GB2525645A

GB2525645A - Pollution management system

Info

Publication number: GB2525645A
Application number: GB1407683.0A
Authority: GB
Inventors: Antonio Mugica; Jesmina Garcia; Irene Perez; Sven Kirschstein; Julio Walter; Andres Clavijo; Victor Trejo; Saul Castelar; Nelson Loaiza; Matthew Johnson; Luis Ramon Rojas Solorzano
Original assignee: AIR BV
Current assignee: AIR BV
Priority date: 2014-05-01
Filing date: 2014-05-01
Publication date: 2015-11-04
Also published as: GB201407683D0; CN107076436A; WO2015166091A1; EP3137819A1; HK1217185A1

Abstract

A pollution management system comprises an array of one or more polluted air inlets such as suction heads or vents 220, arranged to collect polluted air and supply the polluted air to a polluted air treatment element 210. Polluted air may be transported by fans 230 and/or other convection devices via suitable ducts and/or pipes 240 to the treatment element such as a gaseous or particulate matter treatment element. Sensors 270 may be provided along the ducts to sense contaminants such as particulate matter or NOx and SOx and are arranged to provide feedback to the polluted air treatment element where particulate and gaseous pollutants are removed either in stages or simultaneously. Advantageously the system can be used to reduce the atmospheric pollution in urbanized and/or industrialized areas.

Description

Pollution Management System

Introduction

The present disclosure relates to a pollution management system which reduces the amount of superficial atmospheric pollution in an environment through collection, treatment of and later release of treated air. The system can be used to reduce the atmospheric pollution in urbanized and/or industrialized areas, and to capture and separate free particulate matter, local pollutant gases such as benzene or methane, as well as nitric and sulphurous components mixed or chemically combined in the air.

Background

The concentration of pollutants in the air is an increasing problem faced by all urban areas in the world, to different degrees. The idea of capturing ambient air and processing it to clean if has not been tackled effectively by research efforts; most of the existing research has focused on dealing primarily with capturing and processing CO2 from the air.

Different methods for capturing, treating and controlling air pollution exist and can be broadly categorized as: 1. Pollution abatement methods such as modifications of processes in plants or flue gas treatment processes.

2. Structural measures such as energy efficiency improvements or fuel substitutions.

3. Measures related to urban planning such as traffic regulations or construction of road arteries.

Also in closed environments different methods of air-filtering have been used with some degree of success. For example, mechanical filters (i.e. coal filters) can be used. Another method is electrostatic filtering. However, no method has been found that targets ultra-high volume air filtering for open space environments.

Summary

Aspects of the invention are detailed in the accompanying claims.

Brief description of the drawings

A more complete understanding of the embodiments of the present disclosure may be gained by reference to the following detailed description when taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, wherein: Figure lisa general schematic representation of a pollution management system according to an embodiment of the invention.

Figure 2 shows an extended schematic diagram of the pollution management system.

Figure 3 is an example of a part of the pollution management system in a typical installation area.

Overview Referring to Figure 1, the present invention relates to a pollution management system, and consists of an electromechanical system which captures free atmospheric gases by means of distributed suction heads 105. The gases are conducted through ducts and/or pipes 113 by air flow systems (fans, convection systems, etc.) 110. The captured gases are transported to a polluted air processing and separation sub-system.

The suction vents 105 consist of an array, and capture a large amount of free atmospheric air, for example, by means of low pressure suction produced by fans. The air is transported to the air processing stage 115, where the complete volume of captured gas is processed.

The air undergoes a filtration stage; this can be chemical filtration, physical filtration or both. All the captured gaseous and solid components are either transformed or retained and suitably stored.

As a result, a system akin to a sewage system for air pollution can be deployed on an urban scale using widely distributed suction heads carrying polluted air to a local, distributed or central air treatment location. The polluted air can then be scrubbed, that is, cleaned in any appropriate manner and the cleaned air can be returned to the environment whilst the removed substances can be disposed of or reused as appropriate. In other embodiments, polluted air can be captured at source, for example at the factory chimney, and processed as described herein. Additional scrubbing stages can be placed at locations within transport pipes or ducts.

In further arrangements, an open loop or closed loop feedback system can be provided whereby pollution levels of various substances within can be sensed for example directly at the atmosphere and/or in the pipe or duct and fed into the downstream scrubbing or treatment mechanism to determine the most efficient way of cleaning the captured polluted air.

Detailed description

Air pollution, especially in urban areas, can comprise a mix of particulate matter and other gases. The particulate matter is typically divided into matter below 2.5 microns in dimension, below 10 microns and greater than 10 microns, often termed micro particulates.

Other common gases include NO and SO,, as well as, at a smaller percentage, gases which can vary according to the site, dependent on local pollutants, for example benzene and methane. These pollutants have been linked to cancer, respiratory disease and other health issues, and hence it is desirable to remove them for health reasons.

Figure 1 is a schematic of an appropriate system. Distributed suction heads 105 collect atmospheric gases. The captured air is transported by fans and/or other convection devices via suitable ducts and/or pipes to the processing and separation subsystem 115 where particulate and gaseous pollutants are removed either in stages or simultaneously.

Separated or transformed gaseous components 120 (1) to 120 (n) are either released to the atmosphere when not harmful or retained in adequate containers for further industrial use.

Captured particulate matter is also retained when kept in solid form, or transformed and released back when not harmful. Additionally, polluted air can be collected from direct pollution ducts and or pipes for example at a factory 125, and from alternative locations such similar sections of vents or fans arrays 130. For example, in an embodiment, street furniture such as bollards can include suction heads. These suction heads may be at different heights.

Such an arrangement can further be understood from Figure 2 which shows the transport stage 200 and polluted air treatment stage 210. At the transport stage, street level or other suction vents 220 provide polluted air to fans or other conveyors 230. The air can be collected at various points along ducts and/or pipes 240 and provided to local, distributed or a central polluted air processing and separation sub-system 250 where, as discussed above, separation, retention and return is performed at stage 260.

This arrangement can be further seen in Figure 3 where a schematic of a local area is shown including suction vents 305 carrying polluted air to a main discharge duct 310 and driven by concealed fans 315 to local, distributed or central processing stages.

Additionally it will be seen that in order to provide improved air treatment, scrubbers can be placed at relevant locations such as along the transport pipe to provide appropriate pre-processing. It will be seen that high pressure stages are not necessarily required as long as appropriate conveying of the airflow is allowed.

According to a further approach, one or more sensors 270 can be provided either in the environment or along the ducts 240. The sensors are designed to sense, for example, the amount and nature of particulate matter, or the specific contaminate gases such as NOR, SO,< or other local pollutants in the airflow. These polluted air sensors provide real time feedback information to a polluted air treatment element. The sensors feed that data back via data lines 280 to the polluted air processing and separation subsystem. As a result, the particular type of treatment applied can be varied dependent on the nature of the incoming air.

For example, a more efficient system can be provided by using data from the sensors to regulate air in-take. If a specific street or neighbourhood has a pollution level below a certain threshold, then the vents arrays in that neighbourhood can operate at a lower power to take in less air, or be switched off entirely. The sensors can then continue to analyse the pollution level of the air, allowing the vents to be switched back on if the pollution level rises above the threshold. This intelligent method of operation means that the power of the pollution management system is utilised best in the areas that most need it. Yet further, a closed loop feedback system can be implemented by additionally including a sensor at the outlet end (not shown) which detects the level of cleanliness of the output air and can provide control inputs to the processing subsystem if adjustment is required.

The Gas treatment stage can be realized by using one or combined techniques selected from a group consisting of Gas Processing and Separation Systems. These plants could be distributed or centralised. The in-taken air is mixed with catalysts or other chemical reactors. The catalysts accelerate the natural oxidation process, turning pollutants into other non-harmful substances, or creating larger particles that can be captured in a later filtration stage. Another possible method that can be used to accompany this chemical filtration, or to be used instead, is physical filtration. This may involve, for example, irradiating the in-taken gas with UV rays, or by subjecting the gas to electrostatic discharges.

The filtering stage removes the particulate matter from the gas. The filtration stages can involve two separate gaseous and matter treatment elements. Alternatively, this stage can be a combined treatment stage.

The air transport system, which can be seen in Figure 2, can comprise a series of conveyors 230. The gas can then be discharged back to the atmosphere or retained for further use as well as the other chemical and particulate compounds mixed in or combined with the captured gases. The Gas Processing and Separation Subsystem 250 separates the gaseous components by physical and/or chemical means for example using catalysis, or electrochemical methods. Further cleaning can be based on UV cleaning and other known cleaning infiltration techniques to remove both gaseous and particulate pollutants, for example using nanomaterial or physical catalysis.

The airflow can be created using electro-aerodynamic Techniques, using temperature gradient making use of any excess or residual heat provided in the system to create a pressure gradient, i.e. a convection system. The heat may not be excess heat, but may be supplied purposefully to create the airflow.

The foregoing description of the invention has been presented for purposes of illustration and description and is not intended to be exhaustive or to limit the invention to the precise form disclosed, and many modifications and variations are possible in light of the particular geographic and/or topographic conditions of each city, for example the type of suction head (vent, duct or any other form), method of gas separation, and topology of system layout.

Claims

Claims 1. A pollution management system comprising an array of one or more polluted air inlets arranged to collect polluted air and supply said polluted air to a polluted air treatment element.
2. A system as claimed in claim 1 in which the polluted air includes gas pollutants and/or particulate matter.
3. A system as claimed in claim 1 or claim 2 in which the inlets comprise suction heads.
4. The system as claimed in claim 3 wherein the suction heads comprise an array of vents.
5. A system as claimed in any preceding claim in which treated air is passed back to the atmosphere.
6. A system as claimed in any preceding claim in which the treatment element comprises a gaseous treatment element.
7. A system as claimed in any preceding claim in which the treatment element comprises a particulate matter treatment element.
8. A system as claimed in any preceding claim in which the treatment element is local or distributed or central.
9. A system as claimed in any preceding claim in which polluted air is transported by an air conveyor.
10. A system as claimed in claim 8 in which the conveyor comprises one of a fan, a convection system or a compressor.
11. A system as claimed in any preceding claim further comprising at least one polluted air sensor providing feedback information to a polluted air capture network and treatment element.
12. A system as claimed in any preceding claim in which the air inlet is open to atmosphere.
13. A system as claimed in any preceding claim in which the air inlet is provided at a source of pollutant.
14. A method of managing pollution comprising operating an array of air routing and inlets components to collect polluted air and supply said polluted air to a polluted air treatment element.
15. An apparatus or method substantially as described in the description or depicted in any of the drawings herein.