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Phoenix666 [soylentnews.org] writes:

Tests of a new air-cleaning system show that it can remove a remarkably wide range of nasty particles while using very little energy [futurity.org].

Unlike other systems that burn or freeze the pollution or require frequent maintenance, the new GPAO system needs no filters, is energy efficient, and requires less maintenance, says Matthew Johnson, a professor of environmental chemistry at the University of Copenhagen, who invented it.

“As a chemist I have studied the natural ability of the atmosphere to clean itself. Nature cleans air in a process involving ozone, sunlight, and rain. Except for the rain, GPAO does the very same thing, but speeded up by a factor of a hundred thousand,” says Johnson.

In the GPAO system, the polluted gas is mixed with ozone in the presence of fluorescent lamps. This causes free radicals to form that attack pollution, forming sticky products that clump together. The products form fine particles which grow into a type of airborne dust. And whereas gas phase pollution was hard to remove, dust is easy. Just give it an electrostatically charged surface to stick to, and it goes no further.

Original study: Gas-Phase Advanced Oxidation for Effective, Efficient in Situ Control of Pollution [acs.org]

Original Submission