Rapid integrity testing of porous materials

Abstract

The invention relates to a rapid recirculation based integrity testing of porous material and to an apparatus and system for performing the same.

21 . A method of assessing the integrity of a porous material without allowing the method to reach a steady state comprising a) wetting the porous material with water; b) contacting a first surface of the porous material with a mixture comprising a carrier and a detectable substance; c) applying pressure to the first surface of the porous material such that at least some of the carrier and the detectable substance permeate the porous material; d) recirculating the carrier and detectable substance found in a permeate of the porous material in a fixed volume on the permeate side while continuing to apply the pressure of (c); e) assessing the concentration of the detectable substance in the permeate of the porous material over time; and f) comparing the assessed concentration in (e) with the concentration of the detectable substance in a permeate of an integral porous material exposed to the same conditions over time, wherein an assessed concentration in (e) which is greater than the concentration of the detectable substance in a permeate of the integral porous material indicates the porous material is not integral. 
   
   
       22 . A method of assessing the integrity of a porous membrane without allowing the method to reach a steady state using an apparatus comprising:
 a) a housing suitable for receiving a porous membrane to be integrity tested; b) a source of a detectable substance in fluid communication with the housing; c) a source of a carrier for the detectable substance in fluid communication with the housing; d) a detector for detecting the detectable substance; e) a recirculation pump in communication with the detector and the housing for containing the porous membrane; and f) a source of an external force;
 wherein the method of assessing the integrity of the porous material received in the housing of (a) in the apparatus comprises i) wetting a porous material with a liquid; ii) contacting a first surface of the porous membrane with a mixture comprising a source of a detectable substance of (b) and a source of the carrier of (c) for the detectable substance; iii) applying an external force of pressure of (f) to the first surface of the porous membrane such that at least some of the carrier and the detectable substance permeate the porous membrane; iv) recirculating the carrier and detectable substance found in a permeate of the porous membrane in a fixed volume on the permeate side by the recirculation pump of (e) while continuing to apply the pressure of (iii); v) assessing the concentration of the detectable substance in the permeate of the porous membrane over time using the detector of (d); vi) comparing the assessed concentration in (iii) with the concentration of the detectable substance in a permeate of an integral porous membrane exposed to the same conditions over time, wherein an assessed concentration in (v) which is greater than the concentration of the detectable substance in a permeate of the integral porous membrane indicates the porous membrane is not integral.