A curved hollow fiber membrane comprises a support and a film. The support is curved before being coated with the film. The membrane may be used, for example, in a filtration module.
Description
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
FIG. 1 shows side views of various curved membranes.
FIG. 2 shows a cross-section of a curved membrane.
FIG. 3 shows an elevation view of a filtration module having curved membranes.
Claims
1. A curved supported hollow fibre membrane.
2. The membrane of claim 1 comprising a curved support coated with a porous film.
3. The membrane of claim 2 wherein the curved support comprises a set of filaments formed into a tube.
4. A filtration module having a curved supported hollow fibre membrane.
5. The filtration module of claim 4 wherein the membrane is attached at an end to a potting head.
6. The filtration module of claim 5 wherein the membranes are attached at second ends to a second potting head.
7. The filtration module of claim 6 wherein the membranes are in a slackened state or under a tension not sufficient to straighten the curves of the membrane.
8. A method of making a curved supported hollow fibre membrane comprising the steps of forming a curved support and coating the curved support with a porous film.
9. The method of claim 8 wherein the step of forming a curved support further comprises forming a set of filaments into a tube while maintaining a different tension on a sub-set of the filaments which follow generally parallel paths.
10. The method of claim 8 wherein the step of forming a curved support further comprises the steps of forming a tubular support having a sub-set of filaments having generally parallel paths with a latent length related property and activating the latent length related property to cause the support to curve.
11. The method of claim 8 wherein the step of forming a curved support comprises the steps of forming a tubular support and then treating the tubular support to curve it.
Patent Application
20070209994
