%0 Journal Article
%T The Design of an Urban Roadside Automatic Sprinkling System: Mitigation of PM2.5¨C10 in Ambient Air in Megacities
%A Shiyong Liu
%A Konstantinos Triantis
%A Lan Zhang
%J Chinese Journal of Engineering
%D 2014
%R 10.1155/2014/618109
%X The objective of this research paper is to describe the system architecture for an urban roadside automatic mist-generating system. Its primary purpose is to mitigate particulate matter especially PM2.5¨C10. In this paper, four graphs are provided to exhibit the constituent elements of this system. This paper also discusses the functional extensions of this system for alternative uses in civil engineering which include winter road deicing and desnowing with added salt; clean-up of street dust; lowering of temperature of a ¡°hot island¡± during the summer; the addition of humidity in an arid area; and the suppression of flu virus in the winter season. The structure and function of this system are comprehensively discussed in this paper. This system is compared to existing and other proposed systems in terms of control options, efficiency, and primary functional issues. The unique design of the road automatic sprinkling system renders itself a prominent option. Although there are no data available for this conceptual system, some expected qualitative and quantitative outcomes are provided and justified. The paper concludes with some potential research areas and challenges associated with this system architecture. 1. Introduction Much attention has been given to the issue of urban air pollution caused by ambient particulate matters as it causes more health issues and even premature deaths in many megacities of the world [1, 2]. Nevertheless, pollution levels are still escalating as is indicated with a recent case of PM2.5 hitting the shocking level of 900 micrograms/m3 on January 12, 2013, in several places of Beijing, which is nearly 36 times the required safety level designated by the WTO [3]. Particulate matter pollution, according to the definition of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), can be categorized into two groups [4]. The first group is comprised of fine particles found in smoke and haze with diameter equal to or less than 2.5 microns, which come from emissions of coal-fired power plants, emissions from coal-burning heating, wood smoke, and some factories, whilst in urban areas mainly originating from diesel engine exhaust, gasoline-powered vehicle emissions, and paved road dust. The second group is comprised of inhalable coarse particles with diameter between 2.5 and 10 microns that originate from dusty industries [5¨C8]. Health concerns are raised for PM2.5¨C10 as particles can penetrate the body¡¯s natural defenses in the nose and throat and enter the lungs. Research shows that short exposure to high levels to these particulate matters
%U http://www.hindawi.com/journals/cje/2014/618109/