Classifications

• • B—PERFORMING OPERATIONS; TRANSPORTING
  • B08—CLEANING
  • B08B—CLEANING IN GENERAL; PREVENTION OF FOULING IN GENERAL
  • B08B15/00—Preventing escape of dirt or fumes from the area where they are produced; Collecting or removing dirt or fumes from that area
  • B08B15/002—Preventing escape of dirt or fumes from the area where they are produced; Collecting or removing dirt or fumes from that area using a central suction system, e.g. for collecting exhaust gases in workshops
• • F—MECHANICAL ENGINEERING; LIGHTING; HEATING; WEAPONS; BLASTING
  • F24—HEATING; RANGES; VENTILATING
  • F24F—AIR-CONDITIONING; AIR-HUMIDIFICATION; VENTILATION; USE OF AIR CURRENTS FOR SCREENING
  • F24F8/00—Treatment, e.g. purification, of air supplied to human living or working spaces otherwise than by heating, cooling, humidifying or drying
  • F24F8/10—Treatment, e.g. purification, of air supplied to human living or working spaces otherwise than by heating, cooling, humidifying or drying by separation, e.g. by filtering
• • B—PERFORMING OPERATIONS; TRANSPORTING
  • B01—PHYSICAL OR CHEMICAL PROCESSES OR APPARATUS IN GENERAL
  • B01D—SEPARATION
  • B01D46/00—Filters or filtering processes specially modified for separating dispersed particles from gases or vapours
  • B01D46/42—Auxiliary equipment or operation thereof
• • E—FIXED CONSTRUCTIONS
  • E01—CONSTRUCTION OF ROADS, RAILWAYS, OR BRIDGES
  • E01C—CONSTRUCTION OF, OR SURFACES FOR, ROADS, SPORTS GROUNDS, OR THE LIKE; MACHINES OR AUXILIARY TOOLS FOR CONSTRUCTION OR REPAIR
  • E01C1/00—Design or layout of roads, e.g. for noise abatement, for gas absorption
  • E01C1/005—Means permanently installed along the road for removing or neutralising exhaust gases
• • F—MECHANICAL ENGINEERING; LIGHTING; HEATING; WEAPONS; BLASTING
  • F24—HEATING; RANGES; VENTILATING
  • F24F—AIR-CONDITIONING; AIR-HUMIDIFICATION; VENTILATION; USE OF AIR CURRENTS FOR SCREENING
  • F24F3/00—Air-conditioning systems in which conditioned primary air is supplied from one or more central stations to distributing units in the rooms or spaces where it may receive secondary treatment; Apparatus specially designed for such systems
  • F24F3/12—Air-conditioning systems in which conditioned primary air is supplied from one or more central stations to distributing units in the rooms or spaces where it may receive secondary treatment; Apparatus specially designed for such systems characterised by the treatment of the air otherwise than by heating and cooling
• • F—MECHANICAL ENGINEERING; LIGHTING; HEATING; WEAPONS; BLASTING
  • F24—HEATING; RANGES; VENTILATING
  • F24F—AIR-CONDITIONING; AIR-HUMIDIFICATION; VENTILATION; USE OF AIR CURRENTS FOR SCREENING
  • F24F3/00—Air-conditioning systems in which conditioned primary air is supplied from one or more central stations to distributing units in the rooms or spaces where it may receive secondary treatment; Apparatus specially designed for such systems
  • F24F3/12—Air-conditioning systems in which conditioned primary air is supplied from one or more central stations to distributing units in the rooms or spaces where it may receive secondary treatment; Apparatus specially designed for such systems characterised by the treatment of the air otherwise than by heating and cooling
  • F24F3/16—Air-conditioning systems in which conditioned primary air is supplied from one or more central stations to distributing units in the rooms or spaces where it may receive secondary treatment; Apparatus specially designed for such systems characterised by the treatment of the air otherwise than by heating and cooling by purification, e.g. by filtering; by sterilisation; by ozonisation
• • F—MECHANICAL ENGINEERING; LIGHTING; HEATING; WEAPONS; BLASTING
  • F24—HEATING; RANGES; VENTILATING
  • F24F—AIR-CONDITIONING; AIR-HUMIDIFICATION; VENTILATION; USE OF AIR CURRENTS FOR SCREENING
  • F24F8/00—Treatment, e.g. purification, of air supplied to human living or working spaces otherwise than by heating, cooling, humidifying or drying
  • F24F8/10—Treatment, e.g. purification, of air supplied to human living or working spaces otherwise than by heating, cooling, humidifying or drying by separation, e.g. by filtering
  • F24F8/15—Treatment, e.g. purification, of air supplied to human living or working spaces otherwise than by heating, cooling, humidifying or drying by separation, e.g. by filtering by chemical means
  • F24F8/167—Treatment, e.g. purification, of air supplied to human living or working spaces otherwise than by heating, cooling, humidifying or drying by separation, e.g. by filtering by chemical means using catalytic reactions
• • F—MECHANICAL ENGINEERING; LIGHTING; HEATING; WEAPONS; BLASTING
  • F24—HEATING; RANGES; VENTILATING
  • F24F—AIR-CONDITIONING; AIR-HUMIDIFICATION; VENTILATION; USE OF AIR CURRENTS FOR SCREENING
  • F24F8/00—Treatment, e.g. purification, of air supplied to human living or working spaces otherwise than by heating, cooling, humidifying or drying
  • F24F8/95—Treatment, e.g. purification, of air supplied to human living or working spaces otherwise than by heating, cooling, humidifying or drying specially adapted for specific purposes
  • F24F8/99—Treatment, e.g. purification, of air supplied to human living or working spaces otherwise than by heating, cooling, humidifying or drying specially adapted for specific purposes for treating air sourced from urban areas, e.g. from streets
• • F—MECHANICAL ENGINEERING; LIGHTING; HEATING; WEAPONS; BLASTING
  • F24—HEATING; RANGES; VENTILATING
  • F24F—AIR-CONDITIONING; AIR-HUMIDIFICATION; VENTILATION; USE OF AIR CURRENTS FOR SCREENING
  • F24F2110/00—Control inputs relating to air properties
  • F24F2110/50—Air quality properties
  • F24F2110/52—Air quality properties of the outside air
• • F—MECHANICAL ENGINEERING; LIGHTING; HEATING; WEAPONS; BLASTING
  • F24—HEATING; RANGES; VENTILATING
  • F24F—AIR-CONDITIONING; AIR-HUMIDIFICATION; VENTILATION; USE OF AIR CURRENTS FOR SCREENING
  • F24F2110/00—Control inputs relating to air properties
  • F24F2110/50—Air quality properties
  • F24F2110/64—Airborne particle content
• • Y—GENERAL TAGGING OF NEW TECHNOLOGICAL DEVELOPMENTS; GENERAL TAGGING OF CROSS-SECTIONAL TECHNOLOGIES SPANNING OVER SEVERAL SECTIONS OF THE IPC; TECHNICAL SUBJECTS COVERED BY FORMER USPC CROSS-REFERENCE ART COLLECTIONS [XRACs] AND DIGESTS
  • Y02—TECHNOLOGIES OR APPLICATIONS FOR MITIGATION OR ADAPTATION AGAINST CLIMATE CHANGE
  • Y02B—CLIMATE CHANGE MITIGATION TECHNOLOGIES RELATED TO BUILDINGS, e.g. HOUSING, HOUSE APPLIANCES OR RELATED END-USER APPLICATIONS
  • Y02B30/00—Energy efficient heating, ventilation or air conditioning [HVAC]
  • Y02B30/70—Efficient control or regulation technologies, e.g. for control of refrigerant flow, motor or heating

Definitions

• the present disclosure relates to a pollution management system which reduces the amount of superficial or surface level 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, methane, formaldehyde, ozone, volatile organic compounds, as well as nitric and sulphurous components mixed or chemically combined in the air.
• the system can also be used for creating a directed flow of air in a public space by supplying clean air where people are (e.g. a sidewalk or playground) and collecting air on the other side of a pollution source (e.g. traffic).
• a pollution source e.g. traffic
• Pollution abatement methods such as modifications of processes in plants or flue gas treatment processes.
• Structural measures such as energy efficiency improvements or fuel substitutions.
• Figure 1 is a general schematic representation of a pollution management system according to an embodiment of the invention.
• FIG. 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.
• 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.
• 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.
• 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.
• the air intake and exhaust can be positioned in such a way to create a flow of clean air from an inhabited area (e.g. a sidewalk or playground) towards pollution sources (e.g. motor vehicle traffic).
• pollution sources e.g. motor vehicle traffic
• This may have the added benefits of blowing new pollution away from people and towards the pollution collection inlets, providing a system for creating a directed flow of air in a public space by supplying clean air where people are (e.g. a sidewalk or playground) and collecting air on the other side of a pollution source (e.g. traffic).
• the airstream may blow pollution away from people and towards the collection system benefitting health and collection efficiency.
• 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.
• 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 x and SO x as well as, at a smaller percentage, gases which can vary according to the site, dependent on local pollutants, for example benzene, methane, formaldehyde, ozone, and volatile organic compounds. These pollutants have been linked to cancer, respiratory disease and other health issues, and hence it is desirable to remove them for health reasons.
• FIG. 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 110 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.
• street furniture such as bollards can include suction heads. These suction heads may be at different heights.
• FIG. 2 shows the transport stage 200 and polluted air treatment stage 210.
• 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.
• FIG. 3 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.
• 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 NO x , SO x or other local pollutants in the airflow.
• 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.
• the particular type of treatment applied can be varied dependent on the nature of the incoming air.
• 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.
• 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
• 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 air flow.
• a pollution management system comprising an array of one or more inlets, the one or more inlets being arranged to collect polluted air and supply said polluted air to a polluted air treatment element.

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• Engineering & Computer Science (AREA)
• Chemical & Material Sciences (AREA)
• Combustion & Propulsion (AREA)
• Mechanical Engineering (AREA)
• General Engineering & Computer Science (AREA)
• Chemical Kinetics & Catalysis (AREA)
• General Chemical & Material Sciences (AREA)
• Architecture (AREA)
• Civil Engineering (AREA)
• Structural Engineering (AREA)
• Ventilation (AREA)
• Treating Waste Gases (AREA)

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Publications (1)

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Citations (5)

Family Cites Families (8)

• 2014
  • 2014-05-01 GB GB1407683.0A patent/GB2525645A/en not_active Withdrawn
• 2015
  • 2015-04-30 EP EP15720331.6A patent/EP3137819A1/en not_active Withdrawn
  • 2015-04-30 WO PCT/EP2015/059606 patent/WO2015166091A1/en active Application Filing
  • 2015-04-30 CN CN201580036494.1A patent/CN107076436A/zh active Pending
• 2016
  • 2016-04-29 HK HK16104986.0A patent/HK1217185A1/zh unknown

Patent Citations (5)

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