DENMARK: Device kills air pollution at its source

Record ID: 217015

  • Title: DENMARK: Device kills air pollution at its source
  • Date: 26th February 2013
  • Summary: AARHUS, DENMARK (FEBRUARY 11, 2013) (REUTERS) PIPES ON THE ROOF/ PAN TO ATMOSPHERICAL PHOTOCHEMICAL ACCELERATOR UNIT PIPES CONNECTED TO THE ACCELERATOR UNIT SMOKE COMING OUT OF CHIMNEY WIDE OF AIR PURIFYING UNITS WORKERS OUTSIDE THE BOXES COPENHAGEN UNIVERSITY CHEMIST MATTHEW JOHNSON DRAWING ON WHITE BOARD CLOSE OF DRAWING (SOUNDBITE) (English) COPENHAGEN UNIVERSITY CHEM
  • Embargoed: 13th March 2013 12:00
  • Keywords:
  • Topics: Disasters / Accidents / Natural catastrophes
  • Reuters ID: LVAD6QO6FH1RUK1ETFWCNCYB3AFW
  • Story Text: Using the atmosphere's natural ability to clean itself as its model, University of Copenhagen associate professor Matthew Johnson has built a mechanical unit that speeds up natural atmospheric processes to clean air within seconds, getting rid of pollutants and smells.
    As European Union emission rules for Volatile Organic Compounds are tightened, Johnson believes his invention can help industries deal with pollution in an organic way. An atmosphere chemist, Johnson spent years examining various mechanisms in which nature was able to rid itself of pollution.
    "Any kind of pollution has a chemical vulnerability and what we do in this invention, this process, is to exploit those vulnerabilities in order to keep pollution from getting into the atmosphere. So it's a method of emissions control and it's green technology, so we'd like to stop pollution at the source," he said.
    The Earth's naturally occurring cleaning process is triggered by sunlight. Polluting gases rising into the sky start forming particles when they come across naturally occurring compounds such as ozone. The newly formed particles are then washed out of the atmosphere by rain. Once the rain hits the ground, the atmosphere is clean again. Johnson has devised an atmospheric photochemical accelerator system that speeds up this process.
    "The basic idea is that we need to accelerate the natural processes that remove pollution and we do that by adding some ozone, we add some artificial sunlight, some UV lamps and we start to oxidise the pollution and when these molecules become oxidised, they get stickier. This means that they like to form particles and maybe they collect some water, they make a little droplet and then we put an electrical charge onto that droplet and then we use that charge to drag it onto a filter plate and this means that we can very quickly treat all of the pollution and do it without blocking the airflow. So we haven't used a mechanical filter. This means that we save energy. We don't have a large pressure drop in the process. And we're able to treat very large quantities of air," said Johnson.
    The method removes fumes from hydrocarbons such as natural gas, diesel, gasoline and solvents, as well as smells from biological processes such as food preparation, farming, slaughter and sewage. Particles such as fungal spores, pollen and airborne ashes can also be removed. What makes the invention different from traditional methods is that it removes pollution by purifying air inside the unit, instead of diluting it.
    The inventor says maintenance on his patented invention is inexpensive and the unit requires little energy. His device can be retro-fitted inside an existing air cleaning unit. Johnson says future factories could therefore be built without chimneys.
    Johnson has been collaborating with technological firm Infuser to mount and test the air cleaning device at the Jysk Miljoerens industrial plant in the town of Aarhus. The Danish company recycles oil by separating oil from bilge water in ships but faced years of complaints from neighbours due to the smelliness of their plant. Following six years of secret trials in which the whole process was housed in five aluminium boxes on the roof the company can thank Johnson and Infuser for revolutionising its public image.
    Johnson said the development process had been hard work, but that the invention had great potential.
    "I'm not sure I've quite relaxed yet. I mean it seems like we're on the edge of a great success right now but I don't think even yet that it's sunk in what the device is capable of doing," he said.
    Infuser and Johnson are working on a further project trying to remove sulphur from the exhausts of ships.
  • Copyright Holder: REUTERS
  • Copyright Notice: (c) Copyright Thomson Reuters 2013. Open For Restrictions - http://about.reuters.com/fulllegal.asp
  • Usage Terms/Restrictions: None
Register