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Techniques & Equipment for Environmental Pollution

Environmental pollution is arguably the biggest challenge facing the planet today, but new technology and procedures are being developed around the world to decontaminate air, water and land. Biotechnology, nanotechnology and even completely new types of materials such as Aerogel all play a role in cleaning up the environment. Combined with existing methods, these will ensure that the world remains healthy for future generations.

Oil Spills
- Oceanic oil spills are devastating to the environment, killing or harming birds, fish and plant life, but technology has been developed to minimize the impact of these disasters. One of these technologies is an oil boom, a series of inflatable, interlocking tubes that float and prevent oil spills from spreading across the surface of the water. These were deployed in 2010 to contain the Deepwater Horizon oil spill. Another new technology deployed in the same incident is Aerogel, a spongelike substance that is capable of absorbing oil and leaving behind water.
Water Pollution
- In July 2007, Steward Envrionmetal Solutions debuted a powder composed of nanoparticles that can be mixed into water to draw out contaminents. Called Thiol-SAMMS, the material is extremely absorbant, capable of removing toxins like mercury and lead in amounts of up to 60 percent of its own weight. According to the company, a tablespoon of Thiol-SAAMS can clean water up to the area of a football field. The company is also developing a technology called nanorust, which can absorb arsenic and be drawn out of the water using magnets.
Soil Polution
- Arsenic, mercury and other heavy metals are increasingly becomming common in soil, but tools to remove them are being developed around the world. In West Bengal, India, researchers have developed a strain of fungus that absorbs arsenic and metabolizes it into a nontoxic substance. The University of California published a study in 2008 showing that certain types of engineered soils can remove up to 92 percent of heavy metals in soils caused by runoff from oil in parking lots and other sources.
CO2 Removal
- Carbon scrubbers have been in place in factories for several decades, but new technology is being developed to pull CO2, a greenhouse gas, directly out of the air using chemicals. The devices, called contactors, draw air flows across a chemical sorbent and return the CO2-free air back into the atmosphere. While the technology has been demonstrated to work, it will not be deployed on a large scale until emissions from factories and other sources are significantly reduced. This is because it is economically unfeasible to build enough contactors to remove CO2 at the same rate at which it is produced.

Nature