In a method for manufacturing an oxygenator, an intermediate spacer is disposed between a cylindrical heat exchange unit configured by winding a first hollow fiber membrane and a cylindrical gas exchange unit configured by winding a second hollow fiber membrane so that a first gap is formed between one end portions of the heat exchange unit and the gas exchange unit, and a first partition section of a first cover member is inserted into the first gap. In such an oxygenator, a first end portion of the intermediate spacer is located at a part that does not overlap the first partition section in a radial direction in the heat exchange unit and the gas exchange unit. The intermediate spacer is formed by winding an intermediate hollow fiber membrane.

Provided is a reverse osmosis spacer and a reverse osmosis element with a high recovery rate, and, more particularly, to a reverse osmosis spacer and a reverse osmosis element with a high recovery rate, which are capable of increasing a flow rate of produced water and decreasing less a salt removal rate in the reverse osmosis element during an operation at a high recovery rate with a structure of the reverse osmosis spacer that comprises the reverse osmosis element.

The present invention provides compact spiral-wound filter elements having cassette-like performance. The invention further provides filtration systems (e.g., TFF systems) and processes (e.g., SPTFF processes) employing compact spiral-wound filter elements having cassette-like performance.

An example separation system includes a stack of membrane plate assemblies. An example membrane plate assembly may include membranes bonded to opposite sides of a spacer plate. The spacer plate may include a first opening in fluid communication with a region between the membranes, and a second opening in fluid communication with a region between membrane plate assemblies. Adjacent membrane plate assemblies in the stack may have alternating orientations such that bonding areas for adjacent membranes in the stack may be staggered. Accordingly, two isolated flows may be provided which may be orthogonal from one another.

A support device is provided to facilitate assembly and/or disassembly of a filtration unit of a membrane filtration apparatus, which may be configured for production of a food product, by supporting a membrane element during the assembly and/or disassembly. The support device includes an engagement portion which is configured to detachably engage an end portion of an elongate housing of the filtration unit. The support device further includes a platform portion that projects from the engagement portion and is configured to support the membrane element during loading and/or unloading of the membrane element through an opening in the end portion.

An example separation system includes a stack of membrane plate assemblies. An example membrane plate assembly may include membranes bonded to opposite sides of a spacer plate. The spacer plate may include a first opening in fluid communication with a region between the membranes, and a second opening in fluid communication with a region between membrane plate assemblies. Adjacent membrane plate assemblies in the stack may have alternating orientations such that bonding areas for adjacent membranes in the stack may be staggered. Accordingly, two isolated flows may be provided which may be orthogonal from one another.

Disclosed herein is a gas separation section for separating a first gas from one or more other gasses in a separation device, the gas separation section comprising: a first membrane that is substantially planar; a second membrane that is substantially planar; a first substrate that has a first surface and a second surface, wherein the second surface of the first substrate is on an opposite side of the first substrate than the first surface of the first substrate; a second substrate that has a first surface and a second surface, wherein the second surface of the second substrate is on an opposite side of the second substrate than the first surface of the second substrate; and a mesh that is arranged between the second surface of the first substrate and the second surface of the second substrate; wherein: the first substrate and the second substrate are sintered plates; the first membrane is on the first surface of the first substrate; the second membrane is on the first surface of the second substrate; the first and second membranes are both permeable by at least a first gas and not permeable by one or more other gasses; the thickness of the first membrane in a direction orthogonal to the plane of the first membrane is less than 10 micrometres; and the thickness of the second membrane in a direction orthogonal to the plane of the second membrane is less than 10 micrometres. Embodiments provide an improved gas separation device over known techniques. Advantages of the separation device according to embodiment include improved performance, easy implementation, a modular design and a scalable design.

Embodiments of the invention provide replacements for a continuous layer of feed spacer mesh in spiral-wound reverse osmosis elements and replacing such mesh with discrete regions of feed spacer supporting the inlet and outlet ends of the element and a stiffening bridge feature to bridge between these regions at the tail end of each membrane leaf comprising the element during the element rolling process. The stiffening bridge feature prevents inward deflection of the inner layer of the membrane leaf during rolling, facilitating proper sealing of the adhesive through the permeate carrier to the adjacent membrane film using known membrane rolling techniques.

The present disclosure is directed ion-exchange systems and devices that include composite ion-exchange membranes having 3D printed spacers on them. These 3D printed spacers can drastically reduce the total intermembrane spacing within the system/device while maintaining a reliable sealing surface around the exterior border of the membrane. By adding the spacers directly to the membrane using additive manufacturing, the amount of material used can be reduced without adversely impacting the manufacturability of the composite membrane as well as allow for complex spacer geometries that can reduce the restrictions to flow resulting in less pressure drop associated with the flow in the active area of the membranes.

The present disclosure provides an electrodialysis stack that may be used for the treatment of an electrically conductive solution. The stack includes two electrodes (at least one is a recessed electrode), a plurality of ion-transport membranes and stack spacers. The membranes and spacers are arranged between the electrodes to define electrodialysis cell pairs. The stack includes an electrically insulated zone that extends substantially from a distribution manifold past the recessed edge of the electrode and substantially from the recessed electrode to the opposite electrode for a distance that is about 8% to 100% of the total distance between the electrodes. The overlap distance that the electrically insulated zone extends past the recessed edge of the electrode is calculated as:

distance in cm=(0.062 cm.sup.−1)*(exp(−60/total cp)*(area in cm.sup.2 of the manifold ducts of the concentrated stream at the recessed edge)+/−10%.