A System, Method and Apparati for Managing Air Pollution and Effects of Global Warming on a Large Scale

TECHNICAL FIELD

In general the present invention relates to large scale external air cleaning and, optionally, air cooling apparatus, and air flow apparatus an, within and around buildings and other structures, including dry buildings, bridges, roadside and footpath structures, as well as structures located on hills and other locations in the natural environment, which operate to clean pollution from the air, to cool air, to create and manage airflows, around and between city buildings, streetscapes, on a large scale, over city blocks, cities and environs, taking in polluted air and emitting cleaned and, optionally, cooled air, managing flows of polluted air and cleaned air over dries and environs, so as to effect an improvement In the quality and temperature of air and a lessening of air pollution and associated higher air temperatures.

The invention also includes a further application of the principle of large scale mechanical intervention in the environment to address effects of global warming by way of the application of air and sea water temperature control apparatus in contexts of natural sites such as polar ice and coral reefs that are endangered by global warming.

BACKGROUND ART

Apparatus, either electrical, mechanical or electro-mechanical, exist for cleaning and cooling air for use inside buildings, vehicles and other internal spaces, but the object if this invention is rather for a large scale application of electrical, mechanical or electro- mechanical apparatus for air cleaning, air codling and air flow management of external or environmental air around buildings, streetscapes, cityscapes and environments in order to ameliorate the problems of air pollution and global warming.

In addition to air cleaning, air cooling and air propulsion apparatus on within or around buildings the application of the invention at street level includes the utilization of street barriers of transparent or translucent material, of the kind known and vised on freeways and expressways to dampen noise, arranged on city streets and in busy suburban main streets to provide a barrier between the traffic and its pollution and heat on the one hand and the people on the footpath and in adjacent premises, such barriers being arranged in conjunction with air cleaning, cooling and propulsion apparati, which should be designed aesthetically so as to be an attractive visual feature of the streetscape, as well as trees and other urban structures, arranged with suitable gaps between the barrier panels as required to allow people to access the roadway conveniently whilst still being able to shield from the blast of heat and pollution emitted by vehicles on the road.

A further object of the invention is the application of large scale mechanical and structural intervention in air and sea temperatures at natural sites currently being destroyed by global warming, such as polar ice caps and coral reefs.

DISCLOSURE OF THE INVENTION

The problem of air pollution continues to accelerate, causing damage to the health of many millions of people around the world, damaging the earth's atmosphere and contributing to global warming, melting polar icecaps, destroying coral reefs and fundamentally threatening. This patent expresses an invention of a system, method and multiplicity of apparati for large scale mechanical intervention in air, sea and land, buildings, cityscapes, streetscapes to ameliorate the effects of air pollution and global warmicg by providing for a multiplicity of mechanical apparati and means of capturing tbe emissions of pollution at or near the point of emission and of controlling or impacting the temperature of air, sea and earth on local, regional, state, national, international and global levels with cumulative effects on global scale, utilising where possible solar, wind and other clean energy sources, and combinations thereof, and where appropriate recycling products that would otherwise be waste products. Such installations would be, for example, located beside or built into stacks emitting the byproducts of industry and power generation to capture them, filter them, cool the air, treat the chemical byproducts, condense to solids, treat and compact and recycle where appropriate; installing systems of sir extraction, suction, filtration, propulsion and temperature alteration on buildings and motor vehicles and by roadsides in cities and main roads, to make them instruments of air cleaning and temperature control and where appropriate recycling; installing roadside barriers such as those used on expressways to dampen sound and air pollution from traffic but adapt them to main streets and mainroads other than highways or tollways; installing largo scale systems of wind generation across cities, landscapes, waterscapes and regions to control air flows in conjunction with natural patterns and optimize the ability to filter air and control its temperature; constructing large scale marine installations of varying size, whether the size of oil rig platforms or whether submerged units of lesser size, for use in seas and other waters to control temperature, for example beside polar ice caps to freeze them, beside coral reefs to cool them, in ocean streams to cool them. Thereby intervening positively to manage climatic conditions on a local, regional, state, national, international and global basis and actively ameliorate tbe negative effects of pollution on climate change.

In one embodiment of the alr-cleaning and temperature controlling building, air filtration units are placed on the tops of city buildings to filter and cool external air. In one embodiment such air cleaning and cooling units are built into the building at one or more levels. In one embodiment such air cleaning apparati are located at every floor or level of the building running around the whole building at each floor level so as to draw up polluted air to each successive level and remove pollution from the air and optionally cool the air. In one embodiment tubes linked to street level suck up pollution from varying heights and clean and cool that air. In one embodiment tubes expel cooled and cleaned air at street level and other levels. In one embodiment the said rooftop aircleaning and cooling systems arc coordinated between two or more buildings, including a multiplicity of buildings, to generate air flows over distances.

In one embodiment beat from the building is captured by a building skin and recycled in usable energy forms.

One object of the invention is for every building to be an active air cleaning agent. In the case of new buildings yet to be constructed the design and construction of the building would incorporate these air cleaning air cooling and air propulsion and distribution apparati and systems. In the case of existing buildings the apparati would be attached to or incorporated into to the existing building. One object is to have the buildings functioning organically as air cleaning agents, including technologies that mimic those of nature, such as by use of chlorophyll and sunlight to convert carbon dioxide to oxygen.

In one embodiment ionization technology is utilised in the air cleaning apparati to remove particulate pollution from the air.

In one embodiment the apparati and installations will include natural or chemical agents, like chlorophyll, that react with light and air to produce oxygen from carbon dioxide, like artificial trees, In one embodiment they include chemical compounds and solutions and chemically impregnated materials such as solvents that will trap and dissolve polluting gases and particles.

In all embodiments the energy is provided by a combination of solar, wind and electric power in varying proportions so that the net environmental impact is positive.

In one embodiment air cleaning and cooling apparatus that utilize one or more fans to extract air from the environment to be capable of generating electricity from wind power when not being used to- clean and cool air, by way of the wind power causing rotation of the fan or fans which are connected to one or more generators.

In one embodiment air cleaning and air cooling apparatus that are used for internal air cooling provide at least as much cooled air into the externa! atmosphere as the heat they generate.

In one embodiment a combination of apparati at street level clean air by way of filtration units located in roadside installations, which may be at road and gutter level or installed in sculptured forms haying aesthetic qualities as cityscape. In one embodiment these installations also cool the air as well as clean it In cold climates or winter, such installations can warm air if required

In one embodiment high street barriers such as those presently used along toilways and freeways to dampen noise and the effects of air and noise pollution, more recently being made of clear material, are adapted for use along main city and suburban streets, for example, with gaps corresponding to driveways and cross streets, to reduce the effect of traffic noise, vibrations and air pollution on pedestrian and adjacent land uses, by

providing a physical buffer that rebuts noise and vibrations and repels fumes from footpaths and adjacent areas, providing protection for pedestrians at street level on footpaths.

In one embodiment such sidewalk buffers are arced over with transparent or translucent roofs, periodically generously gapped to enable air to escape so everyone is not asphyxiated or otherwise physically burdened. Such roofs then being able to provide a basis for apparati such as solar panels, rain capture and recycling before it hits the road and is mixed with road grime, and as a framework for air cleaning, filtering and cooling apparati. as well as reducing the spread of airborne exhaust pollution.

One object of the invention is for large scale air cleaning and air suction and propulsion machines and installations located across a city or territory to coordinate air flows across the city of territory so as to direct air pollution away from populated areas and towards large scale air cleaning apparati, machines and installations in order to clean the air.

In one embodiment large scale air cleaning, filtering and cooling installations and airflow generation apparati arc placed on hillsides and otter geographical sites as well as on city building tops. In one embodiment such installations are coordinated over distance and time to provide airflows across cities and regions, augmenting natural sea and land breezes and coordinated with them. In one embodiment these include large scale fans and wind generation apparati.

In one embodiment such machines or installations are capable of very large or massive scale and force which may be used intermittently at certain times throughout the day and night to effect a remediation of the pollution situation.

The application of the invention to sites outside the urban area is to be done as far as possible in a way that blends with the natural contours of the landscape and does not stand out, for example where large scale air cleaning and propulsion machines and installations are located near the top of a series of hills so as to clean polluted air and to create air flows in conjunction with other such machine and installations, they should be of a low slung design and wherever possible should not interrupt the natural line or view of the hills.

The coordination of the air cleaning, cooling and propulsion apparati, machines and Installations is done by way of computer and electronic control technologies adjustable in accordance with prevailing weather and pollution conditions at any given time.

In its application to industrial environments, the air cleaning, air cooling and air propulsion apparati are located in proximity to pollution emitting sources to treat the pollution before it can dissipate and spread through the atmosphere.

In one embodiment particles aaxd gases extracted from the air are recycled, as if mining the air for minerals and resources that can be recycled or at least managed physically in a way other than unencumbered release into the atmosphere.

In one embodiment in the case of cities with harbours such as Hoαg Kong, New York or Sydney, such air cleaning, filtering and cooling apparati and airflow generation apparati are mounted on floating platforms and distributed across the waterway as required and can be coordinated so as to manage air flows.

In Hong Kong one application would be for large scale air cleaning and air propulsion installations on buildings on one side of the harbour to coordinate with those on the othei side of the harbour and with prevailing breezes at different times of the day and night so as to push air from one side and draw it from the other side to optimize the air flow and consequent ability to direct the pollution therein to the air cleaning apparati. Similar applications would be made in nay city between buildings and hills, and between one or more buildings, and between series of buildings. Building design and placement will also contribute to air flow between and around the buildings.

In one embodiment air cleaning, filtering aod cooling apparati and airflow generation apparati installed on buildings, upon geographical features in the environment and upon marine platforms are coordinated to provide trans-city managed air flows and air treatment

In one embodiment motor vehicles and boats are equipped with air cleaning, filtration and cooling apparati so that they act as air cleaning agents as they move around.

In one embodiment apparati for managing water temperature are installed on marine platforms whether floating or submerged or a combination of both, and located beside polar ice caps to keep them frozen, to freeze water and restore icelands where they have melted, to locate in relation to coral reefs so as to ameliorate the effects of sea temperature rise, and to locate in as many locations as necessary across the seas to cool ocean currents and ameliorate the effects of temperature change brought about by pollution and global warming.