Method and Apparatus for Purifying the Dispersing Liquid in a Colloidal Dispersion

Abstract

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.

Claims

1. In a purification system for a colloidal dispersion containing an unwanted dissolved substance (or substances) in the dispersing liquid phase, a filter device comprising: a housing including an inlet port for receiving an unpurified colloidal dispersion and an outlet port for discharging a purified colloidal dispersion, the housing further including a semi-permeable filter element that enables the bulk flow of the colloidal dispersion through a first conduit that is in fluid communication with both the inlet port and the outlet port of the housing while permitting the flow of a portion of the unpurified dispersing liquid phase across the filter element and into a second conduit that is also in fluid communication with the outlet port, a back-pressure regulating feature disposed within the first conduit that is used to force a portion of the unpurified dispersing liquid across the filter element and into the second conduit, an adsorptive element that is associated with the second conduit and used to remove the unwanted dissolved substance from the filtered portion of the dispersing liquid, and a mixing chamber disposed downstream of the back-pressure regulating feature whereby the purified dispersing liquid portion from the second conduit is rejoined with the bulk flow of the colloidal dispersion passing through the first conduit prior to being discharged at the outlet port of the housing.

2. The system of claim 1, whereby the semi-permeable filter element is a plurality of hollow fiber filter membranes.

3. The system of claim 1, whereby the adsorptive element is accomplished by direct adsorption to the surfaces of the filter element.

4. The system of claim 1, whereby the back-pressure regulating device is a small orifice.

5. The system of claim 1, whereby the back-pressure regulating device and mixing chamber is accomplished with a Venturi device.

6. The system of claim 2, whereby the back-pressure regulating device and mixing chamber is accomplished with a second set of hollow fiber filter membranes that is less than the number of hollow fibers in the first filter set so as to cause a back-pressure in the first filter set and serve as a means for recombining the purified liquid dispersion phase with the bulk flow of the colloidal dispersion upon reverse filtering across the second set of filter membranes.

7. The system of claim 6, whereby an additional number of hollow fibers are included to second set of hollow fiber filter membranes with the exception that they are closed at the proximal end to prevent the entry of the bulk flow of the colloidal dispersion, but serve as addition filter surface area for the reverse filtering of the purified liquid dispersion phase prior to recombining with the bulk colloidal dispersion.

8. A method of purifying a colloidal dispersion containing an unwanted dissolved substance (or substances) in the dispersing liquid phase comprising the steps of: Supplying an unpurified colloidal dispersion; Separation of a portion of the unpurified liquid phase from the bulk flow of the colloidal dispersion by filtration across a filter element, said separation caused by a difference in fluid pressure across said filter element; Flowing of the unpurified liquid phase through an adsorptive media to remove the unwanted dissolved substance (or substances) from the liquid phase to produce a purified liquid phase; Recombining the purified liquid phase with the unfiltered colloidal dispersion to produce a purified colloidal dispersion.

9. The method of claim 8, whereby the filter element is a plurality of hollow fiber filter membranes.

10. The method of claim 8, whereby the adsorptive media is accomplished by direct adsorption to the surfaces of the filter element.

11. The method of claim 8, whereby the pressure differential is created by inclusion of an orifice located downstream of the filter element which creates positive pressure of the unpurified colloidal dispersion relative to permeate side of the filter element.

12. The method of claim 8, whereby a Venturi device located downstream of the filter element is used to generate the pressure differential across the filter element.

13. The system of claim 9, whereby the pressure differential is created by a second set of hollow fibers that has less than the number of hollow fibers in the first filter set so as to cause a back-pressure in the first filter set.

14. The system of claim 13, whereby an additional number of hollow fibers are included to the second set of hollow fiber filter membranes with the exception that they are closed at the proximal end to prevent the entry of the bulk flow of the colloidal dispersion, but serve as additional filter surface area for the reverse filtering of the purified liquid dispersion phase prior to recombining with the bulk colloidal dispersion phase.

Description

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF DRAWINGS

[0007] FIG. 1 is a side perspective view of a purification system for a colloidal dispersion in accordance with one embodiment;

[0008] FIG. 2 is a side perspective view of a purification system for a colloidal dispersion in accordance with one embodiment;

[0009] FIG. 3 is a side perspective view of a purification system for a colloidal dispersion in accordance with one embodiment;

[0010] FIG. 4 is a side perspective view of a purification system for a colloidal dispersion in accordance with one embodiment;

[0011] FIG. 5 is a side perspective view of a purification system for a colloidal dispersion in accordance with one embodiment;

[0012] FIG. 6 is a side perspective view of a purification system for a colloidal dispersion in accordance with one embodiment;

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

[0013] According to a first embodiment, a filtering device 100 is shown in FIG. 1 which consists of a filter casing 10 having an inlet header cap 20 attached at one end of the filter casing and an outlet header cap 30 attached at the other end of the casing. A filter inlet port 28 is associated with the inlet header cap 20 for receiving a colloidal suspension (dispersion) to be purified and a filter outlet port 38 is associated with the outlet header cap 30 for delivering the purified colloidal suspension. The unpurified colloidal suspension is such that it contains an unwanted dissolved substance in the continuous phase (or dispersing liquid) which is to be removed or reduced upon passing through the filtering device. An example of this is an oil-water emulsion containing the drug propofol, whereby the aqueous (water) phase contains a high level of propofol (free-propofol) which is believed to be associated with an increased pain upon injection.

[0014] The filter casing 10 includes a first filtering stage consisting of a set of hollow fiber filtering elements 22 that are potted with a potting compound 24 at the inlet side of the casing, thus forming an inlet header space 26 in association with the inlet header cap 20. The filter casing includes a second filtering stage consisting of a second set of hollow fiber filtering elements 32 that are potted with a potting compound 34 at the outlet side of the casing, thus forming an outlet header space 36 in association with the outlet header cap 30. Further, an inter-stage header connector 40 is used to join the two hollow fiber filtering stages internally whereby a potting compound 42 seals the distal ends of the first set of hollow fibers 22 to the inter-stage header 40 and a potting compound 44 seals the proximal ends of the second set of hollow fibers 32 to the inter-stage header connector 40 and thereby forming an inter-stage header space 46 that serves as a conduit between the lumen side of the two hollow fiber stages 22 and 32, respectively. The inter-stage header connector also serves to create an extra-luminal space 50 that is formed between the inside of the filter casing 10, the outside of the inter-stage header connector 40, and the outside of the two hollow fiber filtering stages 22 and 32. The pore size of the filtering elements used are such that it allows the aqueous phase (or dispersion liquid) of the emulsion to pass through the filter elements, but prevents the oil droplets (or colloidal particles) of dispersed phase to pass through. In this embodiment, the number of hollow fibers in the second filtering stage 32 is considerably less than number of hollow fibers contained in the first filtering stage 22, and the filter (membrane) is constructed from an adsorptive media which serves to remove the unwanted dissolved substance from the aqueous phase.

[0015] Operation of the filtering device 100 is described as follows. First, the unpurified colloidal suspension (or emulsion) enters the inlet port 28 and flows into inlet header space 26 and is distributed into the lumen side of the first set of hollow fibers 22 making up the first filtering stage of the device. The emulsion then travels down through the lumen side of the first filter stage and enters into the inter-stage header space 46 where it is directed into the lumen side of the second filter stage 32. Because the number of hollow fibers in the second stage is considerably less than the first stage, a backpressure develops relative to the emulsion contained in first stage which leads to a filtration of a portion of the aqueous phase 60 through the hollow fiber membrane walls of the first filter stage 22. The passing of this aqueous phase through the membrane wall serves to reduce the concentration of the unwanted dissolved substance due to adsorption to the membrane surface. For the example described here, use of a hydrophobic membrane material such as polysulphone will serve as an adsorptive media whereby free propofol in the aqueous phase adsorbs to the membrane surface as a result of hydrophobic bonding. As the extra-luminal space 50 fills with the aqueous phase of the emulsion, the pressure inside this space will build up and begin to flow in a reverse direction across the membrane walls 70 of the second set of hollow fibers 32. This results because the pressure of the emulsion flowing through the lumen side of the hollow fibers of the second stage 32 is lower relative to the extra-luminal space 50 due to it being nearer to the filter outlet 38 and due to the more concentrated emulsion on the lumen side in this stage which serves to draw in the aqueous phase from the extra-luminal space caused by osmotic pressure. As the aqueous phase passes through the membrane wall of the second filter stage 32, further adsorption of the unwanted dissolved substance will occur. The twice filtered aqueous phase then recombines with the concentrated emulsion phase passing through the lumen side of the second set of hollow fibers 32 to create a purified emulsion which enters the outlet header space 36 and exits the filter through the outlet port 38.

[0016] According to a second embodiment of the invention as shown in FIG. 2, a similar number of hollow fibers are used in each of the two filtering stages 22 and 32, respectively, however, an orifice feature 140 is integrated as part of the inter-stage header connector 40. In this embodiment, the orifice serves to create the necessary backpressure in the first filter stage 22 to cause the filtration of a portion of the aqueous phase 60 across the membrane wall. The advantage of this is that the additional number of hollow fibers used in the second stage 32 allows for additional membrane surface area for which adsorption of the unwanted dissolved substance can occur. This can result in better performance of the filter device by achieving either a lower concentration of the unwanted dissolved substance in the aqueous phase or being capable to purify a larger volume of the emulsion or colloidal suspension.

[0017] According to a third embodiment as shown in FIG. 3, a similar number of hollow fibers are used in each of the two filtering stages 22 and 32, respectively, however, the potting of the second set of hollow fibers in the inter-stage header cap 40 is such that a considerable portion of hollow fibers are blocked at the inlet side 250 in the potting compound 44. Similar to the first embodiment, the fewer number of open hollow fibers in the second set of hollow fibers will cause a backpressure of the emulsion in the first stage which leads to the filtration of the aqueous phase 60 from the first stage of hollow fibers. In this embodiment, however, some of the once filtered aqueous phase will be reversed filtered into the lumens of the set of blocked hollow fibers 250, noting that that these hollow fibers do not contain the concentrated emulsion because of the blockage at the potting compound 40. As such, the outlet header space 236 serves as a mixing chamber to fully combine the fluids exiting from both the blocked hollow fibers 290 and unblocked hollow fibers 292 of the second filter stage 32. The advantage of this is that it allows for additional membrane surface area for which adsorption of the unwanted dissolved substance can occur similar to the second embodiment, but does not require the additional orifice feature of this embodiment.

[0018] In FIG. 4, a fourth embodiment is shown whereby flat sheet membranes 422 and 432 are used instead of hollow fiber membranes 22 and 32, respectively for the first and second filter stages. The flat sheet may be a formed into a pleated sheet membrane as known in the art and is potted at each end in order to provide a seal that prevents the unpurified emulsion from entering the trans-membrane casing space 450. This embodiment also includes a potting compound 442 connecting the two filter stages which includes the orifice feature 440 encased and/or formed as an integral part of this potting compound. Another feature of this embodiment is the addition of an adsorptive media 480 that is limited to the trans-membrane casing space 450 of the device. This serves to provide additional surface area for removal of the unwanted chemical contained in the aqueous phase of the emulsion.

[0019] In a fifth embodiment shown in FIG. 5, construction of the filter device is altered whereby the filter casing 510 is such that the first filter stage 522 can be arranged in a U-shaped configuration such that distal ends of the hollow fibers from the first stage 522 and the proximal ends of the hollow fibers from the second stage are potted into a single potting compound 543 that lies in a similar proximity to the potting compound 24 which seals the proximal ends of the first filter stage hollow fibers to the filter casing at the inlet end of the filter device. Further, the potting compound 543 seals the outside of hollow fibers to a third opening of the filter casing whereby an inter-stage header cap 540 is attached to create the inter-stage header space 546. In this manner, a conduit is formed such that the lumen side of the first hollow fiber stage 522 and the lumen side of the second hollow fiber stage 32 such that operation is similar to that described in the first embodiment. This may have certain advantages with respect to manufacturing of the filter device as it reduces the number of distinct potting compound regions and thereby reduces the number of steps required to produce the filter device.

[0020] A method of purifying a colloidal suspension that contains an unwanted dissolved substance in the aqueous phase is shown in FIG. 6. In this embodiment, a fluid pump 502 as known in the art is used to deliver the unpurified colloidal suspension to the inlet port 28 of a filter device. Similar to the previous embodiments, the filter device contains an adsorptive type filter membrane 22 that separates the filter device into an upstream compartment and a downstream compartment. The upstream compartment is fluidly connected to a header space 46 that in turn is fluidly connected to a first conduit 548. The downstream compartment is fluidly connected to a second conduit 550 and a third conduit 552, further containing an adsorptive device 580 for additional purification of the aqueous phase of the suspension. Conduits 548 and 552 are connected to the inlet and vacuum ports, respectively of a Venturi-type device 540 as is known in the art. Operation is such that the inlet pump 502 forces flow of the suspension through the nozzle of the Venturi device causing an increase of velocity and a decrease in pressure (or vacuum) at the outlet of the nozzle. The effect is such that there is an increase in pressure before the nozzle of the Venturi device causing a flow of the aqueous phase 60 across the filter membrane 22 and a lower (and possibly negative) pressure at the exit of the nozzle which will further draw the filtered aqueous phase into conduit 550 and through the adsorptive device 580. The Venturi device 140 further serves as a mixing chamber whereby the purified aqueous phase 590 is combined back with the concentrated emulsion phase to produce the purified emulsion.

[0021] It should be understood to those skilled in the art that the above embodiments show the technical elements of the device and that varying combinations of these elements can be used to achieve the same or similar results.