Giant Dutch Vacuum Cleaner for Air Particle Filtration

Dutch inventors have created a vacuum-like device that sucks in polluted air for the first time. According to Agence France-Presse, this giant filtration system draws in small, toxic particles from the surrounding air and cleans it. Henk Boersen, spokesperson for the Amsterdam-based company Envinity, the inventor of this air purification system, states: "The large industrial filter of this machine, which is eight meters long, is made of steel. This filter is installed on buildings and works like a giant vacuum cleaner." This machine can suck in air from a radius of three hundred meters around it and up to seven kilometers above it. In other words, this machine has the capacity to inhale eighty thousand cubic meters of air per hour and capture one hundred percent of suspended particles (and ninety-five percent of very fine suspended particles) in the air. Boersen mentions that this giant vacuum pulls large columns of air, filters it, and releases clean air back into the environment. Suspended particles in the air are introduced by burning wood, fossil fuels, or industrial combustion. According to the European Environment Agency, these particles have "harmful effects on health." Ninety percent of Europe's population breathes air polluted with these particles, which can be carcinogenic. Very small airborne particles enter the air from vehicle or aircraft fuel consumption and can have detrimental effects on the body's nervous system, including brain cells. Envinity has reported that governments, businesses, and airports have expressed interest in using this system. Last month, a Dutch artist named Dan Roosegaarde installed another air purification system called the "Smog Free Tower" in Beijing, which can purify up to thirty thousand cubic meters of air in an hour by absorbing seventy-five percent of airborne particles.