A Merry-Go-Round for Dirty Air
Students learn how cyclones workCopyright NASA's Aqua/MODIS satellite http://visibleearth.nasa.gov/view_rec.php?id=6204
Students observe and discuss a cup and pencil model of a cyclone to better understand the science behind how this pollutant recovery method functions in cleaning industrial air pollution.
As environmental engineers are faced with more types of industrial pollution, they must design even more innovative techniques to prevent it. In the cyclone method of pollution recovery, dust-laden gas is whirled very rapidly inside a collector shaped like a cylinder. Flying dust particles (as well as all matter) like to travel in straight lines unless an external force acts upon them (see Newton's first law). Because of this, pollutant particles with inertia in a cyclone tend to leave the circular path of the cyclone, collect on the wall, and then slide down the wall into a collection chamber. Cyclones can remove up to 95% of solid pollutants from cotton gins, rock crushers and many other industrial processes.
After this activity, students should be able to:
- Describe and explain the cyclone method of pollution recovery.
- Describe how engineers create technology to help industry minimize air pollution.
- Apply knowledge of percentages to understand technological efficiency.