The invention relates to a method of determining a permeation property of hollow-fibre membranes wherein the permeation property of the hollow-fibre membrane is determined on a hollow-fibre membrane bundle which has been introduced into a housing and has terminally open hollow-fibre membranes at a first end of the hollow-fibre membrane bundle and terminally closed hollow-fibre membranes at a second end of the hollow-fibre membrane bundle. The invention more particularly relates to a method of determining the clearance, more particularly the diffusive clearance of hollow-fibre membranes.

A method for predicting a change of at least one state variable, which characterizes a service life and/or performance of at least one air filter, includes the following steps: detecting at least one value of at least one influencing variable, on which the change in the at least one state variable per unit of time depends; detecting a time period for which the influencing variable having this value acts on the at least one air filter as a time duration; supplying the at least one value of the at least one influencing variable to at least one model which supplies an output quantity that is a measure for a contribution made to the change in the at least one state variable per unit of time that is caused by the at least one influencing variable; and determining the change of the at least one state variable.

A carbon dioxide (CO.sub.2) separation membrane plant abnormality detection system includes: an entrance unit through which gas containing CO.sub.2 enters a plant including a CO.sub.2 separation membrane module; a separation membrane module; a permeation unit configured to discharge the gas with the relatively high CO.sub.2 concentration, which is discharged from the separation membrane module, to the outside of the plant; a residue unit configured to discharge the gas with the relatively low CO.sub.2 concentration, which is discharged from the separation membrane module, to the outside of the plant; a measurer configured to measure information; and a controller configured to determine the presence of an abnormality, wherein the controller determines whether the plant is in an abnormal situation.

A container for liquids that measures flow using capacitive sensor strips. Capacitance data is processed to identify points in time when liquid levels reach or pass specified levels, and flow metrics may be calculated from these points in time. Embodiments may use one or more horizontal capacitive strips, which may be located in a removable sensing package that is not in contact with the liquid in the container. Because discrete points in time are used instead of analog fluid level measurements, flow metrics are more robust than previous approaches that use vertical parallel capacitors within the container to continuously measure fluid levels. The container may have a filter, and capacitance data may be used to calculate metrics such as filter flow rate and cumulative volume through the filter, and to identify when the filter needs to be replaced. Embodiments may use UV light to sanitize the liquid or the filter.

The present disclosure is directed to various methods and systems for monitoring real time efficiency of filters as well as testing the filters with tests that are similar to real world use of the filters to update technical specifications of the filters. The methods and systems monitoring the real time efficiency of the filters may utilize one or more particle counters to monitor their efficiency in real time. The data collected by the particle counters may be utilized to determine whether respective ones of the filters need to be replaced or regenerated by a backwash regeneration process. The updated technical specifications from the real world testing of the filters may be utilized in determining whether respective ones of the filters need to be replaced or regenerated. These real world testing and real time monitoring reduces the likelihood that workpieces are exposed to contaminant particles reducing scrap costs.

The present disclosure relates, according to some embodiments, to methods of marker based direct integrity testing of at least one membrane comprising: (a) dosing a feed fluid of a loop with at least one marker comprising at least one challenge particle, the loop comprising: the feed fluid; a pump comprising an outlet stream; a membrane module comprising the at least one membrane and a membrane module outlet stream, wherein the membrane module is in fluid communication with the outlet stream; a marker recycle stream in fluid communication with the membrane module outlet stream and the pump; and a means to measure particle concentrations; (b) circulating the feed fluid through the membrane module at least once to produce a filtrate comprising a filtered at least one marker; (c) measuring a filtrate particle concentration of the filtered at least one filtered marker in the filtrate to produce a filtrate concentration measurement; and (d) calculating a log removal value from the filtrate concentration measurement and the feed concentration measurement; wherein the log removal value is less than about 3 m.

A method for providing an air stream for a system, in particular a plant, includes the following steps: a. specifying an air requirement and a required degree of air purity of the system having the plant, and storing the values in a memory unit of a control module; b. cleaning the air stream in a filter module comprising filter elements; c. providing the air stream through the filter module to air inlets or air outlets of the system as a provided air stream; d. detecting a magnitude of the provided air stream and of an actual degree of air purity by a sensor system; e. comparing a magnitude of the provided air stream and of the actual degree of air purity to the stored values; and g. calculating a performance characteristic of the filter module. A volume of the provided air influences the performance characteristic.

The present application relates to a system for quality management of a filter unit disposed in an intake passage. The system includes a plurality of evaluation parameter detection units configured to detect an evaluation parameter relating to of each filter constituting a filter layer of the filter unit. By determining a distribution of the evaluation parameter based on the detection values, the quality evaluation is performed.

A medical electronic apparatus includes: a casing including a lid portion provided with: a first inlet duct; a second inlet duct; and an outlet duct, the lid portion being configured to open the second inlet duct when the first inlet duct is blocked; a detection unit configured to detect an open/close state of the lid portion; and an output unit configured to output information regarding blockage of the first inlet duct based on a detection result of the detection unit.

A method of integrity testing porous materials that is non-destructive to the material being tested. The inlet gas stream includes at least two gases, wherein one of the gases has a different permeability in liquid than the other, such as oxygen and nitrogen in water. The relative permeability of the gases is measured in the retentate stream, thereby avoiding accessing the permeate stream and potentially introducing contaminants to the material being tested. The integrity test is capable of detecting the presence of oversized pores or defects that can compromise the retention capability of the porous material.