JPH0857266A - Fluid treatment apparatus - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE: To provide a hollow yarn type fluid treatment apparatus equalizing the distribution of a fluid to be treated to a hollow yarn membrane and enhanced in treatment capacity and operability. CONSTITUTION: A hollow yarn bundle formed by gathering a large number of hollow yarns is received in a cylindrical case and hollow opening parts are formed to the end parts of the hollow yarn bundle at both end parts of the cylindrical case to bond and fix the cylindrical case to the hollow yarn bundle and caps 3a respectively having fluid introducing and leading-out nozzles are provided to both end parts of the cylindrical case to constitute a hollow yarn type fluid treatment apparatus. In this apparatus, a small diameter part 2c satisfying the relation of DX<D1 between the inner diameter D1 of the introducing port 4a of the fluid introducing nozzle 2a and the inner diameter DX at the arbitrary place thereof is formed to at least a part of the inner wall of the fluid introducing nozzle 2a. The relation between the min. inner diameter D2 of the small diameter part and the inner diameter D1 is desirably set to 1.0<D1/D2<=2.5 and the small diameter part is desirably formed into an orifice like and/or annular projection like shape.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an improvement in a fluid treatment device, particularly a hollow fiber type fluid treatment device, and more specifically,
The present invention relates to a hollow fiber type fluid treatment device in which the treatment performance and operation performance of a liquid to be treated are improved by equalizing the introduction and distribution of the treatment fluid to the individual hollow fiber membranes constituting the hollow fiber bundle.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Generally, a fluid treatment device using a selective replacement material such as a separation membrane or a hollow fiber is widely used for fluid treatment such as dialysis, filtration, filtration dialysis, reverse osmosis, concentration and separation. Since the fluid treatment device using the selective displacement separation membrane has a small filling amount of the liquid to be treated per area of the separation membrane, in recent years, a hollow fiber type fluid treatment device in which a large number of hollow fibrous separation membranes are assembled. Has become widely applied.

In such a hollow fiber type fluid treatment device, a hollow fiber bundle, which is a separating means and is bundled with a large number of hollow fiber membranes having selective permeability, is housed in a cylindrical case, and the open ends of these hollow fiber membranes are obtained. As described above, both ends of the tubular case and both ends of the hollow fiber bundle are adhesively fixed with a resin composition called potting compound, and further, both ends of the tubular case have a fluid inlet / outlet nozzle. It has a structure with a cap.

In the above hollow fiber type fluid treatment apparatus, the liquid to be treated flows in from the fluid introduction nozzle, is distributed and introduced into the hollow fiber membrane which is the fluid treatment section, and undergoes dialysis, filtration, filtration dialysis, reverse osmosis, A treatment according to the purpose such as concentration and separation is performed.

In order to improve the treatment performance and treatment efficiency of such a hollow fiber type fluid treatment device, not only the performance of the hollow fiber membrane itself is improved, but also the liquid to be treated is evenly distributed to each hollow fiber. It was an important factor.

Further, in a fluid treatment device, it is common to perform priming cleaning work / returning work in the device before / after use, and in order to perform these works more quickly, Distribution equalization technology has been taken up as an important factor, and many proposals have already been made regarding this.

As a typical conventional technique for equalizing the distribution of the fluid, for example, the height of the fluid introducing nozzle is made substantially longer than that of the conventional type (Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 4-135628), and the inner surface of the cap portion is predetermined. With grooves (Japanese Utility Model Publication No. 61-9642 and Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 61-1936).
No. 67) and those in which the fluid introduction nozzle and the cap have been subjected to a predetermined inner surface treatment (Japanese Patent Publication No. 4-3983), but in these prior arts, equalization of fluid distribution is still insufficient. However, there is still a problem in that the liquid to be treated is likely to stay in the cap portion and drift.

That is, in the above-mentioned prior art, no consideration is given to the uneven flow generated in the inflow pipe of the liquid to be treated such as the tube connected to the inlet of the fluid treatment device. It was not possible to sufficiently prevent the fluid from staying in the cap portion and the drift due to the drift.

Further, Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 60-58162 discloses that a static kneading element is incorporated in the blood introducing portion of the inlet port portion, but this method complicates the structure of the fluid treatment device. However, there is a problem in terms of molding or cost, so it was not a technology that should be satisfied in practical use.

[0010]

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention has been achieved as a result of studying the solution of the above-mentioned problems in the prior art.

Therefore, it is an object of the present invention to provide a fluid treatment apparatus which equalizes the distribution of the treatment fluid to the hollow fiber membranes and improves the treatment performance and the operation performance.

[0012]

In order to achieve the above-mentioned object, the fluid treatment apparatus of the present invention is such that at least a part of the inner wall of the fluid introduction nozzle has an introduction port inner diameter D1 and an inner diameter of an arbitrary portion of the fluid introduction nozzle. It is characterized in that DX forms a small diameter portion that satisfies the relationship of DX <D1. Further, according to the present invention, a hollow fiber bundle in which a large number of hollow fibers are collected is housed in a tubular case, and a hollow opening is formed at an end of the hollow fiber bundle at both ends of the tubular case. In a hollow fiber type fluid treatment device, in which a tubular case and the hollow fiber bundle are adhesively fixed, and a cap having a fluid inlet / outlet nozzle is provided at both ends of the tubular case, at least a part of an inner wall of the fluid introduction nozzle. In addition, the inner diameter D1 of the inlet and the inner diameter DX of an arbitrary portion of the fluid introduction nozzle are characterized by forming a small diameter portion satisfying the relationship of DX <D1.

The structure of the hollow fiber type fluid treatment apparatus of the present invention will be described below in detail with reference to the drawings.

FIG. 1 is a sectional view showing an example of a hollow fiber type fluid treatment device (dialysis device), FIG. 2 is an enlarged sectional view of a cap portion in FIG. 1, and FIG. 3 is a cap portion showing another embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 4 is an enlarged sectional view, and FIG. 4 is a sectional view showing another mode of attaching the cap to the cylindrical case.

In FIG. 1, 1 is a cylindrical case, 2a is a fluid inlet nozzle, 2b is a fluid outlet nozzle, 3a and 3b are caps, 4a is a fluid inlet, 4b is a fluid outlet, and 5 is a hollow fiber membrane and hollow. Thread bundles 7 and 8 are potting compounds for adhesively fixing the hollow fiber bundle 5 and the tubular case 1.

The hollow fiber membrane 5 is a hollow fiber-shaped separation membrane having selective permeability, and its shape and material are not particularly limited except that it is in a hollow state.

As the potting method for the potting compounds 7 and 8, a well-known method such as a method of injecting and solidifying under centrifugation can be used.
In terms of the above, the hollow opening of the hollow fiber membrane 5 is obtained.

In this hollow fiber type fluid treatment device, the liquid to be treated is first introduced into the fluid introduction port 4a by using an inflowing tubular member (not shown) such as a silicon tube.
Connect to. The liquid to be treated is introduced from the fluid introduction port 4a, passes through the fluid introduction nozzle 2a and the cap 3a, and is distributed to a large number of hollow fiber membranes 5 on the hollow opening surface 9. After passing through the treatment portion, the cap 3b and the fluid discharge nozzle. 2b-The fluid is discharged to the fluid outlet 4b, and is similarly discharged to the outside from an outflow tube (not shown).

Here, in the hollow fiber type fluid processing apparatus of the present invention, the inner diameter D1 of the inlet 4a is provided on at least a part of the inner wall of the fluid introducing nozzle 2a, and the fluid introducing nozzle 2a.
It is an important requirement that the inner diameter DX of any portion of the inner wall portion X excluding the introduction port 4a is formed with the small diameter portion 2c satisfying the relationship of DX <D1.

That is, in FIG. 2, D1 is the inner diameter at the fluid introducing port 4a, DX is the inner diameter of any portion of the inner wall portion X of the fluid introducing nozzle 2a excluding the introducing port 4a, and the inner wall portion X is , At least in part, D
It is formed in an orifice shape having a small diameter portion 2c that satisfies the relationship of X <D1.

In FIG. 2, θ indicates the inclination angle between the hollow opening 9 and the inner wall of the cap 3a, and R1 indicates the radius of curvature of the curved surface connecting the fluid introducing nozzle 2a and the cap 3a.

These θ and R1 are the fluid introduction nozzle 2a.
It is provided in order to smoothly and radially flow the liquid to be treated introduced into the cap portion 3a without peeling it off, and it may be within a known dimension range.
It is preferable to set the range of θ ≦ 15 degrees and 5.0 mm ≦ R1 ≦ 12.5 mm because the amount of the liquid to be treated is less likely to peel.

Further, the fluid introducing nozzle 2a and the cap 3a
May be an integrally molded product or an assembled product, and the materials thereof are not particularly limited.

However, it is desirable that the direction f of the fluid introducing nozzle 2a and the direction of arrangement of the hollow fiber bundles 5 are substantially the same.

The dimension of D1 is determined by the flow rate and viscosity of the fluid to be treated, the internal pressure resistance in the apparatus, etc., but generally, the one having an inner diameter of 3.0 to 6.5 mm is widely used. .

In FIG. 2, D2 indicates the minimum inner diameter in the orifice shape, and this D2 and the above D1 have a dimensional ratio (D
1 / D2) is set to 1.0 <D1 / D2 ≦ 2.5, more preferably 1.2 ≦ D1 / D2 ≦ 2.5, so that the liquid to be treated is evenly distributed to the hollow fiber membranes 5. Is being efficiently achieved.

The fact that D1 / D2 is 1.0 or less is the same as in the prior art, but under these conventional conditions, the inflow tube for the liquid to be treated connected to the inlet 4a of the fluid treatment apparatus. Is not straight, the flow in this tube has a curved portion (the side with a large R diameter) and on the side with a small R diameter, the flow velocity is faster on the side with a larger R diameter, so that there is uneven flow in the tube. When the liquid is generated, the flow is naturally generated in the inflow nozzle 2a and the cap 3a of the fluid treatment device, and it becomes impossible to evenly distribute the liquid to be treated to the hollow fiber membranes 5.

Therefore, in order to reduce the uneven flow in the fluid introducing nozzle 2a due to the uneven flow in the inflow tube, the inflow tube should be made as straight as possible and connected to the fluid introducing nozzle 2a. It is necessary, but this was an almost impossible technique in terms of equipment.

When D1 / D2 exceeds 2.5, the flow velocity of the liquid to be treated becomes too fast at the point D2 of the fluid introducing nozzle 2a, the pressure difference becomes large, and the liquid to be treated on the curved surface portion R1 becomes large. Peeling is likely to occur, and it becomes difficult to make uniform distribution to the hollow fiber membranes 5, which is not preferable.

However, at least a part of the inner wall of the fluid introducing nozzle 2a is formed with the introducing port inner diameter D1 and the small diameter portion 2c in which the inner diameter DX of the fluid introducing nozzle at any part satisfies the relationship DX <D1. Minimum inner diameter D2 of small diameter part 2c
And D1 and the dimensional ratio (D1 / D2) are 1.0 <D1 /
According to the fluid introduction nozzle 2a of the present invention formed in the range of D2 ≤2.5, the drift in the inflow tube of the liquid to be treated connected to the fluid treatment device is eliminated inside the fluid introduction nozzle 2a, and the hollow It is possible to form an even flow of the liquid to be treated in the thread type fluid treatment device. More specifically, the uneven flow in the inflow tube can be converted into a laminar flow by the small diameter portion 3c provided in the fluid introduction nozzle 2a, and a uniform flow can be formed in the fluid treatment device. The processing efficiency of can be greatly improved.

In FIG. 2, the fluid introduction nozzle 2
Although an example in which the inner wall of a has an orifice shape to form the small diameter portion 2c is shown, in the other embodiment shown in FIG. 3, the minimum inner diameter D is provided on at least a part of the inner wall of the fluid introduction nozzle 2a.
The small diameter portion 2c in the shape of an annular protrusion having 2 is formed, and according to this aspect as well, similar to the aspect of FIG. 2 described above, a uniform flow is formed in the fluid treatment device, and the treatment efficiency of the fluid to be treated is greatly increased. Can be improved.

FIG. 4 shows another specific example of how the cap 3a is attached to the tubular case 1. As described above, the cap 3a has a rubber elastic O-ring 11 and a fixing means 12 having a screw. Can also be used to attach to both ends of the intermediate product of the fluid treatment device.

The hollow fiber type fluid treatment apparatus of the present invention having the above-mentioned constitution makes use of its excellent treatment performance to perform dialysis,
It can be widely used for fluid treatment such as filtration, diafiltration, reverse osmosis, concentration and separation, and is particularly useful as a fluid treatment device for blood treatment.

The structure and effects of the present invention will be described in more detail below with reference to examples.

[0035]

EXAMPLE A polymethylmethacrylate-based hollow fiber bundle having an inner diameter of 200 μm and an effective membrane area of 2.0 m ² was formed into an inner diameter of 46.
After storing it in a 5 mm polystyrene cylindrical case,
An intermediate product of the fluid treatment device was obtained by injection-potting a polyurethane-based resin under centrifugation and adhering and fixing both ends of the cylindrical case and the hollow fiber bundle.

Next, the cap having the orifice-like fluid introducing nozzle shown in FIG. 2 and the cap having the fluid introducing nozzle having the annular projection shown in FIG. Dimensions D1 and D shown in Table 1
These rubber caps are formed by cutting into 2 to form rubber elastic O-rings 11 as shown in FIG.
Using a fixing means 12 equipped with a screw screw and a screw, the hollow product was attached to both ends of the above intermediate product to obtain an experimental hollow fiber type fluid treatment device.

That is, in the present embodiment, the cap having the orifice-shaped fluid introduction nozzle shown in FIG. 2 was used for four fractions {D1 / D2 = 1.2 (sample A),
1.6 (Sample B), 2.4 (Sample C), 3.0
(Sample D)}, the cap having the annular projection-shaped fluid introduction nozzle shown in FIG.
= 2.0 (Sample E)} Each was manufactured and used in the experiment.

The same experiment was carried out using a conventional cap (Sample F) having a tapered nozzle having a minimum inner diameter D1 as a comparative example.

However, the dimensions other than the fluid introduction nozzle were all set to the same conditions.

In the evaluation method of each hollow fiber type fluid treatment device, the experimental circuit shown in FIG. 5 was used.

That is, in FIG. 5, 30 ° C., 55%
From the constant temperature bath 15 filled with the glycerin aqueous solution (viscosity of about 5.5 centipoise) to the fluid treatment device 13 using the circulation pump 14 at a flow rate of 200 ml / min,
A water-based ink (5.5 centipoise) is injected from the ink injection point 17 by the syringe 16 for a predetermined period of time to analyze the inflow pattern in the cap of the fluid processing apparatus, and at the same time until the inside of the cap is completely replaced with the water-based ink. The time (seconds) was measured.

As a result, the conventional cap (Sample F)
In the cap, retention was confirmed at two points diagonally in the cap, whereas almost no retention was observed in Samples A, B, C, and E.

Further, in sample D, the flow velocity immediately below the nozzle was high, but the flow velocity in the peripheral portion of the cap was low, and retention particularly occurred in the peripheral portion.

The time required for ink replacement was sample A: 8.5 seconds, sample B: 8.0 seconds, sample C:
10.0 seconds, sample D: 13.0 seconds, sample E:
It was 8.5 seconds and sample F (comparative example): 11.0 seconds.

The above results are summarized in Table 1.

[0046]

[Table 1] D1 D2 D1 / D2 R1 θ Inflow pattern Ink replacement sample [mm] [mm] [-] [mm] [degree] [-] [sec] A 3.5 3.0 1.2 10.0 5.0 ○ 8.5 B 4.0 2.5 1.6 〃 〃 ○ C 4.0 2.0 2.0 〃 〃 〃 ○ 10.0 D 4.2 1.6 2.6 〃 〃 × 13.0 E 4.0 2.5 1.6 〃 〃 ○ 8.5 F (Comparative example) 3.5 − <1.0 〃 〃 △ 11.0 ※ Inflow pattern result ○: Uneven flow is recognized Absent.

Δ: A drift is observed.

X: Many drifts.

[0049]

As described in detail above, according to the hollow fiber type fluid treatment apparatus of the present invention, even if there is a non-uniform flow in the inflow pipe of the liquid to be treated, the hollow fiber membrane can be uniformly treated. The liquid can be distributed, and the processing performance and operation performance of the fluid processing apparatus can be significantly improved.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a cross-sectional view showing an example (dialysis device) of a hollow fiber type fluid treatment device.

FIG. 2 is an enlarged sectional view of a cap portion in FIG.

FIG. 3 is an enlarged sectional view of a cap portion showing another embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 4 is a cross-sectional view showing another mode of attaching the cap to the cylindrical case.

FIG. 5 is an explanatory diagram of an evaluation experimental circuit used in an example of the present invention.

[Explanation of symbols]

 1: Cylindrical case, 2a: Fluid introduction nozzle 2c: Small diameter part 2b: Fluid delivery nozzle 3a: Cap 3b: Cap 4a: Fluid introduction port 4b: Fluid delivery port 5: Hollow fiber membrane 7: Potting compound 8: Potting compound 9 : Hollow fiber opening surface 10: Hollow fiber opening surface 11: O- ring 12: Fixing means 13: Hollow fiber type fluid treatment device

Claims (6)

[Claims] 1. A fluid processing apparatus having a fluid inlet / outlet nozzle, wherein at least a part of an inner wall of the fluid inlet nozzle is provided.
A fluid treatment apparatus characterized in that an inlet inner diameter D1 and an inner diameter DX of an arbitrary portion of this fluid introducing nozzle form a small diameter portion satisfying a relationship of DX <D1. 2. A hollow fiber bundle, in which a large number of hollow fibers are collected, is housed in a tubular case, and hollow openings are formed at the ends of the hollow fiber bundle at both ends of the tubular case. In a hollow fiber type fluid treatment device, in which a tubular case and the hollow fiber bundle are adhesively fixed, and a cap having a fluid inlet / outlet nozzle is provided at both ends of the tubular case, at least a part of an inner wall of the fluid introduction nozzle. And a small diameter portion in which the inner diameter D1 of the inlet port and the inner diameter DX of an arbitrary portion of the fluid inlet nozzle satisfy the relationship DX <D1. 3. The fluid treatment apparatus according to claim 2, wherein the direction of the fluid introduction nozzle is substantially the same as the arrangement direction of the hollow fiber bundles. 4. The fluid treatment apparatus according to claim 2, wherein the small diameter portion is formed in an orifice shape and / or an annular projection shape. 5. An inner diameter D1 of the inlet of the fluid introducing nozzle,
The minimum inner diameter D2 of the small diameter part on the inner wall of this fluid introduction nozzle
Is in the relationship of 1.0 <D1 / D2≤2.5. 5. The fluid processing apparatus according to claim 2, 3 or 4, wherein 6. The fluid treatment apparatus according to claim 2, 3, 4 or 5, wherein the fluid treatment apparatus is a blood treatment fluid treatment apparatus.