Accelerated mixed gas integrity testing of porous materials

摘要

The invention relates to accelerated mixed gas integrity testing methods, devices, and systems for integrity testing wetted single and multi-layered porous materials, whereby the testing method is non-destructive to the porous materials being tested. The accelerated mixed gas integrity test method includes one or more of the following components: i) a permeate side gas purge component; ii) a permeate side volume reduction component; and iii) a permeate side circulation component. The invention is directed towards reducing the length of time necessary to complete the integrity testing of single and multi layered porous materials, elements and membranes.

主权项

1. A method of assessing the integrity of a porous material loaded into a porous material device using a compressed gas mixture and without the need for any gas component in the gas mixture to achieve a steady state concentration comprising
a) loading a wetted porous material into a device having a housing for receiving the wetted porous material, resulting in a wetted porous material having a feed side and a permeate side; b) feeding a compressed gas mixture of two or more gas components to the feed side of the wetted porous material, wherein the feed gases have differing permeabilities in the liquid used to wet the porous material, such that one of the gases permeates through the liquid of the wetted porous material faster than the other gas or gases used; c) flushing out the existing gas in the permeate side volume of the porous material and replacing with a gas mixture that has a composition similar to the expected composition of permeate gas generated from an integral membrane; d) recirculating the permeate gas and venting excess permeate gas while maintaining a feed side gas sweep flow; e) assessing the concentration of the gas mixture on the permeate side; and f) comparing the assessed concentration of the permeate gas with the value expected from an integral device, wherein a deviation from the expected concentration by more than predetermined amount is a signal for a non-integral porous material or porous material device.