Cleaning of filters
First Claim
1. A method of operating a filter having elastic, microporous, hollow fibers within a shell or housing having a feed inlet thereto and a feed outlet therefrom comprising the steps of:
- (i) introducing a liquid suspension feedstock through the feed inlet to the shell or housing and directing said feedstock to the outer surface of the fibers including;
(a) passing some of said feedstock through the walls of the fibers so as to be drawn from the fiber lumens as a filtrate or permeate,(b) retaining some of the solids in said feedstock on or in the pores of the fibers, and discharging the non-retained solids through a feed outlet from the shell or housing with a remainder of said feedstock,(ii) periodically cleaning away the retained solids by;
(a) introducing a pressurized gas into the fiber lumens which passes through the walls of the fibers to dislodge the retained solids, and,(b) varying the pressure within the shell while the gas is being introduced into the lumens.
1 Assignment
0 Petitions
Accused Products
Abstract
A filter (10) has a shell (11) within which there is a bundle of microporous fibres (12). Pressurized feed suspension is introduced through inlet (15) and passes over the external walls of the fibers (12) with the clarified liquid being drawn from the lumens of the fibres (12) through outlet port (16) and the concentrated ffee being discharged through outlet (17). The solids retained within the shell are removed by a gaseous backwash cycle in which pressurized gas is introduced through the lumens and passes through the wall of the fibres (12) to dislodge solids retained on or in the fibre walls. The gaseous cleaning step is enhanced by varying the pressure within the housing (11) of the filter (10) while the gas is being introduced into the filter.
123 Citations
70 Claims
-
1. A method of operating a filter having elastic, microporous, hollow fibers within a shell or housing having a feed inlet thereto and a feed outlet therefrom comprising the steps of:
-
(i) introducing a liquid suspension feedstock through the feed inlet to the shell or housing and directing said feedstock to the outer surface of the fibers including; (a) passing some of said feedstock through the walls of the fibers so as to be drawn from the fiber lumens as a filtrate or permeate, (b) retaining some of the solids in said feedstock on or in the pores of the fibers, and discharging the non-retained solids through a feed outlet from the shell or housing with a remainder of said feedstock, (ii) periodically cleaning away the retained solids by; (a) introducing a pressurized gas into the fiber lumens which passes through the walls of the fibers to dislodge the retained solids, and, (b) varying the pressure within the shell while the gas is being introduced into the lumens. - View Dependent Claims (3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 31, 32, 33, 34, 35, 36, 37, 38, 39, 40, 41, 42, 43, 44, 45, 46, 47, 48, 49, 50, 51, 52, 53, 54, 55)
-
-
2. A method of operating a filter having a plurality of elastic, microporous hollow fibers with a shell or housing having a feed inlet thereto and a feed outlet therefrom, comprising the steps of:
-
(i) introducing a liquid suspension feedstock into the shell or housing and applying said feedstock to the outer surface of the fibers including; (a) passing some of said feedstock through the walls of the fibers so as to be drawn from the fiber lumens as a filtrate or permeate, (b) retaining some of the solids in said feedstock on or in the pores of the fibers, and removing the non-retained solids from the shell with a remainder of said feedstock, (ii) cleaning away the retained solids by; (a) applying to the fiber lumens a gas at a pressure sufficient to stretch substantially all of the pores, followed by, (b) maintaining the flow of gas through the lumens for a time period sufficient to drive the liquid from the pores having a bubble point below the pressure of the gas so as to wash out any solids in those pores and to dislodge any solids retained on the outer surface of the fibers such that the washed and dislodged solids are removed from the shell to an external collection point, and, (c) varying the pressure within the shell whilst the pressurized gas is being introduced into the lumens.
-
-
56. A filter system comprising:
-
(a) a shell or housing, (b) a plurality of elastic, microporous hollow fibers within the shell, (c) a feed inlet to the shell, (d) a feed outlet from the shell, (e) a filtrate outlet from the shell, (f) valve means for introducing a liquid suspension feedstock through the feed inlet to the shell and for directing said feedstock to the outer surface of the fibers such that; (i) some of said feedstock passes through the walls of the fibers to be drawn from the fiber lumens as a filtrate or permeate and to be discharged through the filtrate outlet, (ii) some of the solids in said feedstock are retained on or in the pores of the fibers, with the non-retained solids being discharged through the feed outlet from the shell or housing with the remainder of said feedstock, (g) valve means for controlling the outflow through the shell outlet, (h) valve means for introducing a pressurized gas into the fiber lumens which passes through the walls of the fibers to dislodge the retained solids, and, (i) control means for varying the pressure within the shell while the gas is being introduced into the lumens. - View Dependent Claims (58, 59, 60, 61, 62, 63, 64, 65, 66, 67, 69, 70)
-
-
57. A filter system comprising:
-
(a) a shell or housing, (b) a plurality of elastic, microporous hollow fibers within the shell, (c) a feed inlet to the shell, (d) a feed outlet from the shell, (e) a filtrate outlet from the shell, (f) valve means for introducing a liquid suspension feedstock through the feed inlet to the shell and for applying said feedstock to the outer surface of the fibers such that; (i) some of said feedstock passes through the walls of the fibers to be drawn from the fiber lumens as a filtrate or permeate and to be discharged through the filtrate outlet, (ii) some of the solids in said feedstock are retained on or in the pores of the fibers, with the non-retained solids being removed from the shell with the remainder of said feedstock, (g) valve means for controlling the outflow through the shell outlet, (h) valve means for introducing a pressurized gas through the fiber lumens which passes through the walls of the fibers to wash out at least some of the retained solids and then, (i) valve means for introducing through the fiber lumens a pressurized gas which passes through the walls of the fibers and stretches elastically at least some of the pores to dislodge any solids retained in those pores and which washes the external walls of the fibers, the gas being applied at a pressure which is sufficient to overcome the resistance to gas flow of the surface tension of the continuous phase of the control filtrate within the pores of the membrane, and, (j) means for varying the pressure within the shell whilst the pressurized gas is being introduced into the lumens.
-
-
68. A filter system according to 66 and including means for closing off the filtrate flow.
Specification