World’s largest smog-sucking vacuum

By Kate Hassett

World’s largest smog-sucking vacuum
Could this giant smog-sucking vacuum solve the world's pollution problems?

Daan Roosegaarde has just unveiled plans for the world’s largest smog-cleaning machine at Vierhavensstraat 52 in Rotterdam, the Netherlands.

The project aims to absorb smog from urban parks and cities, ridding the atmosphere of pollution and providing a safe environment for the inhabitants.

The seven-meter-tall tower runs on green energy and will apparently have the ability to clean 30,000 cubic metres of air per hour.

At the launch early this month Roosegaarde said “I believe we should do more, not less. We are happy to launch the Smog Free Tower to show a clean future.”

The tower works by using a similar technology to indoor air purifiers but it is designed and hardwired for outdoor use – obviously on a much larger scale. Created specifically for public parks and outdoor areas, the purifier can run on just 1,400 watts, which is a similar output to the energy a water boiler uses.

The tower purifies the air by sucking in smog and releasing the filtered air through its side vents.

“By charging the Smog Free Tower with a small positive current, an electrode will send positive ions into the air. These ions will attach themselves to fine dust particles. A negatively charged surface—the counter electrode—will then draw the positive ions in, together with the fine dust particles. The fine dust that would normally harm us is collected together with the ions and stored inside of the tower. This technology manages to capture ultra-fine smog particles which regular filter systems fail to do.”

The project’s launch last week was the first pilot of the design. If successful, the design will be distributed to other countries around the world.

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