Hollow fiber membrane cartridge-type humidification module and method for manufacturing same

#This application is a National Stage of International Application No. PCT/KR2015/013869, filed Dec. 17, 2015, claiming priority based on Korean Patent Application No. 10-2014-0186853, filed Dec. 23, 2014, the contents of all of which are incorporated herein by reference in their entirety.

#The present invention relates to a hollow fiber membrane cartridge-type humidification module and a method for manufacturing the same, and more particularly, to a hollow fiber membrane cartridge-type humidification module and a method for manufacturing the same in which commonly used hollow fiber membrane cartridges are inserted into and integrated with a housing, whereby products having a greater variety of capacities may be realized, the efficiency of use of the hollow fiber membrane cartridges may be increased, and the manufacturing time and cost may be reduced via simplified potting.

#A fuel cell is an electricity generation cell that generates electricity via a reaction involving hydrogen and oxygen. Such a fuel cell has advantages in that it may continuously generate electricity as long as oxygen and hydrogen are supplied, unlike general chemical cells such as, for example, a battery or a storage battery, and in that it has no thermal loss and is twice as efficient as an internal combustion engine. In addition, the fuel cell entails low emission of pollutants because it directly converts chemical energy produced via the reaction of hydrogen and oxygen into electricity. Accordingly, the fuel cell has advantages in that it is environmentally friendly and is capable of reducing the risk of resource depletion due to increased energy consumption. Fuel cells may be broadly classified, according to the type of electrolyte used therein, into a polymer electrolyte membrane fuel cell (PEMFC), a phosphoric acid fuel cell (PAFC), a molten carbonate fuel cell (MCFC), a solid oxide fuel cell (SOFC), and an alkali fuel cell (AFC), for example. These respective fuel cells basically operate on the same principle, but differ in, for example, the type of fuels used, the operating temperatures thereof, catalysts and electrolytes. Among the aforementioned fuel cells, the polymer electrolyte membrane fuel cell is known to be the most promising in small-scale stationary power generation equipment as well as transportation systems because it operates at a lower temperature than other fuel cells and may be reduced in size owing to a large output density thereof.

#FIG. 1 is an exploded perspective view of a portion of a hollow fiber membrane cartridge-type humidification module according to a first embodiment of the present invention.

#FIG. 2 is a cross-sectional view (longitudinal cross-sectional view) taken along arrows A-A in FIG. 1.

#FIG. 3 is a perspective view illustrating a commonly used hollow fiber membrane cartridge of FIG. 2.

#Hereinafter, the embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings so as to allow those skilled in the art to easily implement the present invention. However, the present invention may be modified in various ways and is not limited to the embodiments described herein.

#FIG. 1 is an exploded perspective view of a portion of a hollow fiber membrane cartridge-type humidification module according to a first embodiment of the present invention, FIG. 2 is a cross-sectional view (longitudinal cross-sectional view) taken along arrows A-A in FIG. 1, and FIG. 3 is a perspective view illustrating a commonly used hollow fiber membrane cartridge of FIG. 2. As illustrated, the hollow fiber membrane cartridge-type humidification module 100 according to the first embodiment includes a housing 110, commonly used hollow fiber membrane cartridges 200, a sectioning unit 130, potting portions 140, and covers 150.

#The housing 110 and the covers 150 may define the external appearance of the humidification module 100, and may be formed of a hard plastic, such as for example polycarbonate, or a metal. In addition, the housing 110 and the covers 150 may have a polygonal cross-sectional shape in the width direction, as illustrated in FIG. 1, or may have a circular cross-sectional shape, as illustrated in FIG. 6. The polygonal shape may be, for example, a rectangular shape, a square shape, a trapezoidal shape, a parallelogram shape, a pentagonal shape, or a hexagonal shape, and may have rounded corners. In addition, the circular shape may be an oval shape.