摘要 |
<p>A hollow, porous, silica-rich fiber and a process for separating at least one gas from a gaseous mixture utilizing the hollow, porous, silica-rich fiber result in gas separations with good permeability and good selectivity. The hollow, porous, silica-rich fiber is non-crystalline and has pore sizes having a range of 1 to around 50 Angstroms in diameter and a mean pore size of around 5 to 50 Angstroms in diameter and a filament diameter in the range of 1 to around 200 microns and wall thickness in the range of around 1 to 30 microns. The hollow, porous, silica-rich fibers with a fine pore structure and thin walls are produced by forming hollow glass fibers by attenuation from melt at speeds in the range of 500 ft/min to around 20,000 ft/min and having a glass composition which is a non-phase separable fiberizable glass composition, a phase separable borosilicate having one or more oxides of a metal from Group IVB of the Periodic Table, a phase-separable glass composition with an amount of boron oxide of less than 20 weight percent up to around 60 weight percent, and alkali metal oxide silicate glass compositions. The non-heat treated glass fibers are leached to extract acid and/or water soluble components. At least one hollow, porous, silica-rich fiber is used in a device suitable to contain a gaseous mixture and the permeate is withdrawn from the glass fiber from the opposite side from that at which the gaseous mixture contacts the hollow, porous fiber.</p> |