WO2004098780A1

WO2004098780A1 - Electronic purification of air in tunnels

Info

Publication number: WO2004098780A1
Application number: PCT/AU2004/000593
Authority: WO
Inventors: Humberto Alexander Cravero
Original assignee: Humberto Alexander Cravero
Priority date: 2003-05-07
Filing date: 2004-05-07
Publication date: 2004-11-18
Also published as: AU2003204138B2; AU2003204138A1

Abstract

An assembly (10) and associated collectors (12) are installed in a tunnel (11) to remove particle pollution from air within the tunnel (11). The assembly (10) includes the housing (15) through which air passes from inlets 19 to an outlet (21). At the outlet (21) an emitter (22) delivers ions to the air stream passing therethrough with the ions being attached to particles in the air in the tunnel (11), with the charged particles then being attracted to the positively charged collectors (12).

Description

ELECTRONIC PURIFICATION OF AIR IN TUNNELS

Technical Field

The present invention relates to devices to remove particles from air, and more particularly but not exclusively to devices to remove the particle contaminates from road and railway tunnel air.

Background of the Invention

Motor vehicles release a variety of particles as components of their exhaust gases. As they travel through tunnels, the particles accumulate in the air within the enclosed environment. Trains release iron particles and other metals through friction and tear and wear of the wheels and the brushes collecting electric energy from the associated cable.

Attention has been given to this pollution and the brown haze seen in road tunnels, however, the visible particles or larger size particles do not represent a health hazard as great as the invisible particles. Analysis of the contaminants of the exhaust gases have shown the presence of a range of metals, most of them not components of the fuel but eπ-inating from the tear and wear of engines.

It has been recently discovered that micro particles of iron inhaled once in the blood stream, trigger a biological reaction that causes the constriction of blood vessels, which can lead to heart failure.

Some of these inhaled particles of molecular size manage to pass through the bronchia into the blood stream. Some of these particles can be rained in organs, which may eventually cause illnesses such as cancer. Several of these contaminants are known to be carcinogens. Attempts have been made in various countries to clean the air in tunnels by means of electrostatic precipitators, however they are inefficient. A further problem is the exhaust stacks of tunnels. The high volume of contaminated air expelled causes the pollution to spread through the surrounding neighbourhood.

People subjected to the pollution can be affected with different illnesses such as asthma, hay fever, heavy metal poisoning, eye irritation and ailments as expressed above.

[ \LIBTT]03301-pKi doc xo Object of the Invention

It is the object of the present invention to overcome or substantially ameliorate at least one of the above disadvantages.

Summary of the Invention There is disclosed herein an installation for a tunnel to remove airborne particles from air in the tunnel, said installation including: a housing through which air passes to be delivered to an internal location of the tunnel, the housing having an outlet and an inlet between which the air flows; an emitter mounted within the housing and through which the air passes to exit the housing via said outlet so that upon the emitter being negatively charged the air flowing therethrough is provided with electrons for distribution within the tunnel; a collector to be located internally of the tunnel; and voltage supply means connected to the emitter and collector so as to apply a negative voltage to the emitter and a positive voltage to the collector so that airborne particles charged by said electrons are attracted to the collector so as to be collected thereby.

Preferably, said installation includes an accelerator mounted in said housing downstream of said emitter so that the air passes from the emitter through the accelerator, and wherein the accelerator is connected to said voltage supply so to be negatively charged but to a lower voltage relatively to said emitter.

Preferably, said emitter is mesh arranged generally normal to the flow of air therethrough, the mesh having a plurality of pins extending in the direction of flow of air through the mesh.

Preferably, said accelerator is mesh extending generally normal to the flow of air therethrough.

Preferably, said installation includes an electrostatic reflector attached to said housing.

Preferably, said installation includes at least one fan mounted in said housing to cause air to pass through said housing from the inlet to the outlet, Preferably, said housing includes at least one first chamber into which air is delivered by the fan or fans, and a second chamber communicating with the first chamber or chambers by one or more openings, the second chamber having said emitter and accelerator. Preferably, said housing inlet receives air from the tunnel.

Preferably, said collector is one or more sheets of conductive material.

Preferably, said accelerator is metallic mesh.

Preferably, said metallic mesh is power coated. Preferably, said electrostatic reflector is a thin metal plate encased between two layers of insulating material.

Preferably, said reflector is connected to said voltage supply so as to be negatively charged with a voltage at least approximately the same voltage as said emitter.

Preferably, said housing is formed of electrically non-conductive material. Preferably, said voltage supply means includes: an electric transformer electrically connected to a negative voltage multiplier and a positive voltage multiplier, said negative voltage multiplier being electrically connected to said emitter so as to apply a higher voltage thereto, with said positive voltage multiplier being connected to said collector. Preferably, said installation includes an infrared motion detector operatively associated with the voltage supply so that the detector activates the voltage supply.

Brief Description of the Drawings

Preferred forms of the present invention will now be described by way of example with reference to the accompanying drawings wherein: Figure 1 is a schematic sectioned elevation of an assembly to be used in removing particles from air within a tunnel;

Figure 2 is a schematic perspective view of a collector to be used with the assembly of Figure 1;

Figure 3 is a schematic end elevation of a mounting for the collector of Figure 2; Figure 4 is a schematic top plan view of a tunnel having a plurality of assemblies according to Figure 1 and collectors according to Figure 2; and

Figure 5 is a schematic end elevation of the tunnel of Figure 4.

Description of the Preferred Embodiments

In the accompanying drawings there is schematically depicted an assembly 10. The assembly 10 is typically to be mounted within a tunnel 11, which tunnel 11 may be used by motor vehicles and/or trains. The assembly 10 has air pass through it, which air receives electrons and is delivered to the tunnel so that airborne particles (solid and

[R \ -BTT]03301.p-cι doc tea liquid) within the tunnel 11 are negatively charged and are attracted to collectors 12 mounted on the tunnel walls 13 and/or ceiling 14.

The assembly 10 includes a hollow housing 15 formed of electrically non- conductive material. The housing 15 of this embodiment provides a pair of first chambers 16 that communicate with a central second chamber 17. The chambers 16 communicate with the chamber 17 by means of apertures 20.

Each chamber 16 is provided with an inlet 19 associated with a fan 18, with the inlets 19 of this embodiment communicating with the interior of the tunnel 11 so as to draw air therefrom. The chamber 17 has an outlet 21 provided with an emitter 22. Preferably, the emitter 22 is formed of metal mesh and is provided with a plurality of pins 23 that extend in the general direction 24 of air passing through the outlet 21. More particularly, the emitter 22 extends generally normal to the direction 24.

Downstream of the emitter 22 is an accelerator 25 that is also in the form of a mesh and is generally normal to the direction 24.

The emitter 22, accelerator 25 and collector/s 12 are charged via a voltage supply 26. The voltage supply 26 includes a transformer 27 that receives a mains voltage and has a secondary output connected to a negative voltage multiplier 28 and a positive voltage multiplier 29. The negative voltage multiplier 28 has a high voltage output 45 connected to the emitter 22 and a lower voltage output 46 connected to the accelerator 25. The positive voltage multiplier 29 has an output 30 connected to the collectors 12.

The voltage supply 26 has associated with it an infrared detector 31 that controls the mains supply to the transformer 27. When the supply 26 is to be operated, the detector 31, assuming motion (such as the motion of a vehicle) is detected, connects the transformer 27 to the main supply. Associated with the negative voltage multiplier 28 is an electric monitor 32 that provides an indication when the emitter is on, while a monitor 33 is associated with the positive voltage multiplier again to provide an indication when the collectors 12 are on. The monitors 32 and 33 include lights so that their condition may be determined visually. Attached to the housing 15 is an electrostatic reflector 34 that includes a thin metal sheet 35 laminated between layers 36 of insulating material (preferably plastics). The sheet 35 is electrically connected to the higher voltage output 29 so that the sheet 35 has substantially the same voltage as the emitter 22. The emitter 22 and accelerator 25 are each mounted via linear insulators 37. The linear insulators 37 inhibit conductivity even in humid conditions where condensation may be present. Each linear insulator 37 may include a series of laminated plastic strips.

Each collector 12 is mounted on an associated wall 13 by means of a series of mounting assemblies 38. Each assembly 38 includes a bolt 39 anchored in the wall 13 and attached to a first insulating member 40. The insulating member 40 are cylindrical in configuration. Located within the member 40 and 41 is insulation plastics material 44. Located within and secured to the member 40 is a further insulated member 41. The insulating member 41 is of a "U-shaped" configuration and has fixed to it a bolt 42. The bolt 42 has an extremity fixed to the collector 12 by means of one of more nuts 43.

Preferably, the tunnel 11 would have a plurality of assemblies 10, the assemblies 10 being located at longitudinally spaced locations along the centre of the tunnel 11. Located on adjacent walls are a series of collectors 12, as best seen in Figure 4.

In operation of the above described installation, that includes the assembly 10 and collectors 12, upon the voltage supply 27 being activated and the fans 18 being in operation, the emitters 22 preferably saturate the air passing therethrough with negative ions, which air is delivered to the tunnel. The negative ions attach to airborne particles of all sizes, giving them a negative charge and therefore having the collectors 12 attract them. The reflector 34 prevents or at least inhibits the flow of ions from the outlet 21 toward the ceiling 14. The collectors 12 not only attract the negatively charged particles, but also attract ions in the tunnel 11 to avoid or at least inhibit the build up of static electricity,.

Preferably the emitters 22, accelerators 25 and collectors 12 are replaceable and may also be designed to be periodically cleaned and reused.

[R----BTTj0330Isp_ci doc hxa

Claims

The claims defining the invention are as follows:

1. An installation for a tunnel to remove airborne particles from air in the tunnel, said installation including: a housing through which air passes to be delivered to an internal location of the tunnel, the housing having an outlet and an inlet between which the air flows; an emitter mounted within the housing and through which the air passes to exit the housing via said outlet so that upon the emitter being negatively charged the air flowing therethrough is provided with electrons for distribution in the tunnel; a collector to be located internally of the tunnel; and voltage supply means connected to the emitter and collector so as to apply a negative voltage to the emitter and a positive voltage to the collector so that airborne particles charged by said electrons are attracted to the collector so as to be collected thereby.

2. The installation of claim 1 wherein, said emitter is mesh arranged generally normal to the flow of air therethrough, the mesh having a plurality of pins extending in the direction of flow of air through the mesh.

3. The installation of claim 1 or 2 wherein, said installation includes an accelerator mounted in said housing downstream of said emitter so that the air passes from the emitter through the accelerator, and wherein the accelerator is connected to said voltage supply so to be negatively charged but to a lower voltage relatively to said emitter.

4. The installation of claim 3 wherein, said accelerator is mesh extending generally normal to the flow of air therethrough.

5. The installation of claim 4 wherein said accelerator is metallic mesh.

6. The installation of claim 5 wherein said metallic mesh is powder coated.

7. The installation of any one of claims 1 to 6 wherein, said installation includes an electrostatic reflector attached to said housing.

8. The installation of any one of claims 1 to 7 wherein, said installation includes at least one fan mounted in said housing to cause air to pass through said housing from the inlet to the outlet.

9. The installation of any one of claims 1 to 8 wherein, said housing inlet receives air from the tunnel.

10. The installation of any one of claims 1 to 9 wherein, said housing includes at least one first chamber into which air is delivered by the fan or fans, and a second chamber communicating with the first chamber or chambers by one or more openings, the second chamber having said emitter.

11. The installation of any one of claims 1 to 10 wherein, said collector is one or more sheets of conductive material.

12. The installation of claim 7 wherein, said electrostatic reflector is a thin metal plate encased between two layers of insulating material.

13. The installation of claim 12 wherein, said reflector is connected to said voltage supply so as to be negatively charged with a voltage at least approximately the same voltage as said emitter,

14. The installation of any one of claims 1 to 13 wherein, said housing is formed of electrically non-conductive material.

15. The installation of any one of claims 1 to 14 wherein, said voltage supply means includes: an electric transformer electrically connected to a negative voltage multiplier and a positive voltage multiplier, said negative voltage multiplier being electrically connected to said emitter so as to apply a higher voltage thereto, with said positive voltage multiplier being connected to said collector.

16. The installation of any one of claims 1 to 15 further includes an infrared motion detector operatively associated with the voltage supply so that the detector activates the voltage supply.

17. An installation substantially as hereinbefore described with reference to the accompanying drawings.

18. In combination a tunnel and the installation of any one of claims 1 to 17.

Dated 5 May, 2003 Humberto Alexander Cravero