The Largest Air Purifier In The World Sucks Up Smog And Turns it Into Gemstones


In September of last year, a revolutionary air purifier was revealed to the public in Rotterdam.

Dubbed the ‘Smog Free Tower,’ the 23-foot pollution-eating machine not only sucks in smog, it turns the particles into gemstones, as well.

The revolutionary air purifier is a result of three years of hard work by Dutch designer Daan Roosegaarde. 

Credit: Daan Roosegaarde.
Credit: Daan Roosegaarde.

Gizmodo reported in September that the tower scrubs the pollution from more than 30,000 cubic meters of air per hour. Then, it condenses the smog into tiny “gemstones” that can be embedded in rings, necklaces, cufflinks, and much more.

Each gem stone is roughly the equivalent to cleaning 1,000 cubic meters of air.

Credit: Daan Roosegaarde.
Credit: Daan Roosegaarde.

According to Roosegaarde, when one buys a ring or a cufflink embedded with the gemstones, they “donate a thousand cubic meters of clean air to the city where the Smog Free Tower is.” 

That’s something to feel good about.

Credit: Daan Roosegaarde.
Credit: Daan Roosegaarde.

After the prototype was unveiled in Rotterdam, the studio responsible for developing the air purifier launched a Kickstarter campaign. The mission was to transport the purifier to Beijing, which is notorious for its air pollution.

“It’s really weird that we accept [pollution] as something normal, and take it for granted,” Roosegaarde said.

The Smog Free Tower is slatted with louvres which protect is electronic innards. According to the designer, the process taking place inside the air purifier’s walls is powered by 1,400 watts of sustainable energy, which is comparable to a water boiler. The studio eventually hopes to integrate solar PVs into the design to power the process – which works differently than some ionic purifiers.

Credit: Daan Roosegaarde.
Credit: Daan Roosegaarde.

Roosegaarde explains:

“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.”

Roosegaarde and his team are ambitious to build and install similar Smog Free Towers elsewhere in the world.

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