A method of manufacture of crosslinked, edible, porous hollow fibers and sheet membranes suitable for the manufacture of clean meat products, the hollow fibers and sheet membranes made therefrom and methods of use thereof.

The present invention includes membranes comprising one or more cellulosic materials and wetting agent(s), and methods of making such membranes.

A method for producing a microporous material comprising the steps of: providing an ultrahigh molecular weight polyethylene (UHMWPE); providing a filler; providing a processing plasticizer; adding the filler to the UHMWPE in a mixture being in the range of from about 1:9 to about 15:1 filler to UHMWPE by weight; adding the processing plasticizer to the mixture; extruding the mixture to form a sheet from the mixture; calendering the sheet; extracting the processing plasticizer from the sheet to produce a matrix comprising UHMWPE and the filler distributed throughout the matrix; stretching the microporous material in at least one direction to a stretch ratio of at least about 1.5 to produce a stretched microporous matrix; and subsequently calendering the stretched microporous matrix to produce a microporous material which exhibits improved physical and dimensional stability properties over the stretched microporous matrix.

Halogen-free, microporous polyolefin membranes are disclosed herein. The halogen-free, microporous polyolefin membranes can be manufactured using an environmentally friendly manufacturing process that includes extrusion of polymer-plasticizer mixtures followed by sheet formation and extraction of the plasticizer with a halogen-free solvent. The halogen-free solvent has a flashpoint greater than about 23 C. and an initial boiling point at least about 50 C. lower than the flashpoint of the plasticizer. The process can further be a closed loop process in which the halogen-free solvent can be reused.

A method for producing a microporous material comprising the steps of: providing an ultrahigh molecular weight polyethylene (UHMWPE); providing a filler, providing a processing plasticizer, adding the filler to the UHMWPE in a mixture being in the range of from about 1:9 to about 15:1 filler to UHMWPE by weight; adding the processing plasticizer to the mixture; extruding the mixture to form a sheet from the mixture; calendering the sheet; extracting the processing plasticizer from the sheet to produce a matrix comprising UHMWPE and the filler distributed throughout the matrix; stretching the microporous material in at least one direction to a stretch ratio of at least about 1.5 to produce a stretched microporous matrix; and subsequently calendering the stretched microporous matrix to produce a microporous material which exhibits improved physical and dimensional stability properties over the stretched microporous matrix.

A method for producing a microporous material comprising the steps of: providing an ultrahigh molecular weight polyethylene (UHMWPE); providing a filler, providing a processing plasticizer, adding the filler to the UHMWPE in a mixture being in the range of from about 1:9 to about 15:1 filler to UHMWPE by weight; adding the processing plasticizer to the mixture; extruding the mixture to form a sheet from the mixture; calendering the sheet; extracting the processing plasticizer from the sheet to produce a matrix comprising UHMWPE and the filler distributed throughout the matrix; stretching the microporous material in at least one direction to a stretch ratio of at least about 1.5 to produce a stretched microporous matrix; and subsequently calendering the stretched microporous matrix to produce a microporous material which exhibits improved physical and dimensional stability properties over the stretched microporous matrix.

Degassers, degassing systems, and methods of using degassers to remove gas molecules entrapped or dissolved in a processing liquid. The degasser has a vacuum chamber with one or more walls; one or multiple inlets and one or multiple outlets through which the liquid is respectively passed into and out of the vacuum chamber, the inlet(s) and the outlet(s) penetrating the one or more walls; one or multiple separators located inside the vacuum chamber and being pervious to the gas molecules but impervious to the liquid; at least one vacuum for applying through a vacuum port a pressure differential across the separator(s) to cause the gas molecules to leave the liquid and to permeate through the separator(s) thereby removing the entrapped or dissolved gas from the liquid; and optionally one or multiple feed lines in fluid communication with the inlet(s) and two or more than two separators.

In a method for manufacturing a polyolefin microporous film, non-uniformity in a film resulting from non-uniform drying during solvent extraction is minimized, high-speed drying and high-speed continuous productivity of the polyolefin microporous film are implemented. In the method for manufacturing a polyolefin microporous film, in which a composition composed of a polyolefin resin and a plasticizer is made into a film form using extrusion, the plasticizer is extracted and removed using a solvent, and the film is thereafter dried. After the foregoing extraction and before the drying, the film is brought into close contact with a roll, or its width is mechanically restrained. A liquid (heating medium) having a temperature greater than or equal to the boiling point of the solvent is made to contact the film while the film is in close contact with the roll or while the width is restrained, whereby the film is heated and dried.

A method for producing a microporous material comprising the steps of: providing an ultrahigh molecular weight polyethylene (UHMWPE); providing a filler; providing a processing plasticizer; adding the filler to the UHMWPE in a mixture being in the range of from about 1:9 to about 15:1 filler to UHMWPE by weight; adding the processing plasticizer to the mixture; extruding the mixture to form a sheet from the mixture; calendering the sheet; extracting the processing plasticizer from the sheet to produce a matrix comprising UHMWPE and the filler distributed throughout the matrix; stretching the microporous material in at least one direction to a stretch ratio of at least about 1.5 to produce a stretched microporous matrix; and subsequently calendering the stretched microporous matrix to produce a microporous material which exhibits improved physical and dimensional stability properties over the stretched microporous matrix.

The present disclosure provides a porous hollow fiber membrane that exhibits blocking performance and water permeability performance suitable for filtration applications, as well as having excellent chemical resistance. In order to provide a solution to the above issue, the porous hollow fiber membrane of the present disclosure is made of a thermoplastic resin, wherein the crystallization onset temperature is 140 C. or lower, and the enthalpy of crystal fusion at and below the crystallization onset temperature is 10 J/g or less.