A hollow-fiber membrane module of the invention includes: a cylindrical case having a first end and a second end in a height direction thereof; a hollow-fiber membrane bundle being housed in the cylindrical case and having a plurality of hollow-fiber membranes each closed at an end part on the first end side and opened at an end part on the second end side; a first binding part binding the end parts on the first end side of the hollow-fiber membranes; a first flow channel guiding fluid to pass through the first binding part from the first end side to the second end side of the first binding part; and a channel material directing, at a terminal on the second end side of the first flow channel, a flow of at least a part of the fluid flowing out from the terminal on the second end side of the first flow channel toward a direction intersecting the height direction of the cylindrical case.

A membrane contactor includes: a cap has an internally beveled surface and a cap port; a cup body has an externally beveled surface in sealing engagement with the internally beveled surface, a side port on a side of the cup body and an end port located on an end of the cup body; and a membrane cartridge is located within the cup body, is sealed to an open end of the cup body, and is in sealed fluid communication with the end port. A method of making a membrane contactor includes the steps of: sealingly mating a perforated center of a membrane contactor with the end port of a cup body; sealingly joining an end of the membrane cartridge adjacent an open end of the cup body; and sealingly joining a beveled surface of the cap to a beveled external surface of the cup body.

An air separation module includes a canister having an inlet end and an outlet end arranged along a canister axis, a separator supported within the canister and arranged to separate a compressed air flow received at the air separation module into an oxygen-depleted air flow fraction and an oxygen-enriched air flow fraction, and an inlet cap. The inlet cap is seated about the inlet end of the canister, contains therein a portion of the separator, and has an oxygen-enriched air outlet port fluidly separated from the outlet end of the canister by the separator for diverting the oxygen-enriched air flow fraction to the external environment. Nitrogen generation systems and methods of making air separation modules are also described.

A hollow-fiber membrane module of the invention includes: a cylindrical case having a first end and a second end in a height direction thereof; a hollow-fiber membrane bundle being housed in the cylindrical case and having a plurality of hollow-fiber membranes each closed at an end part on the first end side and opened at an end part on the second end side; a first binding part binding the end parts on the first end side of the hollow-fiber membranes; a first flow channel guiding fluid to pass through the first binding part from the first end side to the second end side of the first binding part; and a channel material directing, at a terminal on the second end side of the first flow channel, a flow of at least a part of the fluid flowing out from the terminal on the second end side of the first flow channel toward a direction intersecting the height direction of the cylindrical case.

A device for mass transfer between blood and at least one gas/gas mixture, includes first and second chambers through which blood is able to flow and in each of which a respective plurality of mass-permeable hollow fibers are disposed around a respective axially extending core element, wherein a gas/gas mixture is able to flow through, and blood is able to flow around, the hollow fibers, wherein the second chamber follows the first chamber in the blood flow direction, wherein the first and second chambers are disposed next to one another, and in particular disposed spaced apart between the core element center axes thereof, and the two chambers have a connection in an axial end region by which the chamber volumes through which blood is able to flow are connected, and in particular are connected in the direction of the spacing.

This invention is an onboard pressure retarded osmosis (PRO) unit for charging or recharging the battery of an electric conveyance or for feeding the conveyance's motor directly. The PRO unit exploits the combined use of osmotic pressure, a water-submerged hollow fiber membrane system, a concentrated aqueous solution of superparamagnetic nanoparticles (a ferrofluid) as a draw solution, and a solenoid-type permanent magnetic field, to create a high pressure water flow that acts upon one or more hydroturbine generators to produce electricity. After the pressurized water acts upon the hydroturbine generators, it is returned to the feed side of the membrane system to once again become permeate, in effect making the entire system a closed loop, continuously re-circulating process. The membrane cells may be heated to increase power density.

The invention relates to a portable gas exchange device for gas exchange of at least one gas from a liquid to a fluid. The gas exchange device comprises a first gas exchange section, for passage of a fluid, and a second gas exchange section for passage of a liquid enriched with a first gas, wherein the fluid has a lower concentration of the first gas than the liquid. A pumping system for transporting a first fluid with a lower concentration of a first gas in the first gas exchange section, in particular in a first fluid circuit, is also configured in the gas exchange device. In a mixing chamber configured in the gas exchange device, the first gas exchange section and the second gas exchange section adjoin one another via a wall designed such that at least the first gas can pass through. A housing serves as the common receptacle at least of the pumping system and the mixing chamber.

A membrane contactor includes: a cap has an internally beveled surface and a cap port; a cup body has an externally beveled surface in sealing engagement with the internally beveled surface, a side port on a side of the cup body and an end port located on an end of the cup body; and a membrane cartridge is located within the cup body, is sealed to an open end of the cup body, and is in sealed fluid communication with the end port. A method of making a membrane contactor includes the steps of: sealingly mating a perforated center of a membrane contactor with the end port of a cup body; sealingly joining an end of the membrane cartridge adjacent an open end of the cup body; and sealingly joining a beveled surface of the cap to a beveled external surface of the cup body.