Devices and techniques may improve the permeate productivity in membrane distillation separation by modifying the feed and/or coolant sides of a membrane distillation module depending on the membrane distillation configuration. The bubbling of a carrier gas through the feed liquid in the feed liquid side of the module can increase the turbulent dissipation rate and/or enhance mass transfer across the membrane pores.

The hollow fiber membrane module contains a hollow fiber membrane bundle having bundled hollow fiber membranes, a housing with an internal space formed in which the hollow fiber membrane bundle is housed and a gas supply portion which disperses cleaning gas for the hollow fiber membrane in the internal space. The internal space has an upper space in which an upper-side part of the hollow fiber membrane is positioned and a lower space in which a lower-side part of the hollow fiber membrane is positioned. The gas supply portion is provided with pipe vent holes which disperse gas in the housing at a position in the upper space and diffusing vent holes which disperse gas in the housing at a position below the lower space.

A membrane filter configured to filter a liquid, the membrane filter including a base element including at least one membrane carrier that is externally flowable by the liquid and a gas; hollow fiber membranes respectively including lumen and attached at a top of the at least one membrane carrier wherein a liquid permeate is filterable from the liquid into the lumen; a one piece extruded circumferentially closed pipe that envelops the hollow fiber membranes; a gas inlet configured to let gas into a bottom of the membrane filter; at least one permeate collection cavity included in the base element and connected with the lumen and configured to collect the liquid permeate from the hollow fiber membranes; a permeate outlet included in the base element and configured to drain the liquid permeate from the at least one permeate collection cavity laterally from the base element.

A desalination device may comprise: a membrane distillation module comprising a water feed chamber, a carrier gas (CG) chamber, and a hydrophobic microporous membrane configured to separate the water feed chamber and the CG chamber; and a bubble column dehumidifier comprising a bubble column inlet, a bubble column gas outlet, and a product outlet, wherein the MD module allows water vapor to translocate to the CG chamber, but not liquid water, and wherein the water feed each chamber has comprises a water feed inlet and a water feed outlet, wherein the CG chamber comprises a CG chamber inlet and CG chamber outlet, wherein the CG chamber outlet is upstream of and connected to the bubble column dehumidifier, and wherein the CG chamber inlet is downstream of and connected to the bubble column dehumidifier so as to cycle a carrier gas through the CG chamber and the bubble column dehumidifier.

A system for generating sterile water is provided, including: a liquid holding container having thereon a container outlet; a filtration device including therein a low-pressure-differential pathogen filtration portion, wherein the filtration device has a filtration inlet and a filtration outlet; and a gas tube; wherein the container outlet is connected to the filtration inlet; wherein the filtration inlet has a gas hole with one end connected to the gas hole and the other end having a buoy; wherein the sterile water is substantially pathogen-free.

A membrane filter for filtering a liquid to be filtered, having a downwardly open base element through which flow can pass and which has a tubular shell and precisely one membrane carrier arranged therein, wherein the membrane carrier is connected to the shell by way of at least one anchoring point, having hollow fiber-type membranes fastened at the top in the membrane carrier, having a circumferentially closed pipe which, adjoining the top of the shell of the base element, surrounds the hollow fiber-type membranes, having a gas inlet into the base element, having at least one permeate collecting chamber, having at least one permeate outlet, and having at least one downwardly open flow chamber between the shell and the membrane carrier, which flow chamber has an outlet at the top, wherein the at least one flow chamber, in every horizontal section, adjoins both the shell and the membrane carrier.

Hydrogen generation assemblies, hydrogen purification devices, and their components are disclosed. In some embodiments, the devices may include a permeate frame with a membrane support structure having first and second membrane support plates that are free from perforations and that include a plurality of microgrooves configured to provide flow channels for at least part of the permeate stream. In some embodiments, the assemblies may include a return conduit fluidly connecting a buffer tank and a reformate conduit, a return valve assembly configured to manage flow in the return conduit, and a control assembly configured to operate a fuel processing assembly between run and standby modes based, at least in part, on detected pressure in the buffer tank and configured to direct the return valve assembly to allow product hydrogen stream to flow from the buffer tank to the reformate conduit when the fuel processing assembly is in the standby mode.

An immersed hollow fiber membrane module according to an embodiment of the present disclosure includes a hollow fiber membrane bundle formed by fixing a plurality of hollow fiber membranes by a potting agent, and a module supporting unit provided at one side of the hollow fiber membrane bundle to support the hollow fiber membrane bundle, the module supporting unit having an air cleaning time delaying portion configured to delay or intermittently maintain an air cleaning time for air introduced therein and discharged out.

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 embodiments include improved performance, easy implementation, a modular design and a scalable design.

A hollow fiber membrane module includes: a hollow fiber membrane bundle; a housing formed with a port for allowing a cleaning gas for the hollow fiber membrane bundle to inflow therethrough for accommodating the hollow fiber membrane bundle; and a diffuser having a receiving surface for receiving the cleaning gas having entered through the port, the receiving surface being formed with diffusion hole for diffusing the cleaning gas to the hollow fiber membrane bundle in housing. The diffuser includes a partition dividing a space under the receiving surface into an inner space and an outer space surrounding the inner space and permitting the cleaning gas having entered through the port to flow thereinto. The diffusion hole is arranged to allow at least a part of the cleaning gas flowing in the outer space to diffuse from the inner space to the hollow fiber membrane bundle.