The present invention relates to a crossflow membrane module configured to separate a feed fluid into a permeate fluid and a residue fluid across one or more membrane sheet(s). The crossflow module comprises a second end offset from a first end along the first direction where an inlet is provided at the first end and an outlet is provided at the second end. The one or more membrane sheet(s) each have a first portion and a second portion. A conduit is adjacent to the first side of each membrane sheet and is configured to receive and output the permeate fluid separated from the feed fluid. The second portion of the membrane sheet has a greater permeance for a major component than the first portion such that the second part of the permeate fluid, which is generated by separation across the second portion of the membrane sheet, has a higher concentration of the major component than the first part of the permeate fluid, which is generated by separation across the first portion. The second portion is spaced apart from the first side of the membrane sheet along the second direction thereby causing the second part of the permeate gas to flow towards the first side of the membrane sheet such that the second part of the permeate gas mixes with the first part of the permeate gas thereby reducing the concentration of the minor component in the first part of the permeate gas.

A process of and apparatus for dehydrating an alcohol/water mixture may include pressurizing the mixture to at least 40 psig, heating the pressurized mixture to a temperature of at least 170° F., passing the heated and pressurized mixture through at least one Zeolite separator to produce separate streams of water and pressurized and heated dehydrated alcohol, and using the pressurized and heated dehydrated alcohol to at least in part heat pressurized mixture and to cool the pressurized and heated dehydrated alcohol. At least some implementations may include cooling the pressurized and heated dehydrated alcohol to a temperature below its boiling point at atmospheric pressure. At least some implementations may include applying a vacuum to the water stream side of the Zeolite separator. At least some implementations may include cooling the stream of water to a temperature of less than about 200° F.

Composite membrane tubing includes a porous scaffold support combined with polyether block amide copolymer. The composite membrane tubing has overlapping “fusion areas” that are an artifact of the manufacturing process. The methods of manufacturing above-mentioned composite membrane tubing have also been addressed. The composite membrane tubing can be reinforced with a structural mesh to further provide rigidity and strength. Composite membrane tubing or generally extruded tubing can be integrated into a multi-tube module for various applications.

Disclosed herein is a method and apparatus that uses a brine from a well that is used to both generate electricity and recover valuable minerals present in the brine. The method and apparatus uses a hydrophobic membrane to separate water vapor from the brine to concentrate the brine that is then used to recover the minerals.

A laundry composition according to the present disclosure includes a solvent selected from the group consisting of solketal and derivatives thereof and a fragrance, wherein the fragrance has a log P value of −1.0 to 4.5, and a washing machine includes a washing unit configured to receive a solvent to wash accommodated fibers; a steam collector configured to condense a gaseous phase discharged from the washing unit and supply the same to a solvent collector; and the solvent collector configured to collect a liquid phase discharged from the washing unit and supply the solvent to a solvent supplier, wherein the solvent collector includes a filter unit configured to remove foreign substances from the solvent supplied from at least one of the steam collector and the washing unit; and a solvent storage configured to store the solvent supplied from the filter unit.

The invention relates to a modular flow system having a plurality of frame elements (101, 102) configured to be combined together to form a stack for forming afunctional member such as in particular a membrane distillation stage, a vapor generator, a condenser, a heat exchanger, a filter and/or a pervaporation stage, wherein the frame elements (101, 102) each include: an outer frame (39) and an inner frame (43), the inner frame (43) encasing a central inner region (40) and being surrounded by the outer frame (39), passage openings (13 to 16) and vapor and/or liquid channels (17, 18) arranged between the outer frame (39) and the inner frame (43), wherein at least one of the vapor and/or liquid channels (17, 18) comprises at least one internal strut member (48) extending between the inner frame (43) and the outer frame (39).

Composite structures composed of inorganic membranes or polymer membranes supported on a multilayered woven wire mesh substrate are provided. Also provided are methods of making the composite structures and methods of using the composite structures as separation membranes. The mesh substrates are composed of a stack of two or more layers of woven wire mesh, wherein the different mesh layers in the stack have different mesh sizes. The multilayered mesh structure can support a defect-free, or substantially defect-free, membrane and has sufficient mechanical strength to allow the supported membranes to be used for chemical separations.

A method for synthesizing a supported molecular sieve membrane by microwaves includes the steps of aging, heating and synthesizing. The aging step is to make a support in contact with a synthetic liquid at 25° C. to 70° C. for 10 hours to 24 hours; the heating step is to raise a temperature of an aged system from an aging temperature to a synthesis temperature within 1 minute to 10 minutes; and the synthesizing step is to synthesize at 80° C. to 120° C. for 2 minutes to 15 minutes. The steps of heating and synthesizing are powered by microwaves.

The disclosure relates to a device for fermentation integrated with separation and purification of acetone, butanol, and ethanol (ABE) or butanol alone, including a medium tank (1), used for supplying a medium into a bioreactor; a bioreactor (2), connected with the medium tank (1), used for fermentation; a gas distributor (9), used for supplying gas bubble to the fermentation broth; a membrane separation unit (4), with gas communication to the bioreactor (2), used for receiving a gas with ABE or butanol from the bioreactor and separating ABE or butanol; a condensation unit (5), used for recovering ABE or butanol; a vacuum manometer (6) and a vacuum pump (8), used for supplying a force for driving ABE or butanol in a vapor form; and product tank (7), used for receiving a product.

A preparation method of separation membrane is provided. First, a polyimide composition including a dissolvable polyimide, a crosslinking agent and a solvent is provided. The dissolvable polyimide is represented by formula 1: ##STR00001## wherein B is a tetravalent organic group derived from a tetracarboxylic dianhydride containing aromatic group, A is a divalent organic group derived from a diamine containing aromatic group, A′ is a divalent organic group derived from a diamine containing aromatic group and carboxylic acid group, and 0.1≤X≤0.9. The crosslinking agent is an aziridine crosslinking agent, an isocyanate crosslinking agent, an epoxy crosslinking agent, a diamine crosslinking agent, or a triamine crosslinking agent. A crosslinking process is performed on the polyimide composition. The polyimide composition which has been subjected to the crosslinking process is coated on a substrate to form a polyimide membrane. A wet phase inversion process is performed on the polyimide membrane.