Patent Application
20090266759
This invention generally relates to filter media, and in particular to a filter media formed from an integrated fiber composite material consisting of entangled coarse fibers and electrospun fine fibers, and method of making the same.
Fluid streams such as liquid flows and gaseous flows (e.g. air flows) often carry particulates that are often undesirable contaminants entrained in the fluid stream. Filters are commonly employed to remove some or all of the particulates from the fluid stream.
Filter media including fine fibers formed using an electrostatic spinning process is also known. Such prior art includes Filter Material Construction and Method, U.S. Pat. No. 5,672,399; Cellulosic/Polyamide Composite, U.S. Patent Publication No. 2007/0163217; and Filtration Medias, Fine Fibers Under 100 Nanometers, And Methods, U.S. patent application Ser. No. 12/271,322, the entire disclosure of which are incorporated herein by reference thereto. As shown in these references nanofibers are commonly laid upon a finished preformed filtration media substrate.
According to embodiments of the present invention, fine fibers as may be formed by electrospinning can be integrated with other more conventional filter media fibers in a common filtration layer. For example, prior to completing a filtration substrate of more conventional and typically larger filtration media fibers, electrospun fine fibers can be integrated with the more conventional and typically larger filtration media fibers.
In one aspect, the invention provides for a filter media comprising an entanglement of coarse fibers having an average fiber diameter of greater than about 1 micron and fine fibers having an average fine fiber diameter of less than about 0.8 micron, wherein the entanglement of coarse fibers and fine fibers form a single integrated filter media composite layer.
In another aspect, the invention provides a method of making a filter media. First, a web of coarse fibers having an average fiber diameter of greater than about 1 micron is formed. Then fine fibers having an average fiber diameter of less than about 0.8 micron are electrospun and entangled with the coarse fibers. Finally, the entanglement of the coarse fibers and fine fibers are integrated to form a single integrated filter media composite layer.
Yet in another aspect, the invention provides a method of forming a filter media including forming a web of coarse fibers prior to completing a filter media substrate, and electrospinning fine fibers and depositing the fine fibers on the web. The web of coarse fibers comprise coarse fibers having an average fiber diameter of greater than about 1 micron, and the electrospun fine fiber having an average fiber diameter of less than about 0.8 micron.
Other aspects, objectives and advantages of the invention will become more apparent from the following detailed description when taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings.
The accompanying drawings incorporated in and forming a part of the specification illustrate several aspects of the present invention and, together with the description, serve to explain the principles of the invention. In the drawings:
While the invention will be described in connection with certain preferred embodiments, there is no intent to limit it to those embodiments. On the contrary, the intent is to cover all alternatives, modifications and equivalents as included within the spirit and scope of the invention as defined by the appended claims.
In embodiments of the present invention shown in schematic cross section in
To accomplish the same, and as shown in
Referring to the embodiment of filter media according to the present invention in
The composite layer 106 may be utilized by itself and can be pleated, fluted or otherwise arranged in a known filter element structure. Additionally, the embodiment in
The fine fibers 104 can be formed by electrospinning or other suitable process and as such have a very fine fiber diameter. For example, electrospun fine fibers typically have an average fiber diameter less than about 0.8 micron, and more typically less than 0.5 micron, and more preferably between 0.01 and 0.3 micron. The coarse fibers 102 typically have an average fiber diameter greater than about 1 micron. More typically, embodiments of the present invention will employ an average coarse fiber diameter of greater than 3 micron and even more typically between about 5 micron and about 30 micron. Such construction of the filter media 100 can improve filtration efficiency as the fine fibers 104 increase the ability to trap smaller particles. Smaller the diameter of the fine fibers, more fibers can be packed together without increasing overall solidity, thus increased filter efficiency.
The fine fibers 104 may be formed from different polymeric materials and solvents via an electrostatic spinning process. Examples of polymeric materials include polyvinyl chloride (PVC), polyolefin, polyacetal, polyester, cellulous ether, polyalkylene sulfide, polyarylene oxide, polysulfone, modified polysulfone polymers and polyvinyl alcohol, polyamide, polystyrene, polyacrylonitrile, polyvinylidene chloride, polymethyl methacrylate, polyvinylidene fluoride. Solvents for making polymeric solution for electrostatic spinning may include acetic acid, formic acid, m-cresol, tri-fluoro ethanol, hexafluoro isopropanol chlorinated solvents, alcohols, water, ethanol, isopropanol, acetone, and N-methyl pyrrolidone, and methanol. The solvent and the polymer can be matched for appropriated use based on sufficient solubility of the polymer in a given solvent. For example, formic acid may be chosen for polyamide, which is also commonly known as nylon. Reference can be had to the aforementioned patents for further details on electrospinning of fine fibers.
While the fine fibers 104 can improve filtration efficiency while maintaining a relatively open media, the fine fibers 102 may not provide a structural support necessary for the filter media 100 or for filter media handling and processing. For example, it would be difficult to pleat or otherwise arrange in a filter a fine fiber layer alone. Thus, in the preferred embodiment of
In the system 200, the web of coarse fibers 206 is formed from staple fibers using a dry laying or air laying process. The staple fibers used in this process are relatively short and discontinuous but long enough to be handled by conventional equipment. Bales of staple fibers can be utilized and separated and handled by the equipment. The staple fibers are fed to the system 200 through the chute feed 202. In the carding device 204, the staple fibers are separated into individual fibers and air laid to form the web of coarse fibers 206. At this point, the web of coarse fibers 206 can be loosely tangled together in a highly fluffed thick state and may not be bonded together. The web of coarse fibers can easily be pulled apart with very little manual effort and has little structural integrity at this point such that it is not considered a filter media substrate in the conventional sense.
The web of coarse fibers 206 is transferred to the vacuum collector conveyor 212 directed by an air knife 208, wherein the fine fibers 211 are electrospun from the electrospinning cells 210 and deposited on the web of coarse fibers 206. The electrospinning process in the system 200 can be substantially the same as the electro spinning process disclosed in Fine Fibers Under 100 Nanometers, And Methods, U.S. Provisional Patent Application No. 60/989,218, assigned to the assignee of the present application, the entire disclosure of which has been incorporated herein by reference thereto. Alternatively, nozzle banks or other electrospinning equipment can be utilized to form the fine fibers. Such alternative electrospinning devices or rerouting of the chain electrodes 209 of the cells 210 can permit the fibers to be deposited in any orientation desired (e.g. upwardly is shown although fibers can also be spun downwardly, horizontally or diagonally onto a conveyor carrying coarser fibers).
The electrospinning process produces synthetic fibers of small diameter, which are also known as nanofibers. The basic process of electrostatic spinning involves the introduction of electrostatic charge to a stream of polymer melt or solution in the presence of a strong electric field, such as a high voltage gradient. Introduction of electrostatic charges to polymeric fluid in the electrospinning cells 210 results in formation of a jet of charged fluid. The charged jet accelerates and thins in the electrostatic field, attracted toward a grounded collector. In such process, viscoelastic forces of polymeric fluids stabilize the jet, forming a small diameter filaments. An average diameter of fibers may be controlled by design of electrospinning cells 210 and formulation of polymeric solutions.
In the system 200, an electrostatic field is generated between electrodes 209 in the electrospinning cells 210 and the vacuum collector conveyor 212, provided by a high voltage supply 213 generating a high voltage differential. As shown in
The web of coarse fibers 206 is typically fluffy and low in solid with large interfiber spaces. Thus, the fine fibers 210 formed by an electrospinnning process which has smaller fiber diameters than the coarse fibers are dispersed in the interfiber spaces of the coarse fibers and on the surface of the web of coarse fibers 206, wherein the fine fibers are entangled with the coarse fibers.
An entanglement of the coarse fibers and fine fibers 215 are directed by an air knife 214 onto a conveyor 216, wherein the entanglement 215 can be mixed and thereby entangled further, if desired, such as by being folded into multiple folds. The entanglement 215 may be folded to 2 to 8 folds thick depending on a desired thickness and/or characteristics of the filter media 100. The folded entanglement 220 is transferred by a conveyor 218 to a set of rollers 222, wherein the folded entanglement 220 is compressed to a thickness appropriate to pass through an oven 226. As the folded entanglement 220 is heated in the oven 226, thermal bonding between the fine fibers and coarse fibers is effectuated for further integration. After exiting the oven 226, the folded entanglement 220 passes through a set of calendering rollers 227. The calendering rollers 227 are spaced from each other according to a desired thickness of a filter media. As the folded entanglement 220 passes through the set of calendering rollers 227, the folded entanglement 220 is pressed down into a single integrated filter media composite layer 229.
The folded entanglement 220 prior to being calendered can measure more than 2 inches in its thickness, wherein the fine fibers are entangled with the coarse fibers which are low in solidity with high volume of voids or interfiber spaces. When such entanglement 220 passes through the set of calendering rollers 227, the folded entanglement 220 is compressed such that the interfiber spaces in the coarse fibers are reduced, thereby further integrating the fine fibers and the coarse fibers. In one preferred implementation of the system 200, the folded entanglement 220 may be 2.5 inches in thickness which is compressed to form an integrated filter media in 1/16 inch thickness.
The integration between the fine fibers and the coarse fibers may involve solvent bonding, thermal bonding, pressure bonding and/or adhesive bonding. For example, when fine fibers are entangled with coarse fibers, some solvent remaining in the fine fibers from the electrospinning process can come in contact with the adjacent coarse fibers to effectuate a solvent type bonding between the fine fibers and the coarse fibers. To effectuate a sufficient solvent bonding between the fibers, the coarse fibers need to be soluble or at least react with the solvent in the fine fibers.
The integration between coarse fibers and fine fibers may be enhanced by pressure and heat. Thermal bonding is a process of using heat to bond or stabilize a web structure that consists of thermoplastic fibers. In thermal bonding of thermoplastics, parts of the fibers may act as thermal binders. In pressure bonding, an entanglement of fine fibers and coarse fibers is compressed such that interfiber spaces in the entaglement are reduced and fibers are pressed together and integrated.
In one embodiment, the coarse fibers are formed from a thermoplastic having a lower melting temperature than that of a thermoplastic of the fine fibers, such that the coarse fibers would soften first and fuse with the adjacent fine fibers to form an integrated fiber composite filter media. For example, the coarse fibers may be formed from polyvinyl alcohol (PVA) while the fine fibers may be formed from nylon which has a higher melting temperature than PVA. Such combination may be advantageous, since the fine fibers having a higher melting temperature can maintain their fine fiber size and shape during a thermal bonding process which can be advantageous to filtration capabilities as discussed previously. In other embodiments, the coarse fibers may be formed from a higher melting temperature thermoplastic than the fine fibers.
In the system 200, the fine fibers are laid upon the coarse fibers and attached therewith by solvent type bonding when the fine fibers with some solvent remaining come in contact with the coarse fibers. The entangled and solvent bonded fine fibers and coarse fibers are integrated by pressure applied by the set of calendering rollers 220. The calendering rollers 220 can also be heated to effectuate additional integration of fibers by a thermal bonding. The system 200 also includes the oven 226 for additional thermal bonding integration of fibers. The oven 226 may be located either before or after the calendering rollers 227 to heat fibers such that the fibers having lower melting temperature soften and act as thermal binders to bond with adjacent fibers.
As shown in
In certain embodiments, the system 200 can produce an integrated fiber composite filter media 229 having a fiber density gradient by varying the amount of fine fibers throughout the thickness media. For example, the electrospinning cells 210 may be programmed such that the amount of fine fibers gradually increases from one surface of the fiber composite filter media 229 to the other. Specifically, individual electrodes can be modulated (turned off and on) in sequence with the folding of the media to generate more or fewer fibers on different folds and thereby generate more fibers nearer the upstream or downstream face of the media. When the electrode is turned off (e.g. disconnected from a voltage source or made to be the same voltage as the collector electrode), fine fiber generation stops as there is no electrical force to generate fibers. Fiber generation restarts upon returning to the on state when the voltage differential is provided. The gradient density provides for different options. For example, for better depth loading, fewer fine fibers may be generated proximate the upstream face and a larger gradient density proximate the downstream face. In fact, a region of the media may be fine fiber free proximate one of the faces. Hence, the fine fibers may not be dispersed throughout the common layer depth. This may provide for a gradient efficiency trapping larger particles nearer the upstream face and smaller particles proximate the downstream face. As such, contaminant loading may be controlled. Alternatively, more fine fibers may be generated proximate the upstream face thereby providing for better surface loading.
The integrated fiber composite filter media 100, 229 may be used either as a surface loading filter media or a depth filter media in various filter applications. The fine fibers in the integrated fiber composite filter media 100, 229 can make an effective depth filter by enhancing filtration capability to trap smaller particles. Further, the integrated fiber filter media having a fiber density gradient 300 can make a good depth filter by enabling loading of particles throughout its thickness.
There are potentially other ways to integrate fine fibers during the production of filter media layers or prior to finishing the filter media layer. For example, coarse fibers can be formed by a melt blowing process wherein a molten polymer is extruded and drawn with heated, high velocity air to form the coarse fibers. The coarse fibers can be collected as a web of the coarse fibers on a moving screen which is then integrated with the electrospun fine fibers as described above. Thus, other types of fibers other than staple fibers may be used. Other arrangements are also possible. Coarse fiber formation and the fine fiber formation may be closely arranged. For example, melt blowing extruder orifices and electrospinning cells are aligned adjacent and may be in alternating fashion. For example, the fiber production may start with a melt blowing orifice forming coarse fibers onto a moving screen, which is aligned with a subsequent electrospinning cell that forms and entangles fine fibers with the coarse fibers, which is aligned with a subsequent melt blowing orifice forming and entangling the coarse fibers with the entanglement of fine fibers and coarse fibers, and so on.
Coarse fibers may also be spun-bonded. In a typical spun-bonding process, a molten polymeric material passes through a plurality of extrusion orifices to form a multifilamentary spinline. The multifilamentary spinline is drawn in order to increase its tenacity and passed through a quench zone wherein solidification occurs which is collected on a support such as a moving screen. The spun-bonding process is similar to the melt blowing process, but melt blown fibers are usually finer than spun-bonded fibers. The spun-bonded coarse fibers may be first formed as a web which is integrated with electrospun fine fibers downstream, or the spun-bonded coarse fibers and the electrospun fine fibers may be alternatingly formed in a combined fiber production station as described in the melt blown process.
In another embodiment, the coarse fibers may be wet-laid. In a wet laying process, the coarse fibers are dispersed on a conveyor belt, and the fibers are spread in a uniform web while still wet. Wet-laid operations typically use ¼″ to ¾″ long fibers, but sometimes longer if the fiber is stiff or thick. Polyester, polypropylene, fiberglass and other synthetic fiber blends are well suited for wet laying process. Electrospun fine fibers may be deposited prior to curing or drying. Additional mixing or agitation may increase entanglement.
All references, including publications, patent applications, and patents cited herein are hereby incorporated by reference to the same extent as if each reference were individually and specifically indicated to be incorporated by reference and were set forth in its entirety herein.
The use of the terms “a” and “an” and “the” and similar referents in the context of describing the invention (especially in the context of the following claims) is to be construed to cover both the singular and the plural, unless otherwise indicated herein or clearly contradicted by context. The terms “comprising,” “having,” “including,” and “containing” are to be construed as open-ended terms (i.e., meaning “including, but not limited to,”) unless otherwise noted. Recitation of ranges of values herein are merely intended to serve as a shorthand method of referring individually to each separate value falling within the range, unless otherwise indicated herein, and each separate value is incorporated into the specification as if it were individually recited herein. All methods described herein can be performed in any suitable order unless otherwise indicated herein or otherwise clearly contradicted by context. The use of any and all examples, or exemplary language (e.g., “such as”) provided herein, is intended merely to better illuminate the invention and does not pose a limitation on the scope of the invention unless otherwise claimed. No language in the specification should be construed as indicating any non-claimed element as essential to the practice of the invention.
Preferred embodiments of this invention are described herein, including the best mode known to the inventors for carrying out the invention. Variations of those preferred embodiments may become apparent to those of ordinary skill in the art upon reading the foregoing description. The inventors expect skilled artisans to employ such variations as appropriate, and the inventors intend for the invention to be practiced otherwise than as specifically described herein. Accordingly, this invention includes all modifications and equivalents of the subject matter recited in the claims appended hereto as permitted by applicable law. Moreover, any combination of the above-described elements in all possible variations thereof is encompassed by the invention unless otherwise indicated herein or otherwise clearly contradicted by context.
This patent application claims the benefit of U.S. Provisional Patent Application No. 61/047,459, filed Apr. 24, 2008, the entire teachings and disclosure of which are incorporated herein by reference thereto.
| Number | Date | Country | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 61047459 | Apr 2008 | US |
