Artificial City “Trees” Will Make the Air Cleaner
Scientists from South Ural State University have created and patented a new artificial tree model. They invented an all-season installation for removing harmful gases and aerosols from the air using plants and natural processes in them. It will clean the air from hazardous pollutants. It will improve the environmental situation in the industrial cities of our country.
An ecological revolution
Researchers of the Department of Ecology and Chemical Technology of South Ural State University under the leadership of Ph.D., Associate Professor Tatyana Krupnova patented a new model of the so-called artificial city "tree".
Living trees and their leaves clean the air by reducing toxic gases such as ground-level ozone, sulfur dioxide, nitrogen oxides. Trees retain solid particles with a diameter of less than 10 and 2.5 microns on their surface.
- Artificial city "trees" can be hundreds of times more effective than living trees. Such devices are capable of removing unwanted chemical compounds using the principle of phytoremediation. Phytoremediation is a complex of methods for purifying atmospheric air using plants. The idea is that the plants put in a special panel clean air not just converting carbon dioxide into oxygen but also absorbing other toxic compounds, including dangerous fine aerosols. We propose to use mosses and some sorption materials for air purification, - the project manager Tatyana Krupnova explains.
In some countries, such solutions for cities are already in use. One of air purification technologies uses the natural ability of algae to adsorb, biotransform and detoxify pollutants. Waste microalgae are feedstock for biogas and biofuel production. Thus, the principles of circular bioeconomy are implemented. One more important feature is that artificial trees purify the air at human stature and not at the height of 3-5 floors like living trees. People use them where the level of gas pollution is high, along the roads or where planting a real tree is impossible.
Besides, artificial trees can be both stationary and mobile. The city will get mobile air purification facilities to improve air quality where it is needed.
A serious drawback of many existing devices is the seasonality of plants that cannot withstand a drop in temperature, which is especially important in the harsh Russian winters.
Clean air all year round
Scientists from South Ural State University have proposed an all-season model of the device that performs its functions regardless of temperature extremes.
- The artificial tree is an autonomous device as it consists of a body with removable panels fixed on it, filled with filtering substrates such as plants or sorbents. There is also a watering and ventilation system. The body is closed with a lid that collects rainwater. The lid is part of the irrigation system. The body has a protective enclosure made of impact-resistant light-permeable material with built-in LED lamps around the entire perimeter from the outside. On the upper part of the building, solar cells are installed, connected to an energy storage device. An exhaust fan is installed inside the structure to create airflow from the outside through the moss plates to increase the amount of filtered air, - Ph.D. in Chemistry Olga Rakova says.
In harsh climates, you can use moss panels during the warm season. The moss will consume and process various toxic gases, purifying the air, and the structure will provide the plant with comfortable conditions for growth, illumination, and irrigation with rainwater. In the cold season, scientists suggested using a filtering sorbent capable of cleaning the air from harmful impurities. This solution will allow the artificial tree to function effectively all year round.
Depending on the season, either moss or sorbent fills in removable panels. These panels remove not only gaseous air pollutants but also fine suspended solids. Such particles penetrate biological barriers and are dangerous to humans and animals.
The LED lamps on anti-vandal panels can serve as street lighting. The lamps are powered by solar batteries. The same batteries provide reliability and continuity of operation of the entire structure, being a source of autonomous energy and resource supply. The artificial "tree" can be equipped with inexpensive ambient air sensors and create smart urban areas.
Such devices are suitable for air cleaning in industrial areas, in squares and city parks, sites in front of shops, at public transport stops. They will become effective air filters and make the image of a modern city more sophisticated and attractive.
South Ural State University (SUSU) is a university of digital transformations, where innovative research is carried out in most of the priority areas of science and technology. Following the strategy of scientific and technological development of the Russian Federation, the university focuses on large scientific interdisciplinary projects in the digital industry, materials science, and ecology. In the Year of Science and Technology, SUSU takes part in the competition under the Priority-2030 program. The university performs the functions of a regional project office of the Ural interregional world-class scientific and educational center.
Provided by South Ural State University