[Invention Title]
FEED SPACER HAVING THREE-LAYERED STRUCTURE AND
REVERSE OSMOSIS MEMBRANE FILTER MODULE COMPRISING SAME
[Technical Field]
This application claims priority to and the benefit
of Korean Patent Application No. 10-2021-0020423 filed in
the Korean Intellectual Property Office on February 16,
2021, the entire contents of which are incorporated herein
by reference.
The present invention relates to a feed spacer having
a three-layered structure and a reverse osmosis membrane
filter module comprising the same.
[Background Art]
As water shortages due to global warming intensify
around the world, a water purification technology, which is
an alternative water resource securing technology, has
attracted attention.
Therefore, it is expected that a water treatment
process using a reverse osmosis membrane, which is a core
technology of the next-generation water supply business
using alternative water resources such as seawater
desalination and water reuse, will lead the water industry
market.
The reverse osmosis membrane permeated water by the
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reverse osmosis membrane becomes pure water or water close
to infinitely pure water, and has been used in various
fields such as sterile water for medical use, purified
water for population dialysis, or water for manufacturing
semiconductors in the electronics industry.
Here, the reverse osmosis is called an osmosis
phenomenon, in which two solutions having a difference in
concentration are separated by a semi-permeable membrane,
and after a certain period of time, while a solution having
a lower concentration moves to a higher concentration, a
constant water level difference is generated. In addition,
the difference in water level that occurs during this
process is called reverse osmosis. A device that purifies
water by passing only water molecules through a semipermeable membrane using this principle is called reverse
osmosis equipment, and the semi-permeable membrane that is
input in the reverse osmosis equipment is a reverse osmosis
filter module.
The reverse osmosis filter module is configured to
comprise a central tube, a feed spacer, a reverse osmosis
(RO) membrane, a tricot filter channel, and the like.
Among them, the feed spacer mainly uses a diamond-shaped
spacer, and serves as a passage through which raw water is
introduced.
On the other hand, concentration polarization
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inevitably occurs in the vicinity of the reverse osmosis
membrane due to the water permeation flux, and as this
phenomenon becomes more severe, the osmotic pressure
increases near the reverse osmosis membrane and the water
permeability decreases.

[CLAIMS]
[Claim 1]
A feed spacer having a three-layered structure
comprising:
a first set of which a plurality of strands are
positioned in parallel;
a second set provided to cross the first set and
configured by a plurality of parallel strands; and
a third set positioned in parallel with a raw water
direction and configured by a plurality of parallel strands,
wherein at least one of the first set and the second
set consists of strands having a smaller thickness than
that of the strands constituting the third set.
[Claim 2]
The feed spacer having the three-layered structure of
claim 1, wherein one of the first set and the second set
consists of strands having a thickness smaller than that of
the strands constituting the third set, and
the other set consists of strands having the same
thickness as that of the strands constituting the third set.
[Claim 3]
The feed spacer having the three-layered structure of
claim 1, wherein both the first set and the second set
consist of strands having a smaller thickness than that of
the strands constituting the third set.
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[Claim 4]
The feed spacer having the three-layered structure of
claim 1, wherein a strand per inch (SPI) of the feed spacer
is 4 to 9.
[Claim 5]
The feed spacer having the three-layered structure of
claim 1, wherein a distance between intersections of the
first set and the second set is 3,800 m to 12,000 m.
[Claim 6]
The feed spacer having the three-layered structure of
claim 1, wherein an angle formed between the first and
second sets is 50° to 90°.
[Claim 7]
The feed spacer having the three-layered structure of
claim 1, wherein a ratio of the thickness of the strands
constituting the third set and the thickness of the strands
having a thickness smaller than the thickness of the
strands constituting the third set is 1.1 to 1.5:1.
[Claim 8]
The feed spacer having the three-layered structure of
claim 1, wherein the thickness of the feed spacer is 600 m
to 900 m.
[Claim 9]
A reverse osmosis filter module comprising the feed
spacer having the three-layered structure according to any
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one of claims 1 to 8.
[Claim 10]
The reverse osmosis filter module of claim 9,
comprising:
a tube comprising an opening for accommodating a
permeate along a longitudinal direction; and
one or more reverse osmosis membranes configured to
extend from the tube in an outer direction and wound around
the tube,
wherein the feed spacer is in contact with the one or
more reverse osmosis membranes and wound around the tube.