Spiraled surface hollow fiber membranes
OwnerAttila Herczeginventor
Life of this patent
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Abstract
Porous asymmetric hollow polymer fiber membranes having spiraled inner and/or outer surfaces, as well as filters and filter devices comprising one or more of the hollow fiber membranes, the filter and devices preferably being arranged to direct fluid flow from the inner surface of the membranes to the outer surface, and methods of using the filters and filter devices, are disclosed.
Claims29
A membrane comprising:
- a hollow fiber having an inside surface and an outside surface, wherein at least one of the surfaces comprises a spiraled surface.
The membrane of claim I, including an asymmetric membrane.
A method for processing a fluid suspension containing a macromolecule of interest comprising:
- providing at least one porous hollow polymer fiber membrane having a spiraled inside porous surface and an outside porous surface;
- contacting the inside spiraled surface of the membrane with the fluid suspension and passing the type of macromolecule of interest from the inside surface to the outside surface while retaining any undesirable material between the inside and outside surfaces.
A method of separating a fluid into a retentate and a permeate comprising:
- directing a feed suspension comprising larger macromolecules and smaller macromolecules into the central bore of a hollow fiber membrane, the membrane having an inside porous spiraled surface and an outside porous surface;
- passing a permeate containing the smaller macromolecules from the inside surface to the outside surface;
- and
- passing a retentate containing the larger macromolecules along the inside surface and the central bore of the membrane.
A method of preparing a hollow fiber membrane comprising:
- providing a spinning dope comprising a first polymer, a solvent, and a nonsolvent, in ratios sufficient to form a homogenous solution or a colloidal dispersion;
- extruding the dope in the form of a hollow pre-fiber from a nozzle, the pre-fiber having an inside surface and an outside surface, the nozzle including an inner or outer rotating element;
- contacting the outside surface of the pre-fiber with a coagulating medium;
- and
- coagulating the pre-fiber from the outside surface to the inside surface to provide a hollow fiber membrane with a spiraled inside and/or outside surface.
A method of preparing a hollow fiber membrane comprising:
- providing a spinning dope comprising a first polymer, a solvent, and a nonsolvent, in ratios sufficient to form a homogenous solution or a colloidal dispersion;
- extruding the dope in the form of a hollow pre-fiber from a nozzle, the pre-fiber having an inside surface and an outside surface, the nozzle including an inner or outer rotating element;
- contacting the inside surface of the pre-fiber with a coagulating medium;
- and
- coagulating the pre-fiber from the inside surface to the outside surface to provide a hollow fiber membrane with a spiraled inside and/or outside surface.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.