Mitsubishi Rayon Company, Limited

Masumi Kobayashi

Satoshi Takeda

Makoto Uchida

Kenji Watari

Seiji Hayashi

Masamoto Uenishi

Noriaki Fukushima

Hiroyuki Okazaki

Katsuyuki Yanone

Yoshihito Nakahara

Hisayoshi Yamamori

Ikuo Kinoshita

Masatoshi Kamata

Shinya Sueyoshi

Satoshi Miyashita

Kenji Honjyo

Akira Hoshide

Masanori Itakura

Manabu Yanou

Kenji Honjou

Osami Katou

A hollow fiber membrane module using a sheet-form hollow fiber membrane having excellent cleaning properties in which the pressure resistance of a hollow fiber membrane anchor section does not deteriorate, even when the membrane area increases; a hollow fiber membrane module unit using the module; a membrane filtration device using the unit; and an operation method therefore are provided. The hollow fiber membrane module comprises sheet-form hollow fiber membranes and an anchoring member which anchors the sheet-form hollow fiber membranes in a roughly parallel manner while maintaining in an open state at least one end portion of the sheet-form hollow fiber membranes. The shape of an end face of a side of the anchoring member from which the hollow fiber membranes are exposed is roughly rectangular, and the shape of an end face of a side of the anchoring member toward which the hollow fiber membranes open is roughly circular.

Hollow fiber membrane module, hollow fiber membrane module unit, membrane filtration device using the same and method of operating the same

A hollow fiber membrane module using a sheet-form hollow fiber membrane having excellent cleaning properties in which the pressure resistance of a hollow fiber membrane anchor section does not deteriorate, even when the membrane area increases; a hollow fiber membrane module unit using the module; a membrane filtration device using the unit; and an operation method therefor are provided. The hollow fiber membrane module comprises sheet-form hollow fiber membranes and an anchoring member which anchors the sheet-form hollow fiber membranes in a roughly parallel manner while maintaining in an open state at least one end portion of the sheet-form hollow fiber membranes. The shape of an end face of a side of the anchoring member from which the hollow fiber membranes are exposed is roughly rectangular, and the shape of an end face of a side of the anchoring member toward which the hollow fiber membranes open is roughly circular.

A catchment header allowing a plurality of membrane modules to be connected thereto, having a tubular catchment part with a Young's modulus of 4.0 GPa or less for collecting and taking out filtrated liquid from the membrane modules, wherein at least a part of the tubular catchment part is covered with a reinforcement member with a Young's modulus of 4.0 to 250 GPa, the tubular catchment part of the catchment header is preferably formed of a synthetic resin, and the cross sectional area thereof perpendicular to the longitudinal direction of the tubular catchment part is preferably 4 to 36 cm.

Catchment header and membrane module unit

The present invention provides a gas-permeable hollow fiber membrane having an inner diameter of 50 to 500 &#x3bc;m and a membrane thickness of 10 to 150 &#x3bc;m, which is preferably a composite hollow fiber membrane having a three-layer structure consisting of a nonporous layer having porous layers disposed on both sides thereof. Dissolved gases present in an ink can be removed by passing the ink through the bores of hollow fibers comprising such a hollow fiber membrane, and evacuating the outer surface side of the hollow fibers. This method makes it possible not only to degas inks with a slight pressure loss, but also to degas inks stably even if pressure changes occur during degassing.

Hollow fiber membrane for the degassing of inks, ink degassing method, ink degassing apparatus, method for the fabrication of an ink cartridge, and ink

The present invention provides a gas-permeable hollow fiber membrane having an inner diameter of 50 to 500 &mgr;m and a membrane thickness of 10 to 150 &mgr;m, which is, preferably a composite hollow fiber membrane having a three-layer structure consisting of a nonporous layer having porous layers disposed on both sides thereof. Dissolved gases present in an ink can be removed by passing the ink through the bores of hollow fibers comprising such a hollow fiber membrane, and evacuating the outer surface side of the hollow fibers. This method makes it possible not only to degas inks with a slight pressure loss, but also to degas inks stably even if pressure changes occur during degassing.

There is here disclosed a water treatment apparatus in which a membrane separation device is disposed above a gas diffuser device arranged in a treating tank, wherein diameters of gas discharge holes formed in the gas diffuser device are within a range of 1 to 10 mm, and a relational expression of 20<X/Y<300 is satisfied wherein X is a sectional area (cm ) of the membrane separation device in a horizontal direction, and Y is the number of the gas discharge holes of the gas diffuser device. According to this water treatment apparatus, the clogging of the pores in the surface of a separation membrane with a suspended substance can be inhibited, so that a stable filtration is possible for a long period of time.

Apparatus and method for treating water

The present invention provides a gas-permeable hollow fiber membrane having an inner diameter of 50 to 500 &mgr;m, which is preferably a composite hollow fiber membrane having a three-layer structure consisting of a nonporous layer having porous layers disposed on both sides thereof. This membrane can be used to remove dissolved gases present in an ink.

Hollow fiber membrane

An object is to provide a highly integrated hollow fiber membrane module and hollow fiber membrane module unit as filtration processing devices which are appropriate for miniaturization, and to also provide a purification tank with a hollow fiber membrane module unit installed therein. To achieve this there is provided a hollow fiber membrane module in which at least one end of a hollow fiber membrane with hollow fibers deployed in a plane is fixed with a fixing resin to a collector pipe in a fluid tight manner, constructed such that an open ended tip of the hollow fiber membrane is inserted into an aperture provided in the collector pipe, and in this condition, fixing resin is filled into the aperture and hardened, thereby securing the open ended hollow fiber membrane to the collector pipe. Also provided is a hollow fiber membrane module unit wherein a plurality of the hollow fiber membrane modules are positioned proximately, and a purification tank with the hollow fiber membrane module units installed therein.

Hollow fiber membrane module, hollow fiber membrane module unit which utilizes the module, and purification tank with the module unit installed therein

A hollow fiber membrane module comprising (a) hollow fibers, (b) a fastening member for fixing the ends of the hollow fibers while leaving them open, and (c) a structural member for enclosing and supporting the fastening member, the hollow fiber membrane module being useful in the filtration of water by suction from the surface to the inside of the hollow fibers with intermittent or continuous cleaning of the membrane surfaces of the hollow fibers, characterized in that the hollow fibers comprise a textile fabric containing hollow fibers as the weft and the cross-section of the fastening member perpendicular to the hollow fibers is shaped like an elongated rectangle. In this module, the hollow fibers rarely cohere together into a mass, and the membrane surfaces of the hollow fibers can be efficiently cleaned concurrently with the filtration, so that the loss of the filtering function is minimized.

Growing community of inventors

Nagoya, Japan

Masumi Kobayashi