Hollow fiber cartridges and components and methods of their construction

1. A hollow fiber filter cartridge comprising:

1) multiple hollow fibers prearranged in a unit cluster, in a geometric arrangement selected from a the group consisting of a hexagon, a square, a rectangle, a triangle, a polygon, a circle and an oval, wherein unit clusters are combined and symmetrically expanded by bonding of adjacent unit clusters to each other in the form of the unit cluster pattern, thereby forming bundles that are made of specifically arranged unit clusters, and wherein the cartridge comprises end cap openings into which the bundles are fitted, such that the fibers of the unit clusters, the bundles, and the end cap openings are in the same geometric arrangement, the geometric arrangement being selected from the group consisting of a hexagon, a square, a rectangle, a triangle, a polygon, a circle and an oval; wherein the hollow fibers are parallel to each other, wherein there is spacing between adjacent fibers in a unit cluster or bundle, each bundle comprising a first bundle end and a second bundle end, said fibers in each unit cluster within the bundle optionally pretwisted by rotation along the long axis of the, fibers,

2) a housing shell, said shell comprising a first end and a second end, each end comprising an opening,

3) a first shell end cap, said cap covering the opening in the first end of the housing shell, said cap comprising a plurality of openings, and

4) a second shell end cap, said cap covering the opening in the second end of the housing shell, said cap comprising a plurality of openings,

wherein the bundles are aligned in parallel within the housing shell,

wherein a segment of each bundle is fitted into an opening in the first shell end cap and is sealed against said opening by means of a potting agent, and

wherein a second segment of each bundle is fitted into an opening in the second shell end cap and is sealed against said opening by means of a potting agent (or fixative).

2. A cartridge of claim 1 where the shell and shell end caps are composed of the same material.

3. A cartridge of claim 2 wherein each shell end cap comprises a groove into which an end of the shell is inserted as part of a tongue and groove arrangement.

4. A cartridge of claim 1 wherein the housing shell is preferably cylindrical.

5. A cartridge in claim 1 wherein the housing shell is square or any other shape.

6. A cartridge of claim 1 wherein the housing shell is permeable or semi-permeable, said shell containing openings or without openings.

7. A cartridge of claim 1 wherein the shape of the openings of each shell end cap is selected from the group consisting of hexagonal, square, rectangular, triangular, polygonal, circular and oval.

8. A cartridge of claim 7 wherein the shape of the openings of shell end cap is hexagonal and the bundle, formed by interconnected hexagonal unit clusters is also in a corresponding geometric pattern that is hexagonal.

9. A cartridge of claim 1 , wherein the first and second end caps are mechanically attached to the housing shell.

10. A hollow fiber cartridge in accordance with claim 1 , wherein the first and second end caps are attached to the housing shell by a solvent or an adhesive.

11. A cartridge of claim 1 , wherein said cartridge comprises a supporting element, said supporting element selected from the group consisting of a post and a supportive column, said post or supportive column shaped to enclose a bundle within said cartridge, said post or supportive column permeable to fluid emanating from said cartridge.

12. A cartridge of claim 11 wherein the shape of said post or supportive column corresponds to the shape of the bundle.

13. A cartridge of claim 11 wherein the shape of said post or supportive column corresponds to the shape of the shell end cap opening.

14. A cartridge of claim 1 , wherein the cross-sectional shape of a hollow fiber bundle is the same as the cross-sectional shape of the end cap opening into which it is inserted.

15. A cartridge of claim 1 wherein the distance between the perimeter of one bundle and the perimeter of a neighboring bundle is between 1 millimeter and 5 millimeters, where said distance is the shortest distance between the perimeters of the two bundles.

16. A cartridge of claim 1 wherein each shell end cap is composed of a material whose thermal coefficient of expansion is the same as or sufficiently close to the coefficient of expansion of the potting agent such that, when the cartridge is exposed to heat, steam sterilization or autoclaving, no cracks or openings will occur either (a) in the shell end cap or area occupied by the potting agent or (b) between a cap and the area occupied by the agent bundle of hollow fibers.

17. A cartridge of claim 16 wherein each shell end cap is composed of a material whose thermal coefficient of expansion is the same as the coefficient of expansion of the potting agent such that, when the cartridge is exposed to heat, steam sterilization or autoclaving, no cracks or openings will occur either (a) in the shell end cap or area occupied by the potting agent or (b) between a cap and the area occupied by the bundle of hollow fibers.

18. A cartridge of claim 1 wherein each shell end cap is composed of a material whose thermal coefficient of expansion is the same as or sufficiently close to the coefficient of expansion of the shell such that, when the cartridge is exposed to heat, steam sterilization or autoclaving, no cracks or openings will occur either (a) in the shell end cap or area occupied by the potting agent or (b) between a cap and the area occupied by potting agent the bundle of hollow fibers or (c) between a cap and the shell.

19. A cartridge of claim 18 wherein each shell end cap is composed of a material whose thermal coefficient of expansion is the same as the coefficient of expansion of the shell such that, when the cartridge is exposed to heat, steam sterilization or autoclaving, no cracks or openings will occur either (a) in the shell end cap or area occupied by the potting agent or (b) between a cap and the area occupied by the bundle of hollow fibers or (c) between a cap and the shell.

20. A cartridge of claim 1 wherein each bundle is enclosed in a net sleeve.

21. A method for assembling a hollow fiber cartridge, said method comprising the steps of:

1) premachining (or molding) a first shell end cap and a second shell end cap of the cartridge, each cap comprising a plurality of openings;

2) attaching a shell housing to the first shell end cap, said shell comprising a first end and a second end, each shell end comprising an opening, such that the first end cap covers the opening in the first end of the shell;

3) attaching the shell housing to the second shell end cap, such that the second end cap covers the opening in the second end of the shell;

4) inserting each of a plurality of clusters of hollow fibers through one of a plurality of openings in the first shell end cap, through the shell housing and out the corresponding opening in the second shell end cap, each cluster comprising a first cluster end and a second cluster end, the length of each cluster being the same as or greater than the length of the housing, such that a segment of each cluster is fitted into an opening in the first shell end cap and a segment of each cluster is fitted into an opening in the second shell end cap; and

5) sealing each of said cluster segments by means of a potting agent (or fixative) against the shell end cap opening in which the segment was inserted;

wherein the fibers in each cluster are parallel to each other, said fibers optionally twisted by rotation along the long axis of the cluster; and

wherein the hollow fibers in each said cluster are arranged with spacing between them and in a specific geometric pattern selected from the group consisting of a hexagon, a square, a rectangle, a triangle, a polygon, a circle and an oval;

wherein the geometric shape of each cluster end is the same as the geometric shape of the shell end cap opening into which it is inserted.

22. A method of claim 21 wherein, wherein, once the clusters have been potted within the openings, the excess length of the hollow fibers that extends beyond the shell end caps, if any, is cut away.

23. A method of claim 21 wherein supportive posts or columns are inserted between end caps within the hollow fiber module.

24. A method of claim 23 , wherein the supportive columns are disposed between clusters.

25. A method of claim 23 , wherein clusters are enclosed within the supportive posts or columns, where the supportive posts or columns are permeable to the flow of filtrate emanating from the clusters within.

26. A method of claim 25 wherein the shape of said post or supportive column corresponds to the shape of the cluster.

27. A method of claim 25 wherein the shape of said post or supportive column corresponds to the shape of the shell end cap opening.

28. A method of claim 21 wherein each shell end cap is composed of a material whose thermal coefficient of expansion is the same as or sufficiently close to the coefficient of expansion of the potting agent such that, when the cartridge is exposed to heat, steam sterilization or autoclaving, no cracks or openings will occur either (a) in the shell end cap or area occupied by the potting agent or (b) between a cap and the area occupied by potting agent.

29. A method of claim 28 wherein each shell end cap is composed of a material whose thermal coefficient of expansion is the same as the coefficient of expansion of the potting agent such that, when the cartridge is exposed to heat, steam sterilization or autoclaving, no cracks or openings will occur either (a) in the shell end cap or area occupied by the potting agent or (b) between a cap and the area occupied by the potting agent.

30. A method of claim 21 wherein each shell end cap is composed of a material whose thermal coefficient of expansion is the same as or sufficiently close to the coefficient of expansion of the shell, such that when the cartridge is exposed to heat, steam sterilization or autoclaving, no cracks or openings will occur either (a) in the shell end cap or area occupied by the potting agent or (b) between a cap and the area occupied by potting agent or (c) between a cap and the shell.

31. A method of claim 30 wherein each shell end cap is composed of a material whose thermal coefficient of expansion is the same as the coefficient of expansion of the shell, such that when the cartridge is exposed to heat, steam sterilization or autoclaving, no cracks or openings will occur either (a) in the shell end cap or area occupied by the potting agent or (b) between a cap and the area occupied by potting agent agent or (c) between a cap and the shell.

32. A method of claim 21 wherein each shell end cap comprises a groove into which an end of the shell is inserted as part of a tongue and groove arrangement.

33. A method of claim 21 wherein the clusters that were smaller than the cluster inserted in step (4) were unit clusters, each unit cluster being selected from the group consisting of a 3-fiber triangular cluster, a 4-fiber rectangular cluster, a 4-fiber square cluster, and a 7-fiber hexagonal cluster.

34. A method of claim 33 wherein the unit cluster is a 7-fiber hexagonal cluster.

35. A method of claim 21 wherein the cluster inserted in step (4) has been potted in the appropriate shape prior to insertion.

36. A method of claim 21 wherein each cluster is enclosed in a net sleeve post.