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AssigneeMarkel Corporation
InventorsKenneth Donald Hobbs, Robert Edward Jerman, Charles Edward Wolanski
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A tubular membrane module and its method of manufacture are disclosed wherein tubular membranes form an interference self-sealing fit with hard tube sheets with the aid of a hard hollow mandrel inserted at the end of the tubular membranes. The tubular membranes are comprised of porous, compressible PTFE and/or fluorocopolymers. The self-sealing method described herein requires no heat treatment, allows for ease of manufacture without destruction of the tubular membranes and without the processing complexity of utilizing any additional potting agent, extrusion, or chemical cross-linking of any polymeric adhesives. The self sealing PTFE tubular membranes have superb chemical resistance and temperature resistance, and through the benefits of this invention, offer higher pull-out resistance than typically observed with potting materials such as polyurethane and epoxy. In addition, the self-sealing method is reversible and non-destructive (whereas chemical potting and sealing methods using heat are not), as one can easily remove one or more damaged tubes and replace them.
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A tubular membrane module, comprising at least one tube sheet with one or more holes disposed therein;
A method for producing a self sealing tubular membrane module, comprising providing a containment shell, placing at least one tube sheet with one or more holes in the containment shell, placing selected ends of one or more individual polymer tubular membranes in corresponding respective holes of the tube sheet, and inserting one or more hollow mandrels into the selected ends of the tubular membranes whereby the tubular membranes are held in place in the tube sheet and compressed by a physical interference fit created between the insertable hollow mandrels and tube sheet to provide a fluid-tight fit that results in self-sealed tubular membranes with open ends.
An alignment tool comprising a disk having a plurality of parallel rods attached thereto, the rods adapted to be inserted into a tube sheet, with the rods in the tool configured to effect alignment of loose tubular membranes to allow for easier feeding of the tubes through a tube sheet.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.