The invention relates to an apparatus and a method for the manufacture of at least one hollow fiber membrane, wherein a spinning mass is extruded via a spinning unit to form a spinning thread and precipitated in a precipitation bath to form a hollow fiber membrane and the hollow fiber membrane is optionally rinsed in a rinsing bath, wherein furthermore the hollow fiber membrane is passed through at least one drying unit, wherein the drying unit comprises a pressure section which is constructed in such a way that a positive pressure compared with atmospheric pressure can be set in the pressure section, and at least part of the precipitating agent or rinsing agent contained in the at least one hollow fiber membrane (104) is separated from the at least one hollow fiber membrane.

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 device including a housing, a zone and a means for testing a fluid sample within the housing is disclosed. The housing is constructed of a fluid impermeable material, and defines a first fluid port, and a second fluid port. The first fluid port is configured to connect to a fluid collection device to receive a fluid sample from the fluid collection device into the housing. The second port is configured to pass the fluid sample from the housing into a testing instrument. The zone is formed in the housing. The zone is constructed of a material that allows an analysis of the fluid sample positioned within the housing, and located adjacent to the zone.

Hollow fiber membranes, membrane contactors, and related production and use methods. The membranes include a substrate having a multiplicity of pores and a skin layer overlaying the porous substrate. The porous substrate includes a first semi-crystalline thermoplastic polyolefin (co)polymer resin and a nucleating agent in an amount effective to achieve nucleation. The skin layer includes a second semi-crystalline thermoplastic polyolefin (co)polymer resin derived by polymerizing at most 98 wt. % of 4-methyl-1-pentene monomer with at least 2 wt. % of linear or branched alpha olefin monomers. Preferably, the first thermoplastic polyolefin (co)polymer is different from the second thermoplastic polyolefin (co)polymer. The skin layer is less porous than the porous substrate and forms an outer surface of the hollow fiber with the porous substrate forming an inner surface. The hollow fibers are formed by co-extruding the porous substrate resin and the skin layer resin through an annular die.

The present invention relates to a continuous process for preparing permselective hollow fiber membranes being suitable e.g. for hemodialysis, hemodiafiltration and hemofiltration of blood which comprises a two-stage drying and tempering treatment of the hollow fiber membranes. According to a further aspect, the invention relates to a continuous process for drying permselective hollow fiber membranes on-line. The invention also relates to devices for on-line drying of permselective hollow fiber membranes.

A dual-layer membrane and a method for preparing thereof. By adding a modifying monomer containing an active group and a characteristic group to a dope solution or spinning solution during the preparation of the dual-layer membrane, the grafting reaction occurs between the active group of the monomer and the polymer in the dope solution or spinning solution, and the intermolecular interaction with other polymers is enhanced by the characteristic group of the monomer, to improve the miscibility between the polymers. The method is suitable for preparing both a dual-layer flat sheet membrane and a dual-layer hollow fiber membrane, and can realize the preparation of a dual-layer membrane with an interpenetrated structure at the interface under mild preparation conditions.

The invention is an improved method of making a carbon molecular sieve (CMS) membrane in which a precursor polymer is pyrolyzed to form a carbon molecular sieve membrane that is then exposed to a conditioning atmosphere comprised of a target permeate gas molecule such as ethylene when the membrane is desired to separate it from a light hydrocarbon gas stream. The exposure to the ethylene desirably occurs prior to the CMS permeance and selectivity combination substantially changing (e.g., within 5 days) of cooling from the pyrolyzing temperature. The CMS membranes have shown an improved combination of selectivity and permeance as well as stability and are useful to separate gases in gas streams such methane from natural gas, oxygen from air and ethylene or propylene from light hydrocarbon streams.

The present disclosure relates to synthetic membranes for the removal, isolation or purification of substances from a liquid, comprising at least one hydrophobic and at least one hydrophilic polymer, wherein 5-40 wt.-% of particles having an average particles size of between 0.1 and 15 μm are entrapped and wherein the membrane has a wall thickness of below 150 μm. Further disclosed are methods for preparing such membranes in various geometries and their use for the adsorption, isolation and/or purification of substances from a liquid.

This invention discloses a hollow fiber membrane and its preparation method and application, belonging to the field of membrane separation. The preparation method adopts a spinning device with a triple-orifice spinneret, including the casting solution, bore fluid and outer solution. The bore fluid, casting solution and outer solution are respectively co-extruded from the inner, middle and outer orifice of the spinneret, respectively, to form the nascent membrane. The nascent membrane is immersed in external coagulation bath to form a hollow fiber membrane. The outer solution and bore fluid are weakly-polar non-solvents of membrane-forming material and are water soluble. Based on the characteristics of the bore fluid and the outer solution, on the one hand, the mass exchange rate between solvents and non-solvents can be slowed down, the formation of dense skin is effectively avoided, and the surface porosity of the membrane is improved. On the other hand, the liquid film between solvents and non-solvents can finally dissolve in the coagulation bath without remaining in the hollow fiber membrane and spinning device. The hollow fiber membrane is prepared without double dense skins, and the surface porosity of the inner and outer surfaces of the hollow fiber membrane is improved, which is good for the improvement of membrane flux.

Disclosed is a thin film composite hollow fiber that includes an outer support layer having a thickness of 10 to 1000 μm and a polyamide thin film layer having a thickness of 1 to 10000 nm; and has a transmembrane pressure resistance rate of higher than 15 bar and a pure water permeability rate of higher than 0.8 Lm.sup.−2h.sup.−1bar.sup.−1. Also disclosed are methods of preparing the above-described support and composite hollow fiber.