JP2000246065A - Hollow fiber membrane unit and membrane separation apparatus - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To prevent deformation of water collecting parts and improve the easy maintenance property. SOLUTION: This apparatus comprises hollow fiber membrane modules 20. Each hollow-fiber membrane module 20 is constituted of a plurality of hollow- fiber membranes 12 installed sparsely at prescribed intervals from one another between a pair of rectangular water collecting boards 11 while both ends of the hollow-fiber membranes 12 being opened in both ends to the board faces of the water collecting boards 11. Box-like water collecting housings 26 are overlaid on one another in the vertical direction to layer the hollow fiber membrane modules 20 in multistages.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a hollow fiber membrane unit and a membrane separation apparatus used for performing solid-liquid separation by installing it in a water treatment facility for sewage such as purified water, sewage, human waste and various wastewaters. About.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art In the treatment of sewage, it is widely practiced to subject the sewage to membrane separation to separate and remove solids having a certain particle size or more from the sewage and reuse the treated water. As one of apparatuses for performing the membrane separation, a membrane separation apparatus using a hollow fiber membrane unit in which a hollow fiber membrane is modularized is known.

[0003] Here, the hollow fiber membrane has, for example, an outer diameter of 100 mm.
About 0 μm, for example, made of ethylene vinyl alcohol, or on the peripheral wall of a hollow thread made of polyethylene resin, for example, a number of holes having a diameter of about 0.1 to 0.4 μm provided, while immersing in sewage, By suctioning the inside to a low pressure state, only the treated water excluding the solid matter is allowed to permeate into the inside to separate the solid and liquid.

In this type of membrane separation apparatus, not only the filtration (separation) area is large and the water permeability is excellent, but also clogging is prevented and the permeation flow rate can be maintained. Is required. For this reason, for example, the hollow fiber membranes are unitized by densely arranging the hollow fiber membranes in a planar manner, and connecting the hollow fiber membranes to a cylindrical or rectangular cylindrical water collecting housing on both sides thereof. An immersion type water treatment apparatus has been proposed in which these are arranged in a tank to form a solid-liquid separation site.

[0005]

However, in the prior art, for example, the water collecting portions provided on both sides of the hollow fiber membrane are sucked, and the treated water that has passed through the hollow fiber membrane is collected in the water collecting portion. When water is collected, if the length of the water collecting part is long, the peripheral wall of the water collecting part may be dented due to a suction force (negative pressure) acting on the water collecting part. When the water collecting portion is thus recessed, the treated water does not flow smoothly inside the water collecting portion, and it becomes difficult to maintain the permeation flow rate. In particular, in the upper part of the water collecting part, a large amount of treated water flows therethrough, so that this disadvantage becomes remarkable.
In addition, for example, it is not possible to replace only a portion where there is a risk of clogging or breakage and leakage, which causes a problem in maintenance.

The present invention has been made in view of the above circumstances, and it is possible to prevent the deformation of the water collecting portion even if the length of the water collecting portion for collecting the treated water permeated through the hollow fiber membrane becomes long. Can,
Moreover, an object of the present invention is to provide a hollow fiber membrane unit and a membrane separation device which are excellent in maintainability.

[0007]

The hollow fiber membrane unit of the present invention comprises a plurality of hollow fiber membranes which are sparsely arranged between a pair of rectangular collecting plates while being spaced apart from each other by a predetermined distance. A hollow fiber membrane module in which both ends are opened at the board surface of the water collecting board and the opening is closed with a box-shaped water collecting housing,
The box-shaped water collecting housings are stacked on each other and arranged vertically, and the hollow fiber membrane modules are stacked in multiple stages.

Thus, the hollow fiber membrane unit having a predetermined height is formed by stacking a plurality of separately formed hollow fiber membrane modules in multiple stages, thereby improving the water absorption efficiency and improving the hollow fiber membrane unit. Maintenance can be facilitated. That is, by forming the water collecting housing into a box shape divided for each water collecting board and modularizing the water collecting housing, the water collecting housing itself can have sufficient strength to prevent this deformation, and the water collecting capacity can be prevented. Can be increased. When the hollow fiber membranes are tightly bundled in the water collecting portion as described in the related art, sludge easily accumulates in the portion, which lowers the water collecting ability. For this reason, in the present invention, the hollow fiber membranes are arranged sparsely. However, as described above, the long water collecting housing is likely to be deformed, and the maintenance property is poor. For this reason, the water collecting property and the maintainability are improved by configuring as described above.

In the water collecting housing, the water collecting housing is arranged up and down by fitting fitting portions provided at positions opposing each other on the upper and lower surfaces of a box, and is provided in the fitting portion. It is characterized in that it communicates with each other through a water collecting port. Thereby, by stacking the hollow fiber membrane modules while fitting the water collecting housings at both ends thereof,
The hollow fiber membrane unit can be easily configured.

Further, the water collecting housing has a water collecting port arranged on a side of a box shape, and is connected to the branch pipe of the water collecting pipe having branch pipes at predetermined intervals through the water collecting port. It is characterized by being connected. Thus, by using a highly rigid water collecting pipe, this deformation can be prevented, and the treated water that has passed through the hollow fiber membrane can be efficiently collected in the water collecting pipe.

[0011] A separation membrane device according to the present invention is characterized in that a treated water discharge pipe connected to a suction device is connected to an end of the water collecting portion of the hollow fiber membrane unit according to any one of claims 1 to 3.
Thereby, the deformation of the water collecting part can be prevented, and the permeation flow rate of the membrane separation device can be always kept constant.

[0012]

Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings. FIGS. 1 to 5 show a hollow fiber membrane unit according to a first embodiment of the present invention and a membrane separation device provided with the unit. In this membrane separation device, four hollow fiber membrane modules 10 are provided. Hollow fiber membrane unit 20 having
Is provided. In addition, it is a matter of course that the number of the hollow fiber membrane modules can be arbitrarily changed.

The hollow fiber membrane module 10 is shown in FIGS.
As shown in the figure, between a pair of rectangular water collecting plates 11 and 11,
The plurality of hollow fiber membranes 12 are sparsely arranged at a pitch of, for example, 2.2 mm and are vertically spaced apart from each other by a predetermined distance. Each of the hollow fiber membranes 12 extends through the inside of the water collecting board 11 and opens on the board surface of the water collecting board 11. The water collecting board 11 is made of, for example, a hard potting portion 13 made of, for example, a thermoplastic resin, and made of, for example, silicone rubber or a soft plastic (polyvinyl chloride, polystyrene, polyurethane). And a soft potting portion 14 acting as
Protrusions 15 extending in the vertical direction are formed.

The hollow fiber membrane module 10 includes, for example,
A single hollow fiber membrane is folded and bundled a predetermined number of times, shaped into a predetermined shape, potted at both ends, and cut and removed after solidification to remove a U-shaped hollow fiber membrane located outside the potting portion. It is constituted by doing.

FIG. 4 is a cross-sectional view
And a pair of end plates 21 as shown in FIG.
It is attached to the open end of a box-shaped water collecting housing 26 in which the end of a cylindrical body composed of the upper plate 22 and the lower plate 23 is closed by a closing plate 25 with a sealing member 24 interposed. The water collecting housing 26 is made of, for example, a resin material such as vinyl chloride or ABC resin, and provided on both side plates 21 with a concave portion 27 that fits with the convex portion 15 of the water collecting plate 11 as shown in FIG. Have been. Then, the convex portion 15 of the water collecting plate 11 is fitted into the concave portion 27 of the side plate 21 to close the water collecting housing 24 with the water collecting plate 11 in a watertight manner.
8 are formed. The water collecting board 11 and the water collecting housing 21 may be bonded with an adhesive, or another sealing means may be provided.

On the other hand, at a position where the upper plate 22 and the lower plate 23 oppose each other, as shown in FIG. Inside the fitting protrusion 29 and the fitting groove 30, water collecting ports 31 and 32 penetrating vertically are provided.

Accordingly, the fitting protrusion 29 of the upper plate 22 of the water collecting housing 26 located below is fitted into the fitting groove 30 of the lower plate 23 of the water collecting housing 26 located above and stacked vertically. In this example, while the water collecting chambers 28 of the water collecting housing 26 located above and below communicate with each other via the water collecting ports 31 and 32, in this example, a hollow having four (four stages) hollow fiber membrane modules 10 is provided. The thread membrane unit 20 is configured.

Further, the water collecting housing 2 located at the lowest stage
End caps 40 are attached to the lower surface of the housing 6 and the upper surface of the water collecting housing 26 located at the uppermost position. The end caps 4 facing each other in the horizontal direction
A pair of connecting rods 41 is bridged between 0 and 40.

Furthermore, the water collecting housing 2 located at the lowest stage
The end cap 40 attached to the lower surface of the
On the other hand, a treated water extraction pipe 44 branched in two directions via a connection nut 43 is attached to an end cap 40 mounted on the upper surface of each water collecting housing 21 located at the uppermost position.
Are connected to each other, and a suction device 45 such as a water suction pump is connected to the treated water extraction pipe 44.

In the above-described embodiment, an example has been described in which the water collecting housing 26 is formed in a box shape.
For example, the closing plate 25 may be formed in a semicircular gutter shape.

Next, an example of use of the membrane separation device will be described. First, for example, the hollow fiber membrane unit 20 is installed in an aeration tank in which an air diffuser for ejecting air is disposed below, and is immersed in sewage in the aeration tank, and air is ejected from the air diffuser. , Water collecting housing 2 with suction device 45
The solid-liquid separation of the sewage is performed by sucking each hollow fiber membrane 12 from the water collecting chamber 28 inside 6 and the treated water is taken out from the treated water extraction pipe 4.
Take out from 4 At this time, the treated water that has passed through each hollow fiber membrane 12 once flows into the water collecting chamber 28, and then sequentially rises inside the water collecting chamber 28 while passing through the water collecting ports 31 and 32, so that the treated water It flows into the discharge pipe 44.

In particular, since the hollow fiber membranes 12 are sparsely arranged, sludge and the like adhering to the hollow fiber membranes can be efficiently removed by air and a flow of air above the hollow fiber membrane unit 20. Thereby, the water collection efficiency can be increased.

Here, the interior of the water collecting chamber 28 is
The suction pressure of the water collecting housing 5 causes a negative pressure, and a considerably large external pressure acts on the water collecting housing 26.
Is formed in a box shape divided for each water collecting plate 11 and has a sufficient strength, so that this deformation is prevented.
Therefore, the treated water always flows smoothly in the water collecting chamber 28 and the water collecting ports 31 and 32 inside the water collecting housing 21,
The permeation flow rate of the membrane separator is maintained.

Further, by stacking a plurality of hollow fiber membrane modules 10, each of which is formed separately, in multiple stages to form a hollow fiber membrane unit 20 having a predetermined height, for example, a part of the hollow fiber When a defect such as clogging occurs, the problem can be quickly dealt with by replacing the hollow fiber membrane module 10 having the hollow fiber membrane 12 with the defect.

According to this embodiment, the hollow fiber membrane module 10 is stacked while the fitting projections 29 and the fitting grooves 30 of the water collecting housing 26 at both ends thereof are fitted to each other, thereby forming the hollow fiber membrane unit. 20 can be constructed easily and quickly.

FIG. 6 shows a main part of a hollow fiber membrane unit according to a second embodiment of the present invention and a membrane separation device provided with the unit. This is because the branch pipe 50 is provided at predetermined intervals.
, While the water collecting housing 26 has
The closing plate 25 is provided with a water collecting port 33 penetrating the closing plate 25, and the water collecting chamber 28 of the water collecting housing 26 and the inside of the branch pipe 50 communicate with each other through the water collecting port 33 so that Each water collecting housing 26 is attached to the tip of a pipe 50. It is to be noted that the lower end of the water collecting pipe 51 is closed, and the treated water extracting pipe 44 (see FIGS. 1 to 3) is attached to the upper end as in the above-described embodiment.

According to this embodiment, each hollow fiber membrane 12
After flowing into the water collecting chambers 28, the treated water having passed through the branch pipes 50 merges with the treated water flowing through the branch pipes 50 and flows through the water collecting pipes 51 to form a treated water extraction pipe 44 (FIGS. 1 to 3). reference)
Is taken out to the outside. For this reason, in the water collection pipe 51, the flow rate increases upward, but even if the flow rate increases, the treated water flows smoothly in the water collection pipe 51, and the treated water can be efficiently collected. . Moreover, the water collecting pipe 51
By using a material having high rigidity, this deformation is prevented.

[0028]

As described above, according to the present invention,
Even if the length of the water collecting part that collects the treated water that has passed through the hollow fiber membrane is long, the water collecting part is prevented from being deformed, and the treated water always flows smoothly inside the water collecting part. Can be maintained. Moreover, even if a defect occurs in a part of the hollow fiber membrane, it can be quickly dealt with by replacing the hollow fiber membrane module.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a front view showing a hollow fiber membrane unit according to a first embodiment of the present invention and a membrane separation device provided with the unit.

FIG. 2 is a right side view of FIG.

FIG. 3 is a plan view of FIG. 1;

FIG. 4 is an enlarged sectional view taken along line A of FIG. 1;

FIG. 5 is an enlarged sectional view taken along line BB of FIG. 2;

FIG. 6 is a view showing a main part of a hollow fiber membrane unit according to a second embodiment of the present invention and a membrane separation device provided with the unit.

[Explanation of symbols]

 DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 10 Hollow fiber membrane module 11 Water collecting board 12 Hollow fiber membrane 20 Hollow fiber membrane unit 26 Water collecting housing 28 Water collecting chamber 29 Fitting protrusion 30 Fitting groove 31, 32, 33 Water inlet 40 End cap 44 Treated water extraction pipe 45 Suction Equipment 50 Branch pipe 51 Water collecting pipe

 ──────────────────────────────────────────────────続 き Continuing from the front page (72) Inventor Daichi Sakashita 4-2-1 Motofujisawa, Fujisawa-shi, Kanagawa Inside Ebara Research Institute, Ltd. No. 1 Inside EBARA CORPORATION (72) Inventor Koji Kosaka 11-1 Haneda Asahimachi, Ota-ku, Tokyo F-term in EBARA CORPORATION (reference) 4D006 GA02 HA02 HA17 HA19 HA93 HA95 JA01A JA02B JA13A JA13C JA16A JA16C JA18A JA18C JB06 KA31 KA44 KB22 KE08P MA01 MA22 MA33 MC22 MC34 PA02 PB08 PC64

Claims (4)

[Claims] 1. A plurality of hollow fiber membranes are sparsely arranged and spaced apart from each other by a predetermined distance between a pair of rectangular water collecting boards, and both ends of the hollow fiber membranes are opened on the board surface of the water collecting board. A hollow fiber membrane module closed with a box-shaped water collecting housing, the box-shaped water collecting housings are stacked on each other and arranged vertically, and the hollow fiber membrane modules are stacked in multiple stages. Features hollow fiber membrane unit. 2. The water collecting housing is arranged vertically by fitting fitting parts provided at positions facing each other on the upper and lower surfaces of a box-like shape, and is disposed vertically through a water collecting port provided in the fitting part. The hollow fiber membrane unit according to claim 1, wherein the hollow fiber membrane units communicate with each other. 3. The water collecting housing includes a water collecting port disposed on a side of a box shape, and communicates with the branch pipe of a water collecting pipe having branch pipes at predetermined intervals through the water collecting port. The hollow fiber membrane unit according to claim 1, which is connected. 4. A membrane separation device, wherein a treated water discharge pipe connected to a suction device is connected to an end of a water collection portion of the hollow fiber membrane unit according to claim 1.