China tests record-hitting air purifying tower
An experimental air purification tower in Xian city of northern Chinese province Shaanxi undergoes test run and it seems it’s mission is successful.
According to report published in South China Morning Post, the tower, which claims to be the biggest air purifier in the world, has already considerably improved the air quality in Xian, suffering from hard smog especially in winter period as the city’s heat-supply system realies mostly on coal.
The smog tower was commissioned last year at a development zone in the Chang’an district.
Nowadays, the facility is tested by researchers from the Institute of Earth Environment at the Chinese Academy of Sciences.
The air purifier is capable to generate more than 10 million cubic meters of clean air daily.
Polluted air is absorbed into glasshouses and heated up by solar energy. Then the heated air runs through several treatment filter layers.
According to the head of the research Cai Junji, the notable positive change in air quality is observed over the area of 10 kilometers over the past few months. The content of PM2.5 (fine particles with diameter of 2.5 micrometers, categorized as dangerous for health) decreased by 15% during heavy pollution.
The Xian tower compares favorable with other similar facilities. One of such 7-metre-tall was built in Beijing. It produces over 28 thousand cu m of clean air per hour. However, it is powered by electricity, generated by coal power plants, while Xian town is environment-friendly project, working on solar energy and requiring little power to operate. Efficiency explains its major prevalence over analogous projects.
In future, Chinese designers plan to build tower, that would reach 500 meters in heights with a diameter of 200 meters. Such purifiers will have capacity to supply clean air at area near 30 square kilometers, enough to purify the air for a small sized city.
