World’s Largest Air Purifier

An attractive 23-foot tower in the center of Rotterdam is not only nice to look at, it’s useful too – creating spaces where people can experience clean, smog-free air. The Smog Free Tower can purify up to one million cubic feet of air per hour – enough to provide clean air for a small neighborhood.

Powered by wind energy and drawing less than 1400 watts, a radial ventilation system draws polluted air into a chamber where particles smaller than 15 micrometers are positively charged. The particles then attach themselves to a counter electrode while the clean air is discharged through vents. Unlike other ionic air purifiers, the Smog Free Tower doesn’t produce ozone as the system creates positive rather than negative ions.

While the technology has been used previously in areas such as hospital purification systems and parking garages, this is the first demonstration of its effectiveness on such a large scale. It was funded by a successful Kickstarter campaign in which contributors could purchase 8.4 cubic millimeter plastic cubes filled with compressed smog particles from 1,000 cubic meters of air as a tangible symbol of a cleaner future. The developers are currently working with officials in several cities (including Mumbai, Beijing, Paris, Tokyo and others) to bring the technology to public spaces around the globe.