Integrated hollow fiber membrane permeators and method of fabricating integrated permeators

Abstract

An integrated hollow fiber membrane permeator includes a plurality of groups of hollow fibers of permeable membrane material having internal flow channels extending therethrough with opposite first and second ends thereof open at opposite first and second end portions of the hollow fibers. The integrated permeator also include at least one elongated solid non-permeable support body encapsulating and supporting interiorly at least one of the respective opposite end portions of the hollow fibers. The solid non-permeable support body contains interiorly a plurality of flow disbribution passages which intersect and communicate with the open ends of the one of the respective opposite end portions of the hollow fibers. The solid non-permeable support body also has at least one external port opening to the exterior thereof and contains at least one flow feed passage communicating the plurality of flow distribution passages to the one external port. In other embodiments of the integrated permeator the other of the respective opposite end portions of the groups of hollow fibers are either free of or can be encapsulated by the one elongated solid non-permeable support body. In still another embodiment, the integrated permeator includes a second elongated solid non-permeable support body encapsulating and supporting interiorly the other of the respective opposite end portions of the groups of hollow fibers.

Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.