Provided are spacers, ion-exchange devices comprising spacers, and methods of preparing spacers for improved fluid distribution and sealing throughout an ion-exchange device. These spacers can include an internal cavity surrounded by a perimeter of the spacer. The perimeter can have a first opening and a second opening within the perimeter, and the first opening and the second opening can be located on opposite sides of the internal cavity. The spacers can also have a first and second plurality of channels located within the perimeter, wherein each channel of the first and second plurality of channels extends from the internal cavity towards the first opening or the second opening.

A submersible water desalination apparatus includes an array of generally parallel water separation membrane cartridges each having a water separation membrane, an impermeable cartridge wall surrounding the membrane, and a product water collection tube that collects from inside the cartridges at least partially desalinated product water passing through the membrane, and through which the at least partially desalinated water exits the cartridges and enters a product water collection manifold. The cartridges are mounted in a perforated divider plate. In embodiments, a) the manifold is adhesively bonded to a plurality of the collection tubes, orb) the divider plate is adhesively bonded to a plurality of the cartridge walls or ends, or both a) and b). The adhesive reduces the likelihood of leakage at the manifold or divider plate.

A submersible water desalination apparatus includes a plurality of water separation membrane elements, a product water collector that receives product water from the membrane elements, and a variable output motorized submersible pump having a suction side that receives product water from the product water collector and a discharge side that pumps product water away from the apparatus through a product water conduit for surface or subsurface use. An automatic control or coupling is employed to reduce the pump output upon the occurrence or onset of suction side cavitation, and discourage or prevent cavitation over a range of product water flow rates from the membrane elements.

A submersible water desalination apparatus includes a plurality of water separation membrane elements, a product water collector that receives product water from the membrane elements, and a variable output motorized submersible pump having a suction side that receives product water from the product water collector and a discharge side that pumps product water away from the apparatus through a product water conduit for surface or subsurface use. At least a portion of the product water is used to lubricate and optionally also cool at least a portion of the pump, motor or both the pump and motor.

A humidifier module is provided having a water vapor-permeable membrane having spacers defining a flow field arranged on either side of the membrane and having a yarn stitched into the membrane. The spacers defining the flow field are formed by the yarn stitched into the membrane. A humidifier, a method for making a humidifier module and a method for making a humidifier are also provided.

Embodiments of the present invention provide the integration of the function of the feed spacer, the permeate carrier, or both, as a part of the membrane sheet in a spiral wound membrane element.

Disclosed is a permeable membrane support having an attachable and detachable permeable membrane, the permeable membrane support comprising: a lower support; an upper support partially accommodated into the lower support; and a permeable membrane disposed between the lower support and the upper support. When the upper support and the lower support are engaged with each other in a snap-fit manner, the permeable membrane is sandwiched between a bottom opening of a cylindrical lower member of the upper support and a top face of a bottom support portion of the lower support.

A degasification system includes a plurality of degasification units which degasifies a liquid and a cylindrical housing which houses the plurality of degasification units in parallel. Each of the plurality of degasification units includes a hollow fiber membrane bundle in which a plurality of hollow fiber membranes are bundled in a cylindrical shape and a cylinder in which the hollow fiber membrane bundle is housed. The housing has an inlet, an outlet, and a sealing portion which partitions an internal space of the housing into an upstream side region on the inlet side and a downstream side region on the outlet side via the plurality of degasification units. The plurality of degasification units are configured such that pressure losses of the liquid differ depending on a distance from a central axis of the housing.

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.

Provided are a composition for forming a polyurethane resin used for a membrane sealing material, the composition having low viscosity and contributing to the formation of a membrane sealing material having reduced elution of low-molecular weight reaction products; and a membrane sealing material and a membrane module using this composition. Disclosed is a composition for forming a polyurethane resin used for a membrane sealing material, the composition including a base agent (A) and a curing agent (B), wherein the base agent (A) comprises an isocyanate group-terminated prepolymer (A1), the isocyanate group-terminated prepolymer (A1) is a reaction product between an isocyanate group-containing compound (a1) and an active hydrogen-containing compound (a2), the base agent (A) comprises diphenylmethane diisocyanate, the monomer content of the diphenylmethane diisocyanate is 35% by mass or less, and the curing agent (B) comprises a compound (b1) represented by Formula (1). In Formula (1), R represents an alkyl group having 2 or more carbon atoms. ##STR00001##