A continuous slurry-bed tank reactor, comprising a tank reactor body, an agitator, and tubular separation membranes. A method of using the continuous slurry-bed tank reactor comprising adding a catalyst, feeding reactants, stopping feeding the reactants, starting a heating system, changing directions of the reactants flowing through the tubular separation membranes.

Disclosed herein are apparatuses and methods for semi-permeable membrane cleaning. In particular, a pressure retarded osmosis (PRO) process redirects raw solution and fluid streams in such a way as to cause periodic changes of the process from PRO to reverse osmosis (RO) for lifting and detaching fouling. Further disclosed is applying, at least periodically, a pulsed-flow regime in the fluid stream, thereby causing increased shearing force for enhanced evacuation of the foulant. Additionally, a backward wash may be provided by injection, for a predetermined injection time, of additional solution selected in such way that net driving pressure becomes RO opposite to normal PRO operation, thereby providing a backward flow from a first side of the membrane to a second side of the membrane, so as to lift and evacuate foulant.

An isolation device includes an isolation chip assembly, a vacuum system, a frequency converting module, and a controller. The isolation chip assembly includes an isolation chip having a first chamber and a second chamber, a first oscillator mounted on the first chamber, and a second oscillator mounted on the second chamber. The frequency converting module causes the vacuum system to generate negative pressure in the first and the second chambers alternately. The controller controls the first and the second oscillators to operate when the vacuum system stops generating the negative pressure in the first chamber and in the second chamber. The first and the second oscillators respectively generate a first and a second oscillation wave when operating, a frequency of the first oscillation wave is greater than a frequency of the oscillation wave, an amplitude of the first oscillation wave is less than an amplitude of the second oscillation wave.

A peritoneal dialysis apparatus includes a filter and a dialysis fluid circuit in fluid communication with the filter. The peritoneal dialysis apparatus also includes a pump for pumping fresh dialysis fluid to a peritoneum of a patient via the dialysis fluid circuit and pumping used dialysis fluid from the peritoneum of the patient through the dialysis fluid circuit and the filter. The peritoneal dialysis apparatus further includes a selective air access in fluid communication with the dialysis fluid circuit and a control unit configured to control the pump during a peritoneal dialysis treatment and a filter cleaning sequence. The control unit forms a fluid mixture during a filter cleaning sequence by opening the selective air access to mix air with a physiologically safe fluid. The fluid mixture is transferred across insides and/or outsides of the filter at least one time.

Methods and systems of harvesting a cell product from a cell culture by culturing cells in a fluid medium until the cells have produced a cell product at a harvest concentration are disclosed. The cells are cultured in a cell culture system including a bioreactor connected to an ATF device. The methods include draining fluid medium from the bioreactor through the outlet and the ATF device until the bioreactor volume reaches a predetermined volume, and the ATF column yields at an ATF outlet a liquid containing cell product and passes fluid medium with a concentration of cell product that is lower than the harvest concentration back into the bioreactor, extracting the liquid containing cell product from the ATF outlet, refilling the bioreactor with sterile phosphate buffered saline or fluid medium without any cell product, and repeating steps until a desired amount of cell product has been removed.

A renal therapy apparatus includes a blood filter, a blood pump, a treatment fluid pump, and a control unit configured to control at least one of the blood pump or the treatment fluid pump during a filter cleaning sequence. The blood filter includes a plurality of hollow fiber membranes. During the filter cleaning sequence, a fluid mixture is formed by mixing air with a blood-compatible and physiologically safe fluid. Also during the filter cleaning sequence, the fluid mixture is transferred across insides and/or outsides of the plurality of hollow fiber membranes at least one time. The use of the fluid mixture enables the filter cleaning sequence to be performed during the blood treatment.

Apparatus and method for semi-permeable membrane cleaning in particular, applying series of pulsed water stroke, made simultaneously with osmosis backward flow causing superposed membrane directional shaking and fouling detachment. Pulsed water stroke provided by water stroke generator as several momentum sharp changes in gauge pressure and induce velocity pulse of residual brine flow. The pulsed water strokes ideally induce resonance in the membrane. Osmosis backward wash may be provided either by injection for predetermined injection time, additional solution selected in such way that net driving pressure becomes opposite to normal osmotic operation thereby providing a backward flow of permeate towards to the side opposite to normal operation mode, so as to lift said foulant, or by throttling permeate exiting from the permeate enclosure, until the net driving pressure value become equal to zero, during application of precise synchronized and opposing brine and permeate pressure strokes thereby providing a plurality of quick RO-FO-RO process changes. These procedures allow a membrane to be kept continuously clean and operate at higher recovery.

A membrane filtration device includes a plurality of membrane separation units vertically disposed in multiple stages. The membrane separation unit has a primary side communicating with a backwash drainage system and a flushing-air supply system to receive supplied raw water and a secondary side communicating with a backwash-water supply system to collect permeate. The backwash-water supply system includes a backwash-water main pipe and a plurality of backwash-water branch pipes to feed the backwash water into the membrane separation units. The backwash drainage system includes a plurality of backwash-drainage branch pipes and a backwash-drainage main pipe connected in parallel to the backwash-drainage branch pipes. The flushing-air supply system includes an air main pipe for passing flushing air upward and a plurality of air branch pipes for feeding flushing air into the membrane separation units, the air branch pipes being connected in parallel to the air main pipe.

A filter element includes an unfiltered side via which a fluid is able to be introduced, and a filtered side via which fluid is able to be output, and first and second filter mediums that are situated between the unfiltered and filtered sides, where the first filter medium has a lower relative pressure loss than the second filter medium in a flow direction of the fluid from the filtered side to the unfiltered side.

The present application includes a symbiotic reverse osmosis train system for maximizing desalinated water recovery, meanwhile yielding high salinity brine suitable for osmotic power generation or commercial salt production. The trains comprise a series of cells operating in an interrelated sequential pattern within a salinity field. Each cell forms a closed hydraulic brine loop having pumping means, power recovery means and shared semipermeable membranes between adjacent cells. Used are a semipermeable Flat Sheet or Hollow Fiber Membrane in desalination and osmotic power generation of brackish, seawater and brines of 15% salinity or more. Charging each cell in the train of cells with a formulated brine having a specified ionizable inorganic salt concentration and type, without permitting mixing of the given brines among adjacent cells. Allowing the train to achieve water recovery exceeding 85% with concentrated rejected brine of 28-30% salt content.