Hollow fibers are a remarkably efficient design used in Ultrafiltration Membranes to effectively remove suspended solids, turbidity, bacteria, viruses among others contaminants. This design maximises surface area in a given volume and is the preferred design when it comes to ultrafiltration.
Hollow fibers are potted to the housing of the module as shown in the below diagram.
The potting ensures that there is a clear separation between the feed and permeate side of the fibers. Fibers these days are very strong. But their weakest point is the, in general is the point where the fibers enters the potting (the 'interface'). During filtration, air scouring and backwash when the fiber moves inside the module, it tends to break first at this interface point. This is because the potting used to hold the fibers on both the sides are made of hard epoxy to be able to withstand high pressures and industrial operating conditions of a ultrafiltration module. While the epoxy is hard and rigid, the softer moving fiber tends to get affected at the interface.
There needs to be a layer on top of this hard epoxy, which is soft enough to allow some degree of freedom for the fibers, while maintaining the integrity of the adhesive layer, at the same time bonding with the hard epoxy layer. This layer is called a soft potting layer and is made of a Theway Proprietary adhesive blend. This protects the fibers at their interface with the hard epoxy.
Soft potting ensures that interface points on the fiber are protected from failure. Soft potting is an intricate technique to execute successfully. Soft Potted membranes from commercial manufacturers last longer and demonstrate technical superiority of the corresponding manufacturer.
Theway is a manufacturer who offers state of the art soft potting in all its modules. Browse more about Theway's UF modules here at https://www.thewaymembranes.com/ultrafiltrationmembranes
For Website - www.thewaymembranes.com
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