Purify the Air Supply

Has your time spent indoors increased during the COVID-19 pandemic as a result of stay-at-home and shelter-in-place policies worldwide? Your challenge is to use the International Space Station (ISS) as inspiration and develop a system to monitor and/or purify indoor air. It is entirely up to you whether the system you design is able to be used on Earth (for example in homes, businesses, transportation, etc.) and/or in space.

The use of the natural filter to capture CO2 indoors

Summary

The filter aims to democratize purification by means of microalgae, which are excellent organisms that fix CO2.The problem with uncontrolled emissions of this gas is the triggering of diseases in humans.In addition to the filter that reduces the amount of CO2, its cultivation can generate income using biomass from microalgae and its derivatives, such as biofuels and animal nutrition. This project has as a differential the democratization of the use of microalgae as an accessible means of obtaining air quality, adding a new value and utility to the technology already scientifically proven and the proposal is to give a new meaning and usability, being possible to see working anywhere .

How We Addressed This Challenge

It is believed that this project will have a great sustainable impact complementing the triad environment, society and economy. Microalgae have the function of capturing carbon dioxide from the atmosphere and emitting oxygen. A problem with the uncontrolled emission of carbon dioxide into the atmosphere is the triggering of respiratory and cardiovascular diseases in humans, in addition to intensifying the greenhouse effect, which results in the elevation of the temperature of our terrestrial globe, its composition and balance. In view of this information, everyone will be impacted by this solution. This project will inspire many cities and companies because in addition to reducing the amount of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere, its cultivation can generate income by using algae biomass and its by-products such as biofuels and animal nutrition. This project has as a differential the democratization of the use of microalgae as an accessible means of obtaining air quality, adding a new value and utility for the technology. The technology is already scientifically proven and the proposal is to give a new meaning and usability, being possible to see it working in needy communities. This project responds to the proposal of air purification based on bibliographic researches, however, experiments have not been carried out to prove its effectiveness in the purification of indoor air in homes.

How We Developed This Project

Through websites provided by NASA, we raised research on the high level of co2 in the atmosphere and the ways it affects the health of living beings, especially humans. Research was also made on the possible adaptation of microalgae in indoor environments, in order to act as natural air purifiers during and after the covi-19 pandemic.

We concluded that, through carbon sequestration, the seawater and freshwater microalgae could act as air purifiers even in unconventional environments, since they only need water and sunlight to perform photosynthesis. Our ideas have not yet been applied in practice, but please note that they can be grown in plastic bottles taking up less space in homes. We also apply existing techniques to remove chlorine from the water and make use of screens to prevent the proliferation of aedes aegypti in areas where microalgae are cultivated.

Project Demo

https://youtu.be/fTZC4bF2an8

Data & Resources

- ATMOSPHERE MANAGEMENT : https://www.nasa.gov/content/life-support-systems


- Impacts of air pollution: how satellite data can help https://airquality.gsfc.nasa.gov/


- Health and Air Quality Data Pathfinder : https://earthdata.nasa.gov/learn/pathfinders/health-and-air-quality-data-pathfinder

Tags
#useofmicroalgae #airquality #airpurification
Global Judging
This project was submitted for consideration during the Space Apps Global Judging process.