| US 7,537,701 B2 | ||
| Membrane filtration module with adjustable header spacing | ||
| Mailvaganam Mahendran, Mississauga (Canada); Henry Behmann, Puslinch (Canada); Steven Kristian Pedersen, Burlington (Canada); and Carlos Fernando F. Rodrigues, Mississauga (Canada) | ||
| Assigned to Zenon Technology Partnership, Wilmington, Del. (US) | ||
| Filed on Dec. 17, 2007, as Appl. No. 11/957,814. | ||
| Application 09/507438 is a division of application No. 09/258999, filed on Feb. 26, 1999, granted, now 6,042,677. | ||
| Application 09/258999 is a division of application No. 09/896517, filed on Jun. 16, 1997, granted, now 5,910,250. | ||
| Application 11/957814 is a continuation of application No. 10/865928, filed on Jun. 14, 2004, abandoned. | ||
| Application 10/865928 is a continuation in part of application No. 10/661519, filed on Sep. 15, 2003, abandoned. | ||
| Application 10/661519 is a continuation of application No. 09/849573, filed on May 04, 2001, granted, now 6,620,319. | ||
| Application 09/849573 is a continuation of application No. 09/507438, filed on Feb. 19, 2000, granted, now 6,294,039. | ||
| Application 09/896517 is a continuation in part of application No. 08/690045, filed on Jul. 31, 1996, granted, now 5,783,083. | ||
| Application 08/690045 is a continuation in part of application No. 08/514119, filed on Aug. 11, 1995, granted, now 5,639,373. | ||
| Application 10/865928 is a continuation in part of application No. 10/146934, filed on May 17, 2002, granted, now 7,037,426. | ||
| Application 10/146934 is a continuation in part of application No. 09/889352, filed on Jul. 17, 2001, granted, now 6,790,360. | ||
| Application 09/889352 is a continuation in part of application No. 09/848012, filed on May 03, 2001, granted, now 6,656,356. | ||
| Claims priority of provisional application 60/201725, filed on May 04, 2000. | ||
| Claims priority of provisional application 60/012921, filed on Mar. 05, 1996. | ||
| Prior Publication US 2008/0093299 A1, Apr. 24, 2008 | ||
| This patent is subject to a terminal disclaimer. | ||
| Int. Cl. B01D 61/00 (2006.01); B01D 63/00 (2006.01) | ||
| U.S. Cl. 210—650 [210/636; 210/321.8; 210/321.69] | 3 Claims |
| 1. A process for maintaining a desired length of membranes relative to a displacement between the first and second solid bodies
of an apparatus comprising
a multiplicity of hollow fiber membranes;
a first solid body and a second solid body, the first and second solid bodies having a displacement between them and the first
and second solid bodies having respective opposite ends of the membranes sealingly secured therein, the insides of the membranes
are open to permeate collection means connected to the solid bodies; and,
a spacer connected to the solid bodies for fixing the displacement between the first and second solid bodies,
wherein the displacement between the solid bodies may be selectively fixed in either of at least a first displacement setting
and a second displacement setting, the first displacement setting providing a membrane length in excess of the first displacement
setting within a desired range with membranes that have not been placed in service, and the second displacement setting providing
a length in excess of the second displacement setting within the desired range after the length of the membranes has changed
in service; and
wherein the desired range is a range of between of between 0.1% and 5% greater than the displacement between the solid bodies;
the process comprising:
spacing the first and second solid bodies at the first displacement setting; and
after the apparatus has been in service and the length of the membranes has changed, changing the displacement between the
first and second solid bodies to the second displacement setting.
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