The present invention relates to a composite hollow fiber membrane, a manufacturing method therefor, a hollow fiber membrane cartridge including same, and a fuel cell membrane humidifier, the composite hollow fiber membrane comprising a hollow fiber membrane and a contaminant collection layer coated on the inner surface of the hollow fiber membrane. The composite hollow fiber membrane can prevent performance deterioration of a fuel cell by removing, without a separate gas filtering device, contaminants such as nitrogen oxide (NO.sub.x), sulfur oxide (SO.sub.x), and ammonia (NH.sub.3) during a humidifying process.

The present disclosure relates to devices and processes for the production of hollow fiber membrane bundles. The bundles are used for the manufacture of filtration and/or diffusion devices, e.g., capillary dialyzers.

The invention relates to the design of an enclosure for a membrane aeration module, which incorporates a reversible, low-pressure, air-lift pump to encourage a vertical water flow through and between the membranes in the module. These enclosed membrane modules are suitable for use in membrane aerated biofilm reactors, which are used to treat water or wastewater.

A purification system for a colloidal dispersion containing an unwanted dissolved substance in the dispersing liquid phase is described which includes a back-pressure regulating feature, disposed in a first conduit and downstream of a semi-permeable filter element. This is used to force a portion of the unpurified dispersing liquid across the filter element and into a second conduit. The second conduit is associated with an adsorptive element that serves to remove the unwanted dissolved substance from the filtered portion of the dispersing liquid. A mixing chamber is disposed downstream of the back-pressure regulating feature whereby the purified dispersing liquid portion from the second conduit rejoins the bulk flow of the colloidal dispersion passing through the first conduit. In a preferred embodiment, hollow fibers are used which serve as the back-pressure regulating feature, the adsorptive element, and the mixing chamber before being discharged at the outlet of the device.

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.

Disclosed herein is a perfusion filtration module or bioreactor for filtering a fluid, wherein the filtration module or bioreactor has a plurality of hollow fiber filter membranes that are splayed to reduce fouling of the filtration array.

Hollow fiber cartridges and components and methods of their construction.

A ceramic filter membrane module enables a fluid to be filtered, such as raw water, with higher efficiency using multiple ceramic filters in a housing. As the diameter of a through-hole located at the center is considerably larger than the diameter of the surrounding flow path, water pressure pushing the raw water is applied from the through-hole at the center toward the outside of a filter body, such that the raw water passes through the filter body smoothly, thereby improving the purification efficiency and uniformly setting the overall flow direction of the raw water. As packing members are installed and fixed between the housing and the ceramic filters, sealing of the incoming raw water and the filtered water becomes more effective, such that the risk of leakage is reduced. As a plurality of ceramic filters are housed in a single housing, economic benefit can be achieved.

A hollow fiber membrane module includes one pressure vessel, and at least one hollow fiber membrane element loaded in the pressure vessel. Each of the element includes a plurality of hollow fiber membranes each having openings at both ends, a bypass tube, and a supply port and a discharge port provided on one end side in a longitudinal direction. The supply port is in communication with inflow-side openings of hollow fiber membranes. The bypass tube is provided in the longitudinal direction of the element, has an inflow port at an end portion on a side of outflow-side openings of the hollow fiber membranes, and has an outflow port at an end portion on a side of the inflow-side openings of the hollow fiber membranes. The outflow-side openings of hollow fiber membranes are in communication with the inflow port, and the outflow port is in communication with the discharge port.

The invention relates to filtration system (20), comprising a tank (40) filled at least partly with water to be filtered, and at least one filtration module (30), the at least one filtration module (30) comprising at least one filter membrane (10) for filtering the water comprising a substrate (12) which is penetrated by at least one capillary (16), and at least one filtrate pipe (32) for drawing filtered water out of the tank (40), whereat the at least one filtration module (30) is arranged in the tank (40) such that the at least one filter membrane (10) is submerged at least partly in the water to be filtered. The at least one filtration module (30) is designed and arranged such that water to be filtered flows into the at least one capillary (16) and from the at least one capillary (16) through the substrate (12) into the filtrate pipe (32). The invention also relates to a method for filtering water by means of a filtration system (20) according to the invention, whereat the water to be filtered is drawn into the at least one capillary (16) and from the at least one capillary (16) through the substrate (12) into the filtrate pipe (32) and from the filtrate pipe (32) out of the tank (40).