Porous membranes and associated separation modules and methods

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-9815031-B2
Application number	US-201615356854-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Nov 21, 2016
Priority date	Mar 29, 2016
Publication date	Nov 14, 2017
Grant date	Nov 14, 2017

Abstract

A separation module that includes a porous membrane, where the porous membrane includes a poly(phenylene ether) copolymer containing 10 to 40 mole percent repeat units derived from 2-methyl-6-phenylphenol and 60 to 90 mole percent repeat units derived from 2,6-dimethylphenol; and a block copolymer containing backbone or pendant blocks of poly(C 2-4 alkylene oxide). The separation module can be used in devices for wastewater treatment, water purification, desalination, separating water-insoluble oil from oil-containing wastewater, membrane distillation, sugar purification, protein concentration, enzyme recovery, dialysis, liver dialysis, or blood oxygenation.

First claim

The invention claimed is:

1. A separation module comprising a porous membrane comprising:
a poly(phenylene ether) copolymer comprising 10 to 40 mole percent repeat units derived from 2-methyl-6-phenylphenol and 60 to 90 mole percent repeat units derived from 2,6-dimethylphenol; and
a block copolymer comprising backbone or pendant blocks of poly(C 2-4 alkylene oxide).

2. The separation module of claim 1 , wherein the block copolymer is a poly(ethylene oxide)-poly(propylene oxide)-poly(ethylene oxide) block copolymer, a poly(ethylene oxide)-poly(propylene oxide)-poly(ethylene oxide) block copolymer, a poly(C 2-4 alkylene oxide)-poly(dimethylsiloxane) block copolymer, or a combination comprising at least one of the foregoing.

3. The separation module of claim 1 , wherein the porous membrane comprises 30 to 70 weight percent of the poly(phenylene ether) copolymer, and 30 to 70 weight percent of the block copolymer, based on the total weight of the porous membrane.

4. The separation module of claim 1 , wherein the block copolymer comprises:
a poly(ethylene oxide)-poly(propylene oxide)-poly(ethylene oxide) block copolymer having a number average molecular weight of 1,000 to 14,000 daltons, and comprising, based on the weight of the block copolymer, 1 to 90 weight percent, of poly(ethylene oxide) blocks;
a poly(propylene oxide)-poly(ethylene oxide)-poly(propylene oxide) block copolymer having a number average molecular weight 500 to 12,000 daltons, and comprising, based on the weight of the block copolymer, 1 to 90 weight percent of poly(ethylene oxide) blocks; or
a combination a combination comprising at least one of the foregoing.

5. The separation module of claim 4 , wherein the poly(ethylene oxide)-poly(propylene oxide)-poly(ethylene oxide) block copolymer having a number average molecular weight of 1,000 to 14,000 daltons comprises, based on the weight of the block copolymer, 5 to 50 weight percent, of poly(ethylene oxide) blocks; and
the poly(propylene oxide)-poly(ethylene oxide)-poly(propylene oxide) block copolymer having a number average molecular weight 500 to 12,000 daltons comprises, based on the weight of the block copolymer, 5 to 50 weight percent of poly(ethylene oxide) blocks.

6. The separation module of claim 1 , wherein the block copolymer comprises a poly(C 2-4 alkylene oxide)-poly(dimethylsiloxane) block copolymer comprising 5 to 60 weight percent polysiloxane, and having a number average molecular weight of 500 to 14,000 daltons.

7. The separation module of claim 1 , wherein the porous membrane is a flat sheet.

8. The separation module of claim 7 , wherein the flat sheet is in a spiral-wound configuration.

9. The separation module of claim 7 , wherein the flat sheet is in a plate and frame configuration.

10. The separation module of claim 1 , wherein the porous membrane is in a capillary or tubular configuration.

11. The separation module of claim 1 , wherein the porous membrane is a hollow fiber.

12. The separation module of claim 11 , wherein the separation module comprises:
an enclosure configured to contain a bundle of the hollow fibers, the enclosure having an outlet configured for withdrawing a permeate fluid;
a first encasement comprising a thermoset or a thermoplastic polymeric material and located at a first end of the bundle, arranged such that the hollow fiber membranes are embedded in the first encasement and communicate through the first encasement and are open on an outer face of the first encasement;
a second encasement comprising a thermoset or a thermoplastic polymeric material and located at a second end of the bundle opposite the first end of the bundle, arranged such that the hollow fiber membranes are embedded in the second encasement and communicate through the second encasement and are open on an outer face of the second encasement;
a first end cap arranged and configured for attaching and sealing to the first end of the bundle or enclosures at the first encasement;
a second end cap arranged and configured for attaching and sealing to the second end of the bundle or enclosures at the second encasement;
an inlet for introducing a fluid mixture to be separated into bores of the hollow fiber membranes at the first encasement; and
an outlet for withdrawing a retentate fluid from the bores for the hollow fiber membranes at the second encasement.

13. A device for wastewater treatment, water purification, desalination, or separating water-insoluble oil from oil-containing wastewater, the device comprising the separation module of claim 1 .

14. A device for purification of a liquid by membrane distillation comprising the separation module of claim 1 .

15. A device for sugar purification, protein concentration, or enzyme recovery, comprising the separation module of claim 1 .

16. A dialysis device for conducting hemodialysis on a patient suffering from renal failure, the device comprising the separation module of claim 11 .

17. A dialysis device for conducting liver dialysis on a patient suffering from liver failure, the device comprising the separation module of claim 11 .

18. A blood oxygenator comprising the separation module of claim 11 .

19. A system comprising:
a server;
the dialysis device of claim 16 configured to connect to the server through a network; and
a client device also configured to connect to the server through the network,
wherein the server is configured for:
maintaining an access control list to determine whether the client device is authorized to connect to the device; and
providing a connection for transfer of data between the dialysis device and the client device.

20. The system of claim 19 , wherein the server is further configured for:
receiving a request for a network connection from the dialysis device;
establishing the network connection with the dialysis device;
receiving, from the client device, a request to access the dialysis device;
authorizing the client device to access the dialysis device;
receiving from the dialysis device information pertaining to operation of the dialysis device; and
providing to the client device the information.

21. The system of claim 19 , wherein the dialysis device and client device are at a first location, and the server is at a remote location relative to the first location.

22. The separation module of claim 1 , wherein the poly(phenylene ether) copolymer has a weight average molecular weight of 75,000 to 300,000 daltons, as measured by gel permeation chromatography against polystyrene standards.

23. The separation module of claim 1 , wherein the porous membrane comprises 30 to 60 weight percent of the poly(phenylene ether) copolymer, and 40 to 70 weight percent of the block copolymer, based on the total weight of the porous membrane.

24. The separation module of claim 1 , wherein the poly(phenylene ether) copolymer consists of 10 to 30 mole percent 2-methyl-6-phenylphenol and 70 to 90 mole percent 2,6-dimethylphenol.

25. The separation module of claim 1 , wherein the weight average molecular weight of the poly(phenylene ether) copolymer is greater than or equal to 100,000 daltons and less than or equal to 300,000 daltons.

Assignees

• Sabic Global Technologies Bv

Inventors

• Berzinis Albin Peter
• De Grooth Joris
• De Brouwer Johannes
• Zhou Meijuan
• Bajaj Pooja
• Halbfinger Rachel Elizabeth
• Narang Kristi Jean

Classifications

• B01D69/04

  Tubular membranes · CPC title

• B01D63/10

  Spiral-wound membrane modules · CPC title

• B01D61/243

  Dialysis · CPC title

• B01D69/06

  Flat membranes · CPC title

• B01D69/08

  Hollow fibre membranes (manufacture of hollow fibres D01D5/24, D01F1/08) · CPC title