Negative Ions Generator - An Effective and Low Cost Air Purifier
In recent times the level of air pollution has risen to worrisome level especially in the big cities. Month ago we had witnessed a news item where China had warned its citizens to stay indoor due to heavy smog. Similar condition was there in our national capital New Delhi where "Even-Odd Scheme" for vehicles was employed to curb the vehicular air pollution and to improve the quality of breathable air outdoor. But what about the air indoor? Is it healthy and breathable? If not, what are some of the pollutants in the indoor air? And what electronic solution is available to reduce these indoor air pollutants from air? All these questions are briefly addressed in this article.
Our urban homes are laden with all sorts of electronic and electrical gadgets staring from computers, televisions, air conditioners, microwave ovens to refrigerators, washers, hair dryers , fluorescent light etc. All of them emit Positive Ions. Positive ion is mostly a carbon dioxide molecule that has lost an electron and this positive ion has negative impact on our body. It adversely affect our lungs, respiratory tract, immune system and also cause tension, depression, irritability etc. (Positive ions are also present in outdoor air containing dust particle, humidity, pollution etc.) So our urban homes filled with positively charged ions don't provide us healthy breathable air.
On the contrary negative ions have completely opposite impact on our body. Negative ions are molecules with extra electron. Negative ions attract the positive ions because of opposite charge polarity and force them to aggregate. Once aggregate they become too heavy to remain suspended in air and as a result fall on the ground (This is called electrostatic settling of dust). This way presence of negative ions purify air and offer a clean breathable air free from pollutants (positive ions). It is been demonstrated that negative ions are present in abundance in nature – near mountains, forests, waterfalls etc. This is one of the reasons that when we are close to nature we feel more energetic and refreshed.
Negative Ions can be generated easily using a very simple electronic solution and it work as a good low lost air purifier. Negative ions generator generate stream of negative ions into the air. The working principle is very simple. We know that in case of conductor the charge is maximum at the sharp points. So if we apply a large negative voltage to such conductor which has sharp points then the charge is so high at these sharp points that electrons shoot off from these points and with the help of a fan they are forced into air. Here is a simple circuit of negative ion generator taken from the web.
On small drawback of negative ion generator is that, it generate very small amount of Ozone as by product but the quantity is safe under industry safety standard. Keep aside the drawback, negative ion generator has lot of advantages. It removes dust particles and other airborne pollutants from air, remove airborne bacteria & virus and thus help kill germs and negative ions are proved to help lift mood and alleviate depression!
By-Sagar Juneja, Research Associate, Chitkara University
References
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Air_ioniser
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