Shower cooler reduces pollutants release in production of competitive cement substitute at low cost

Abstract

The amount of fermentation residues from biogas plants is rising rapidly worldwide. Nevertheless, farmers are losing their interest in its incorporation into soil since the level of nutrients as well as the agrochemical value of the organic matter present is low. Unlike combustion (carried out in the presence of oxygen), the product of which is ash, pyrolysis (without oxygen) turns biowaste into a highly porous carbonaceous material that can substitute cement, one of the most energy-intensive mass-produced materials in the world. This practice is booming in developing countries. Due to saving and lack of knowledge, farmers or local communities do not apply the technologies to utilize or filter the hazardous gaseous products of pyrolysis. However, these contain high levels of particulate matter (PM) that absorbs hazardous cocktails and facilitates their spread to the surroundings. This work firstly reports that at lower temperatures, pyrolytic gas contains mostly medium-sized and bigger PM while with increasing temperature, its amount is decreasing. An inexpensive and easily producible shower cooler was designed and analyzed in full operation. The results obtained suggest that the proposed update can up to 10 times reduce a wide range of PM sizes (finest PM penetrates more easily through the system of showers), creating preconditions for reducing negative impacts on the environment as well as health of locals.

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