop, and as a method of obtaining the loop-shaped hollow fiber bundle, at least one point on the outer edge is wound substantially in the axial direction. It is preferable to use a winding device with a linear cutout. The winding device includes, for example, a bobbin having a cylindrical roller with its outer edge cut off as shown in FIG. 1A, or a skein having a plurality of pin-like bodies arranged in a cylindrical shape. It is desirable that the outer edge, which is missing at one place, can be shortened in the radial direction. Note that the length of the loop and the number of single fibers included in the hollow fiber bundle can be appropriately selected depending on the use and size of the fluid separation element or separation module.

In the present invention, the loop-shaped hollow fiber bundle is formed into an elongated ellipse so that both ends thereof are relatively bent at an angle of 90 degrees or more, preferably 180 degrees.
The hollow fiber bundle is rotated more than a degree to impart a relatively gentle twist to the entire hollow fiber bundle.

It is preferable to use two rod-shaped bodies as a means for applying a gentle twist to the loop-shaped hollow fiber bundle, and a rigid rod-shaped or tubular support body is used for the hollow fiber bundle. It is preferable to twist the hollow fiber bundle in a winding manner. In the case of the tubular support, a plurality of holes may be provided to serve as passages for fluid.

In the present invention, after the entire hollow fiber bundle is twisted in this way to form a roughly cylindrical shape, both ends are solidified and molded with a solidifying material such as a resin while maintaining the twist to form a fluid-tight structure. The solidifying material used here may be any conventionally used material, and the solidifying and molding method may be any commonly used method. After solidification and molding, at least one end of the hollow fiber is cut, for example, to provide an opening in the hollow fiber.

FIG. 1 specifically shows an example of an embodiment of the present invention step by step, and the present invention is not limited thereby. First, FIG. 1a shows a state in which a hollow fiber is wound around a bobbin 1 whose periphery is separated (a bobbin support member inside the bobbin is not shown). The amount of hollow fiber wound onto the bobbin 1 is determined in advance either by the size of the module to be finally formed or by the amount that is easy to handle. In this state, the rod-shaped body 2 is inserted into the gap 7 of the bobbin 1 (at the positions indicated by arrows A, B, etc. in Figure A), and then the support member inside the bobbin 1 is contracted in the radial direction to open the hollow space above the bobbin 1. The thread is removed from the bobbin 1, and the inserted rod-shaped body 2 is gripped as shown in Figure b to form a hollow fiber bundle into a loop. At this time, another rod-shaped body 3 is inserted into the space C within the loop, and the rod-shaped body 2 and the rod-shaped body 3 are rotated relative to each other by 90 degrees or more to give the loop-shaped hollow fiber bundle a gentle twisted state. Make sure that the single threads do not fall apart. The rod-shaped body 3 may be inserted into the gap B opposite to the gap A in the state shown in Fig. a, and the state shown in Fig. B may be changed.

In the state shown in Fig. c, in order to fix the twist of the entire hollow fiber bundle, if the hollow fiber bundle is fixed at appropriate intervals in the longitudinal direction of the hollow fiber bundle as shown in Fig. d, with appropriate binding material 4 such as thread or tape. suitable.

While maintaining the twisted state shown in Figure c, mold harden resin at both ends of the hollow fiber bundle to form a fluid-tight structure as shown in Figure d, cut the resin at an appropriate position D in the longitudinal direction of the hollow fiber bundle, and remove the hollow fibers. By making the opening appear,
A hollow fiber membrane separation element is formed and put into use.

In figure d, rods 2 and 3 enter the mold, so there remains the problem that the mold becomes large, but in order to solve this problem,
Preferably, the hollow fiber bundles are tied together again in the immediate vicinity of the center of the hollow fiber bundles of the rods 2 and 3, and the hollow fiber bundles are cut at the rod insertion portion.

In Figure 2, a new rod-shaped support 5 is inserted into the loop in Figure b, and the hollow fiber bundle is twisted around the support 5 to increase the rigidity of the hollow fiber bundle and make it easier to handle. It is desirable that the length be set so that the end is slightly inside the position where the resin will be cut in the future.

The method for manufacturing a hollow fiber type fluid separation element of the present invention as described above makes it extremely easy to sort out a hollow fiber bundle consisting of a large number of hollow fibers, without damaging the hollow fibers that are prone to single fiber breakage. This makes it possible to handle them reliably.

Moreover, the hollow fiber type fluid separation element of the present invention has
Due to the structure of the element, in the fluid separation module using it, the contact efficiency between the fluid and the hollow fiber is high.
It has advantages such as high fluid separation efficiency.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

In FIG. 1, 1 is the outer edge of the hollow fiber winding device, 7 is the part where the outer edge of the device is missing, 2 and 3 are rod-shaped bodies, 4 is a binding material, and 5 in FIG. 2 is a rod-shaped support. , 6 in Figures 1 and 2
indicates a hollow fiber.

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1. A hollow fiber bundle having permselectivity with respect to a fluid mixture is formed into a long and thin loop, and both ends are rotated relative to each other by 90 degrees or more to twist the hollow fiber bundle to twist the entire hollow fiber bundle. A hollow fiber characterized in that after the hollow fiber is formed into a roughly cylindrical shape, both ends thereof are solidified and molded with a solidifying material while maintaining the twist to form a flow-tight structure, and further an opening is provided at at least one end of the hollow fiber. Type fluid separation element. 2. With the hollow fiber formed into an elongated loop, insert a rigid rod-shaped or tubular support into the loop, and wrap both ends of the loop at an angle of 90 degrees or more so as to wrap the hollow fiber bundle around the support. A rotating hollow fiber type fluid separation element according to claim 1. 3. A hollow fiber bundle in which a hollow fiber having permselectivity for a fluid mixture is wound around a winding device whose outer edge is missing at least one place, and a rod-shaped body is inserted into the missing portion of the outer edge of the device. After removing the rod from the apparatus, place the rod and/or two other rods in the loop of the elongated loop-shaped hollow fiber bundle, rotate the rods relative to each other by 90 degrees or more, and remove the rod. After twisting the hollow fiber bundle to make the whole into a roughly cylindrical shape, while maintaining the twist, both ends are solidified and formed with a solidifying material to form a fluid-tight structure, and at least one end of the hollow fiber is A method for manufacturing a hollow fiber type fluid separation element, characterized by providing an opening.