This disclosure provides a method for concentrating a solution of a macromolecule that is retained on at least two semi-permeable membranes that have different molecular weight cutoffs (MWCOs), the method comprising passing the solution through a hybrid configuration of said semi-permeable membranes staged in series in a single pass tangential flow filtration (SPTFF) apparatus. The method is applicable to the efficient concentration of biological macromolecules such as proteins, antibodies and nucleic acids.

A membrane apparatus including a housing, a forward osmosis membrane dividing an internal space of the housing into an inlet region and a mixing region, and a pervaporation membrane dividing the internal space of the housing into the mixing region and a discharge region. The forward osmosis membrane separates a preliminary filtration liquid from an inlet liquid and provides the separated preliminary filtration liquid to the mixing region, the preliminary filtration liquid is mixed with a forward osmosis draw solution to make a mixed solution, the pervaporation membrane separates a final filtration liquid from the mixed solution and provides the separated final filtration liquid to the discharge region, the final filtration liquid is vaporized in the discharge region to make vapor, and an amount of the vapor is adjusted by at least one of a temperature of the mixed solution and a degree of vacuum of the discharge region.

A device for enabling controlled movement of ions between a first ion-containing fluid and second ion-containing fluid comprises at least one cationic exchange membrane positioned between the first and second ion-containing fluids, and at least one anionic exchange membrane in parallel with the at least one cationic exchange membrane positioned between the first and second ion-containing fluids. The one or more of the at least one cationic exchange membrane and the at least one anionic exchange membrane is a membrane electrode assembly comprising an ion exchange membrane, and one or more permeable electrodes embedded within the ionic exchange membrane. The number of cationic exchange membranes and the number of anionic exchange membranes is the same, and the ions move through the membrane electrode assembly in response to a variable capacitive charge.

A multistage membrane system and a process for treating a gas stream is provided in which the multistage membrane system comprises at least two membrane units wherein a first stage membrane unit comprises a polymeric membrane and a second membrane unit comprises a microporous zeolitic inorganic membrane or a combination of a microporous zeolitic inorganic membrane and a polymeric membrane.

The present disclosure provides for devices, systems and methods for fractionation and concentration of particles from a fluid sample. This includes a cartridge containing staged filters having porous surface in series of decreasing pore size for capture of particles from a fluid sample; and a permeate pressure source in fluid communication with the cartridge; wherein the particles are eluted from the porous surfaces and dispensed in a reduced fluid volume.

Filters and filter devices for removing silica from ultra pure water, and methods for using the filters and filter devices, are disclosed.

The invention provides a method and system for separating xenon-krypton mixed gas by hydrate formation process. The system is mainly composed of a gas hydrate generating unit, a heat exchanging unit and a gas-water separating unit: pre-cooled xenon-krypton mixed gas is injected from a bottom of a reaction tower, xenon gas in the mixed gas and water attached to a porous tray generate a xenon gas hydrate; and water is injected from a top of the tower to wet the porous tray, a generated hydrate particle is washed and collected to the bottom of the tower simultaneously to form a hydrate slurry, after passing through the heat exchanging unit, the xenon gas hydrate in the slurry is decomposed to form a gas phase flow and a water phase flow, and then enters the gas-water separating unit, and the xenon gas is separated from decomposed water.

An extracorporeal blood treatment device comprises a single housing defining an internal blood flow cavity. The housing accommodates an oxygenator, a heat exchanger and an additional mass transfer assembly, each having an array of fluid conduits. The arrays are co-located within the internal blood flow cavity such that blood flowing through the internal blood flow cavity flows substantially homogeneously around all the conduits. The arrays are arranged relative to one another within the internal blood flow cavity such that they together define a continuous blood flow path through the internal blood flow cavity along which blood can flow. The continuous blood flow path has a blood entry surface at one end and a blood exit surface at the opposite end. The overall blood flow direction from the blood entry surface along the blood flow path to the blood exit surface follows substantially a straight line.

A membrane apparatus including a housing, a forward osmosis membrane dividing an internal space of the housing into an inlet region and a mixing region, and a pervaporation membrane dividing the internal space of the housing into the mixing region and a discharge region. The forward osmosis membrane separates a preliminary filtration liquid from an inlet liquid and provides the separated preliminary filtration liquid to the mixing region, the preliminary filtration liquid is mixed with a forward osmosis draw solution to make a mixed solution, the pervaporation membrane separates a final filtration liquid from the mixed solution and provides the separated final filtration liquid to the discharge region, the final filtration liquid is vaporized in the discharge region to make vapor, and an amount of the vapor is adjusted by at least one of a temperature of the mixed solution and a degree of vacuum of the discharge region.

The present invention relates to a membrane separation system including a plurality of separation membrane elements connected to one another, each of the separation membrane elements including a plurality of separation membrane pairs, each separation membrane pair including separation membranes each having a feed-side surface and a permeate-side surface and disposed such that the feed-side surfaces face each other, in which the plurality of separation membrane elements include a first separation membrane element and a second separation membrane element, and at least one first separation membrane element serves as a stage preceding the second separation membrane element.