초록 ▼

An improved hollow fiber membrane device is obtained using an inner wrap extending no farther than 25 percent of the diameter of the hollow fiber bundle from the central, longitudinal axis of said bundle. The fibers within the inner wrap are not necessarily hollow. Optionally, an elastic outer wrap

An improved hollow fiber membrane device is obtained using an inner wrap extending no farther than 25 percent of the diameter of the hollow fiber bundle from the central, longitudinal axis of said bundle. The fibers within the inner wrap are not necessarily hollow. Optionally, an elastic outer wrap is also employed about the bundle.

대표청구항 ▼

In a hollow fiber membrane device comprising a plurality of hollow fiber membranes assembled in a bundle about a feed flow distribution means, said membranes embedded in at least one tubesheet and the lumens of said hollow fiber membranes communicating through the tubesheet, the improvement comprisi

In a hollow fiber membrane device comprising a plurality of hollow fiber membranes assembled in a bundle about a feed flow distribution means, said membranes embedded in at least one tubesheet and the lumens of said hollow fiber membranes communicating through the tubesheet, the improvement comprising at least one wrap of a foraminous material enveloping a major portion of the longitudinal dimension of a plurality of inner fibers assembled about the feed flow distribution means and wherein the inner fibers enveloped by the foraminous wrap do not communicate through the tubesheet, said foraminous wrap being positioned at a distance from the feed flow distribution means not greater than 25 percent of the longest cord through a cross-section of the outer surface of the hollow fiber bundle in the plane perpendicular to the longitudinal axis of said bundle and said foraminous wrap during operation of the device constraining movement of fibers within the wrap. A process for separating oxygen-enriched and nitrogen-enriched gas streams from a mixture of oxygen and nitrogen comprising: (a) introducing into the feed fluid distribution means of the membrane device of claim 10 a mixture of oxygen and nitrogen under pressure; (b) withdrawing from the lumens of the hollow fiber membranes an oxygen-enriched gas; and (c) withdrawing a non-permeate gas stream which has passed through the hollow fiber bundle, said stream containing a greater concentration of nitrogen than the feed gas.