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| Phase change insulation system |
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Heat and moisture exchangers
| Details |
Inventors: Turnbull, Christopher Stratton;
Assignee: Smiths Industries PLC (London, GB2)
Primary Examiner: Millin; Vincent
Assistant Examiner: Srivastara; V.
Attorney, Agent or Firm: Pollock, Vande Sande & Priddy
An HME has an exchange element comprising a bundle of hollow fibers parallel to the direction of gas flow through the HME. The fibers are of a polymeric material, such as a sulphone, and are treated with a hygroscopic material. The bundle of fibers is held together by an outer sleeve and a porous cap at each end. |
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DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS The HME has a conventional outer casing 1 of generally cylindrical shape made from a rigid, transparent plastics material, such as polycarbonate.
The casing 1 has a central region 2 with a length and an external diameter of about 30 mm.
At opposite ends, the casing 1 is formed with two inlets in the form of male, luer-tapered terminations 3 and 4 of reduced diameter, which are connected with the central region 2 by short frusto-conical shoulders 5 and 6 respectively.
The casing is preferably made in two parts to enable installation of an exchange element 10 and could be reusable with single-use exchange elements.
The exchange element 10 is located within the central region 2 so that the inlets 3 and 4 are located at opposite ends of the element.
The exchange element comprises a cylindrical bundle of hollow fibres 11 held together by a shrink-wrap sleeve 12, or some other means, around its circumference and by porous end caps 13.
The fibres 11 are made from a sulphone, such as polysulphone or polyether sulphone, with an external diameter of between about 0.
25 mm and 1.
5 mm.
The fibres are made by extruding a solvent-based solution of the polymer through an annular die into a water bath.
The solvent comes out of solution into the water, leaving the polymer structure behind.
This results in a porous wall structure of the fibres, which allows gas to seep through the walls.
The pore structure of the fibres can be varied by using different solvents, temperature and other extrusion factors.
There are various other ways in which the fibres could be made, such as, solution casting or a melt process.
The fibres 11 in the bundle are aligned parallel with one another and longitudinally of the casing 1, parallel with its axis, so that they are parallel to the flow of gas through the HME.
The fibres 11 are preferably treated with a hygroscopic material, such as calcium chloride, to increase their ability to retain water.
This treatment may be accomplished by immersing the bundle in a solution of calcium chloride and then drying to leave crystals of the calcium chloride
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Heat Accumulators 
