 |
|
Cleaning up pollutants with sunlight
October 23, 2002A cheap, harmless chemical and sunlight could provide an environmentally friendly way of destroying micro-pollutants in the environment.
UK researchers are developing a new type of reactor to destroy persistent contaminants such as pesticides and pharmaceutical residues.
The technology, which breaks down the polluting molecules into carbon dioxide and water, could provide a breakthrough for a sustainable way of cleaning up fresh water supplies and industrial wastewater.
The work is being led by Dr Gianluca Li Puma at the University of Nottingham. The project is funded by the Swindon based Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council.
The Nottingham team is investigating a novel type of reactor, the 'fountain photo-catalytic reactor', to treat contaminated water, using titanium dioxide. The idea is to pump the contaminated water through a specially designed nozzle. Titanium dioxide is then added to the water. The nozzle produces an umbrella-shaped fountain of water, with the sunlight - or artificial ultraviolet light - falling on the 'canopy' of the umbrella. This allows the photo-catalyst to absorb the solar radiation efficiently, resulting in a more effective destruction of the pollutants.
"Once the pollutants have been removed the water can be passed to a settling tank where the titanium dioxide can be recovered and re-used for the same process," says Dr Li Puma.
The team has successfully demonstrated the feasibility of the concept using a 400 litre pilot plant and ultraviolet lamps to simulate sunlight.
"We see this as being a potentially sustainable technology which could have particular use in countries with plenty of sunshine, such as southern Europe, Central and South America, Africa and the Asia/Pacific region," says Dr Li Puma. "In the UK the present technology can use low-cost, low-power sun-tanning lamps."
Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC)
Science Research Departments
Earth Science
Alternative Energy | Anthropology and Archaeology | Earthquakes and Volcanoes | Environment and Nature News | Global Warming | High-Energy and Particle Physics | Ozone Hole | Scientists Slow Light | Tsunami
Space Science
Astronomy and Space News | Black Holes | Chandra X-Ray Observatory | Extrasolar Planets | Hubble Telescope | International Space Station | Jupiter Galileo Mission | Jupiter Cassini Mission Flyby | Mars Exploration | Mars Odyssey 2001 | Mars Global Surveyor | Mars Polar Lander | Mars Climate Orbiter | Mars Pathfinder | Meteors and Asteroids | Mir Space Station | NEAR Asteroid Probe Mission | Pluto Planet Debate | Search for Extraterrestrial Life | Space Shuttle Program | Space Shuttle Mission: STS-102 | Space Weather
Life Science
Animal News | Biotechnology and Genetics | Brain Research | Human Cloning | Dinosaur and Fossil Discoveries | Endangered Species | Gene Therapy | Genetically Modified Food | Stem Cell Research | Whales and Whaling
 | Breaking Dawn (The Twilight Saga, Book 4) by Stephenie Meyer When you loved the one who was killing you, it left you no options. How could you run, how could you fight, when doing so would hurt that beloved one? If your life was all you had to give, how could you not give it? If it was someone you truly loved? To be irrevocably in love with a vampire is both fantasy and nightmare woven into a dangerously heightened reality for Bella Swan. Pulled in one... |
 | Twilight (The Twilight Saga, Book 1) by Stephenie Meyer "Softly he brushed my cheek, then held my face between his marble hands. 'Be very still,' he whispered, as if I wasn't already frozen. Slowly, never moving his eyes from mine, he leaned toward me. Then abruptly, but very gently, he rested his cold cheek against the hollow at the base of my throat." As Shakespeare knew, love burns high when thwarted by obstacles. In Twilight, an exquisite... |
 | Eclipse (The Twilight Saga, Book 3) by Stephenie Meyer Readers captivated by Twilight and New Moon will eagerly devour Eclipse, the much anticipated third book in Stephenie Meyer's riveting vampire love saga. As Seattle is ravaged by a string of mysterious killings and a malicious vampire continues her quest for revenge, Bella once again finds herself surrounded by danger. In the midst of it all, she is forced to choose between her love for Edward... |
 | Brisingr (Inheritance, Book 3) by Christopher Paolini OATHS SWORN . . . loyalties tested . . . forces collide.Following the colossal battle against the Empire’s warriors on the Burning Plains, Eragon and his dragon, Saphira, have narrowly escaped with their lives. Still there is more at hand for the Rider and his dragon, as Eragon finds himself bound by a tangle of promises he may not be able to keep.First is Eragon’s oath to his cousin... |
 | New Moon (The Twilight Saga, Book 2) by Stephenie Meyer Legions of readers entranced by Twilight are hungry for more and they won't be disappointed. In New Moon, Stephenie Meyer delivers another irresistible combination of romance and suspense with a supernatural twist. The "star-crossed" lovers theme continues as Bella and Edward find themselves facing new obstacles, including a devastating separation, the mysterious appearance of dangerous wolves... |
 | Watchmen by Alan Moore Has any comic been as acclaimed as Alan Moore and Dave Gibbons' Watchmen? Possibly only Frank Miller's The Dark Knight Returns, but Watchmen remains the critics' favorite. Why? Because Moore is a better writer, and Watchmen a more complex and dark and literate creation than Miller's fantastic, subversive take on the Batman myth. Moore, renowned for many other of the genre's finest creations (Saga... |
 | Publication Manual of the American Psychological Association by American Psychological Association ...offers updated information on reporting statistics, writing withour bias, preparing manuscripts with a word processor for electronic production, and publishing research in accordance with ethical... |
 | Three Cups of Tea: One Man's Mission to Promote Peace . . . One School at a Time by Greg Mortenson, David Oliver Relin The astonishing, uplifting story of a real-life Indiana Jones and his humanitarian campaign to use education to combat terrorism in the Taliban’s backyard Anyone who despairs of the individual’s power to change lives has to read the story of Greg Mortenson, a homeless mountaineer who, following a 1993 climb of Pakistan’s treacherous K2, was inspired by a chance encounter with impoverished... |
 | The Obama Nation: Leftist Politics and the Cult of Personality by Jerome R. Corsi In this thoroughly researched and documented book, the #1 New York Times bestselling co-author of Unfit for Command: Swift Boat Veterans Speak Out Against John Kerry explains why the extreme leftism of an Obama presidency would leave the United States weakened, diminished and divided, why Obama must be defeated—and how he can be. THE OBAMA NATION Leftist Politics and the Cult of... |
 | The Limits of Power: The End of American Exceptionalism by Andrew Bacevich From an acclaimed conservative historian and former military officer, a bracing call for a pragmatic confrontation with the nation's problemsThe Limits of Power identifies a profound triple crisis facing America: the economy, in remarkable disarray, can no longer be fixed by relying on expansion abroad; the government, transformed by an imperial presidency, is a democracy in form only; U.S.... |
| © 2008 BrightSurf.com |