A gas removal unit has a tube bundle formed of a plurality of tubes with a hollow center. The tubes are formed of a material that allows passage of a gas from an exterior of the tube into an interior of the tube and resists flow of at least some liquids through the tube into the interior of the tube. There is a plurality of inner chambers within the bundle and a plurality of outer chambers outward of the bundle. A fluid inlet connects to a first of the inner or outer chambers and a fluid outlet connects to a second of the inner and outer chambers. An axial direction is defined between the fluid inlet to the fluid outlet. A tortuous path is defined by the inner and outer chambers such that a fluid will pass repeatedly from the inner chambers to the outer chambers, and from the outer chambers to the inner chambers, as it moves along the axial direction from the fluid inlet to the fluid outlet. A fuel supply system is also disclosed.

Silver ionomers of fluorinated polymers are useful for separating alkenes from other compounds such as nitrogen, oxygen, carbon dioxide, and methane. In many instances the selectivities between the alkenes and other compounds are very high. These membranes are useful to recover alkenes and other gaseous compounds from processes in which an alkene is a starting material or product.

Asymmetric hollow fiber membranes, membrane contactors, and related production and use methods. The asymmetric hollow fiber membranes include a porous substrate having a multiplicity of pores, the porous substrate including at least a first semi-crystalline thermoplastic polyolefin copolymer derived by polymerizing at most 3 wt. % of linear or branched alpha olefin monomers with at least 97 wt. % of 4-methyl-1-pentene monomer. The asymmetric hollow fiber membranes also include a skin layer overlaying the porous substrate, the skin layer including a second semi-crystalline thermoplastic polyolefin copolymer derived by polymerizing at least 2 wt. % of linear or branched alpha olefin monomers with at most 98 wt. % of 4-methyl-1-pentene monomer. The skin layer is less porous than the porous substrate and forms an outer surface of the asymmetric hollow fiber membrane, while the porous substrate forms an inner surface of the hollow fiber membrane. The skin layer is preferably nonporous.

A fluid distribution device for a gas-liquid contactor the device having a first side, a second side and a plurality of through-holes extending from the first side to the second side, through which holes a first fluid can flow. The fluid distribution device further having an interior, which is delimited by the first side and the second side and which is sealed in a fluid-tight manner in relation to the through-holes, a plurality of openings, which connect the interior to the second side, and a fluid connection, through which a second fluid can be introduced into or evacuated from the interior. A gas-liquid contactor having a fluid distribution device of this type and to a method for adding a gas to a liquid is also disclosed.

A device and method for isolating extracellular vesicles from biofluids is disclosed. A nanoporous silicon nitride membrane is provided with a tangential flow of biofluid. A pressure gradient through the nanoporous silicon nitride membrane facilitates capture of extracellular vesicles from the tangential flow vector of biofluid. Reversal of the pressure gradient results in the release of the extracellular vesicles for subsequent collection.

A gas removal unit has a tube bundle formed of a plurality of tubes with a hollow center. The tubes are formed of a material that allows passage of a gas from an exterior of the tube into an interior of the tube and resists flow of at least some liquids through the tube into the interior of the tube. There is a plurality of inner chambers within the bundle and a plurality of outer chambers outward of the bundle. A fluid inlet connects to a first of the inner or outer chambers and a fluid outlet connects to a second of the inner and outer chambers. An axial direction is defined between the fluid inlet to the fluid outlet. A tortuous path is defined by the inner and outer chambers such that a fluid will pass repeatedly from the inner chambers to the outer chambers, and from the outer chambers to the inner chambers, as it moves along the axial direction from the fluid inlet to the fluid outlet. A fuel supply system is also disclosed.

The present invention relates to methods of separating one or more components from a feed composition, methods of desorbing one or more components from an absorbent fluid, as well as systems and apparatus that can carry out the methods. In one embodiment, the present invention provides a method of separating one or more components from a feed composition including contacting at least some of a first component of a feed composition including the first component with an absorbent fluid, to provide a contacted composition and a used absorbent fluid including at least some of the first component contacted with the absorbent fluid. In some embodiments the absorbent fluid can be an organosilicon fluid including an organosilicon including at least one of a hydroxy group, an ether group, an acrylate group, a methacrylate group, an acrylamide group, a methacrylamide group, and a polyether group. In some embodiments, during the contacting the feed composition can be contacted to a first side of a membrane while the absorbent fluid is contacted to a second side of the membrane. In some embodiments, the membrane can be a silicone membrane.

A hollow fibre membrane having a coiled, a hemihelix, a helical or an undulated native form, in which the membrane can be stretched by up to 4-times its original length with no plastic deformation, and wherein the native form of the membrane is produced by the asymmetric flow of liquid polymer through an opening of a die or nozzle.

The present invention relates an excess microbubble hydrogen preparation device, which belongs to the technical field of electrolysis equipment. The device comprises a water container which is respectively provided with a water inlet and a water outlet; at least one pair of a cathode and an anode are arranged within the water container; a water-permeable porous membrane is clamped between the coupled cathode and anode with no gap; the area of the inside of the water-permeable porous membrane opposite the cathode or the anode is smaller than the area of the inside of the cathode or the anode opposite the water-permeable porous membrane, and the thickness of the water-permeable porous membrane is less than 5 mm. The device can generate massive amounts of ultroultra-micro bubble hydrogen, and at the same time, very little oxygen is generated.

The method p1 for converting osmotic energy into hydraulic energy and the method p2 for desalination, include pressurisation/depressurisation and isochoric washing of an aqueous solution containing a salt in the presence of a selective hydrophobic nanoporous material of which the nanoporous volume within the material is only accessible to fresh water and which has a nanoporosity volume fraction ranging from 0.2 to 1 so as to convert osmotic energy into hydraulic energy or conversely to desalinate water, preferably sea water or brine.