Organic recovery method using hollow fiber microfilters

A method of removing a non-colloidal liquid phase organic compound from an aqueous system containing a mixture of separate liquid phases of at least two different components, one of which is said non-colloidal liquid phase organic compound comprising the steps of:

• providing a plurality of hollow hydrophobic microporous fibers, each fiber having an exterior surface, a longitudinal bore and micropores extending through each said fiber to the interior of each fiber;
• contacting said exterior surface of the fibers with said aqueous system;
• said micropores having a shape and/or orientation relative to flow of the mixture and a cross-sectional size sufficiently small to exclude the entry into said fibers of the aqueous component of said system due to surface tension of said aqueous component but permitting entry into said fibers of said liquid phase of said organic compound;
• and,
• inducing a pressure drop from the exterior to the interior of said fibers, said pressure drop being sufficient to separate said liquid phase organic compound from said aqueous mixture by passage of the liquid phase of the organic compound into said fibers but insufficient to pass said aqueous component through said micropores to thereby facilitate removal of said organic compound from said mixture.

A method of purifying oil contaminated with water in a liquid system having said oil in a free phase and in which said system includes a mixture of at least two different free phase components, one of which is said free phase oil, comprising the steps of:

• providing a plurality of individual hydrophobic microporous fibers, each fiber of said fibers having an exterior surface and a hollow interior;
• inducing a reduced pressure within said fibers relative to the exterior of said fibers;
• contacting, under said reduced pressure, said fibers with said liquid system;
• and
• drawing said free-phase oil from said system through said hollow interior of said fibers to provide a discrete purified oil phase free of water;
• said micropores of said fibers having a shape and/or orientation relative to flow of the liquid system and a cross-sectional size sufficiently small to exclude the entry into said fibers of said water due to surface tension of said water but permitting entry into said fibers of said oil.