The invention relates to a filter device (10) serving to filter a liquid, in particular for treating water. The filter device comprises: at least two plate-shaped filter elements (12) and at least one holding element (20) for filter elements (12). According to the invention, the holding element (20) comprises a holding frame (22), a grout material (26), and an end unit (24), which is separate from the holding frame (22), wherein the grout material (26) is arranged between the filter elements (12) and the holding frame (22), such that the grout material seals the filter elements (12) against the holding frame (22), that the end unit (24) is fastened on the holding frame (22) in a liquid-tight manner, and that the holding frame (22) and the end unit (24) delimit a liquid collection chamber (40).

A gas-permeable well for use with a bioreactor may include a reinforced gas-permeable membrane. The gas-permeable membrane may include an integrated reinforcing structure such as a stainless steel mesh or perforated screen, and may include an integrated gasket or O-ring, or other regions of increased thickness. A sensor brought into close proximity to the reinforced gas-permeable membrane may take an indirect measurement of a condition of process medium on the other side of the gas-permeable membrane, such as a measurement of dissolved oxygen or carbon dioxide.

A humidifier for transferring water vapor from a first gas stream to a second gas stream in a fuel cell system has a stack of thin plates joined together at their edges by planar sealing surfaces, with water permeable membranes between the plates. Each plate defines a gas flow passage along its top and bottom surfaces, with an inlet and outlet defined along edges of the plate, and a flow field extending between the inlet and outlet openings. Inlet and outlet passages connect the inlet and outlet openings to the flow field, with the planar sealing surfaces including bridging portions extending across these passages. Support structures are provided throughout the flow field to support the membrane and diffusion medium layer(s). Each support structure comprises a porous material which is sufficiently porous to permit gas flow through the flow field.

Nanofiltration of aqueous solutions or other water-based fluids in various applications, such as desalination, dialysis, seawater purification, for example, may be enhanced through precisely controlling a filtration cutoff within graphene oxide nanofilters. By initially compressing and constraining the stacked thickness of multiple graphene oxide layers deposited between porous substrates, the interlayer gap size, and thus, the filtration cutoff may be adjusted and optimized.

A housing (30) of a hollow-fiber membrane module (101) is so configured as to have a small-diameter part (3B) having an inner diameter smaller than an inner diameter of a flow regulation cylinder (9) facing a part of the housing (30) on which a nozzle (8) is provided, and which is arranged on a lower side than a lower end of the flow regulation cylinder (9) in an axial direction of the hollow-fiber membrane module (101); or the flow regulation cylinder (9) is so configured as to have a small-diameter part (9G) which has an inner diameter smaller than the inner diameter of the flow regulation cylinder (9) facing the part of the housing (30) on which the nozzle (8) is provided, and which is arranged on a lower side than the existing region of the flow regulation holes (10) in the axial direction of the hollow-fiber membrane module (101).

The gas separation membrane element contains a gas separation membrane, and a sealing portion for preventing mixture of a source gas and a specific gas permeated through a gas separation membrane. The gas separation membrane has a first porous layer including a porous membrane, and a hydrophilic resin composition layer disposed on the first porous layer. The sealing portion is a region in which a cured material of a sealant penetrates in at least the first porous layer in the gas separation membrane, and a thermal expansion coefficient A of the sealing portion and a thermal expansion coefficient B of a material forming the first porous layer satisfy a relation (I):

0.35A/B1.0 (I).

A membrane casing that watertightly houses a membrane element for filtering raw water includes a tubular casing main body, a lid body, and a pressing mechanism. The casing main body houses a membrane element. The lid body fits an opening end of the casing main body and is movable in the axial direction of the casing main body while maintaining the attitude and while securing watertightness with the casing main body. The pressing mechanism and presses the lid body to press and hold the membrane element housed in the casing main body. The membrane casing has a simple configuration capable of watertightly securing using a predetermined pressing force by accommodating variations in size of the membrane element, even if the membrane casing cannot be formed into a cylindrical shape.

A sheet filter membrane is arranged on a surface of a filter plate of a thermoplastic resin, and a plurality of projections provided in a hot plate is pressed against the filter plate above a periphery of the filter membrane with different timing for each of the projections to abut on the filter membrane. A plurality of recessed bonding portions with different depths are thus formed in the filter plate, and the filter membrane is bonded to the filter plate by heat welding in each of the recessed bonding portions. Sealing is therefore provided between the filter membrane and the filter plate along the periphery of the filter membrane.

A low-cost membrane cartridge and a low-cost method for producing a membrane cartridge, in which fatigue durability can be increased with a simple structure, are provided by focusing on a bonding position of the filtration membrane onto the filtration plate. The membrane cartridge includes a filtration membrane disposed on both faces of a filtration plate made of a thermoplastic resin, such that a joining portion provided at the periphery of the filtration membrane is joined to the filtration plate. At least an inner edge portion of the joining portion has a downward inclination with respect to the surface of the filtration plate inside of the inner edge portion at an angle in a range of 10 to 45 degrees toward an outer peripheral edge of the filtration membrane. The joining portion is pressed and welded using a heating plate or an ultrasonic horn having such an inclined surface.

A laminate is provided comprising at least one polysulfone and/or polyethersulfone porous membrane heat bonded to a polyvinylidene fluoride substrate.