BACKGROUND Technical Field of Invention

[001] The present invention generally relates to an apparatus for air purification and particularly relates to an air purification apparatus driven through a mechanical power derived from a wind turbine.

Description of Related Art

[002] Air pollution is a growing concern worldwide that needs to be controlled for a better life. Maximum Carbon Dioxide (CO2) emitting sectors are Electricity and Heat production. As shown in FIG. 1A, the CO2 equivalent emission by different sectors are given, Electricity & Heat Production - 49%, Transport - 20.45%, Manufacturing Industries & Construction - 19.96%, Residential Building & Commercial & Public Services- 8.60%, Other Sector - 1.90%. Normally, processes and methods now a days are using electrical devices for air purification. For, example, an air purifier, which is purifying air, but it is 100% electrical power based. So, the process of air purification is again creating pollution. In today’s condition, total forest and plantation in India is not able to even neutralize the yearly carbon emission and/or pollution. Therefore, in near future, some techniques will be required to absorb the pollution from air, soil and water and the power and cost of operation will be charged to the citizen as surcharge. Generally, studies on a wind generator for generating electricity using a natural wind have been mainly conducted with rotary blades serving as a windmill capable of rotating a shaft of an electric generator even with a gentle natural wind. Most rotary blades have taken a shape of a cylinder or a propeller. Normally, air purifiers and wind turbines these are two different segments of human utilization, here we see them as two different activities and two different utility factors. As shown in FIG. IB, an air purifier is designed for the purification of air, or to separate contamination in the air or to neutralize the pollution in air whereas, the wind turbines are designed to generate mechanical or electrical power by the natural wind flow. As shown in FIG. IB, a wind turbine is used to convert wind energy into an electrical and/or mechanical energy. However, the air purifiers require electrical energy that further adds up to the CO2 emission and pollution to the environment.

[003] Hence, there is a need to develop an effective and more efficient way to purify air by eliminating the drawbacks of traditionally available devices and apparatus.

[004] The value additions and above-mentioned shortcomings, disadvantages and problems are addressed herein, as detailed below.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

[005] The primary object of the present invention is to provide an apparatus for air purification using a renewable source of energy such as wind energy.

[006] Another object of the present invention is to eliminate a need of electrical energy in purifying air by utilizing an ability of a wind turbine to convert wind energy into electrical and mechanical energy.

[007] The embodiments of the present invention provide an air purification apparatus driven though a wind energy. The apparatus comprises a turbine unit, a generator unit, a gear unit and a filtration unit. The turbine unit is installed over ground supported by a base and comprises a blade assembly and a shaft assembly. The generator unit is connected to the shaft assembly of the turbine unit through a generator gear box. The gear unit is connected to the shaft assembly and forms a mechanical power transmission unit. The filtration unit comprises a filter assembly and a set of suction pumps and a set of blowers rotated through a shaft connected to the central shaft through the gear unit.

[008] According to one embodiment of the present invention, the turbine unit comprises a bearing assembly, a plurality of blades in the blade assembly, a central shaft and a secondary shaft in the shaft assembly, a brake assembly and a safety lock.

[009] According to one embodiment of the present invention, the central shaft is connected to a top cover through the bearing assembly. The plurality of blades are connected to the central shaft in a vertical axis manner. The central shaft is connected to the secondary shaft through a gear.

[0010] According to one embodiment of the present invention, a toe end of the central shaft is connected to the brake assembly and the safety lock is provided in a vicinity of the plurality of the blades.

[0011] According to one embodiment of the present invention, the secondary shaft drives the generator to produce an electricity. The wind impending on the blades results in rotation of the central shaft which in turn rotates the secondary shaft.

[0012] According to one embodiment of the present invention, the gear unit comprises a central gear comprises a central gear and at least four set of slave gears. Each slave gear is connected to a blower gear and a suction gear to drive a blower and a suction pump respectively.

[0013] According to one embodiment of the present invention, the central gear is driven by a central shaft of the shaft assembly.

[0014] According to one embodiment of the present invention, each slave gear is rotated at a different RPM with respect to rest of the slave gear. A speed of rotation of a blower gear is different than a rotational speed of a suction gear.

[0015] The various embodiments of the present invention provide an air purification apparatus driven though a wind energy. The apparatus comprises a turbine unit, a generator unit, a gear unit and a filtration unit. The turbine unit is installed over ground supported by a base and comprises a blade assembly and a shaft assembly. The generator unit is connected to the shaft assembly of the turbine unit through a generator gear box. The gear unit is connected to the shaft assembly and forms a mechanical power transmission unit. The filtration unit comprises a filter assembly and a set of impellers rotated through a shaft connected to the central shaft through the gear unit.

[0016] According to one embodiment of the present invention, the turbine unit comprises a bearing assembly, a plurality of blades in the blade assembly, a central shaft and a secondary shaft in the shaft assembly, a brake assembly and a safety lock.

[0017] According to one embodiment of the present invention, the central shaft is connected to a top cover through the bearing assembly. The plurality of blades are connected to the central shaft in a vertical axis manner. The central shaft is connected to the secondary shaft through a gear. [0018] According to one embodiment of the present invention, a toe end of the central shaft is connected to the brake assembly and the safety lock is provided in a vicinity of the plurality of the blades.

[0019] According to one embodiment of the present invention, the secondary shaft drives the generator to produce an electricity. The wind impending on the blades results in rotation of the central shaft which in turn rotates the secondary shaft.

[0020] According to one embodiment of the present invention, the gear unit comprises a central gear comprises a central gear and at least four set of slave gears. The slave gears are rotated in a counter direction of a direction of the central gear.

[0021] According to one embodiment of the present invention, the central gear is driven by a central shaft of the shaft assembly.

[0022] According to one embodiment of the present invention, at least four filtration units are connected to the gear unit and each filtration unit is driven simultaneously by the gear unit. The four filtration units are connected to the gear unit in a circular housed within a circular periphery formed by a top cover and a base plate.

[0023] According to one embodiment of the present invention, a impeller in each filtration unit creates a pressure to generate an air flow passing through the filter assembly.

[0024] According to one embodiment of the present invention, the filter assembly comprises a pre-filter unit and a filter with screen. The pre-filter faces an incoming air to purify the miniscule air particles and passes the filter air into the impeller, wherein the impeller forces the air out towards the filter with screen to purify large air particulates.

[0025] According to one embodiment of the present invention, the filtration unit also rotates in a direction of the rotation of a central gear of the gear unit creating an air suction from lateral side of the pre-filter and blow out the filter air from a lateral side of the filter with screen.

[0026] According to one embodiment of the present invention, the filter comprises a carbon scrubber to absorb and isolate carbon dioxide from the air blown out in the ambience through the blower.

[0027] These and other aspects of the embodiments herein will be better appreciated and understood when considered in conjunction with the following description and the accompanying drawings. It should be understood, however, that the following descriptions, while indicating preferred embodiments and numerous specific details thereof, are given by way of illustration and not of limitation. Many changes and modifications may be made within the scope of the embodiments herein without departing from the spirit thereof, and the embodiments herein include all such modifications.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF DRAWINGS

[0028] The other objects, features and advantages will occur to those skilled in the art from the following description of the preferred embodiment and the accompanying drawings in which:

[0029] FIG. 1A illustrates a Carbon Dioxide (CO2) equivalent emission by different sectors, according to one embodiment of the present invention.

[0030] FIG. IB illustrates a prior art design of a wind turbine, according to one embodiment of the present invention.

[0031] FIG. 1C illustrates a prior art design an air purifier, according to one embodiment of the present invention.

[0032] FIG. 2 illustrates a block diagram of an air purification apparatus driven by wind energy, according to one embodiment of the present invention.

[0033] FIG. 3 illustrates a front view of the air purification apparatus with display of shaft movement and air flow, according to one embodiment of the present invention.

[0034] FIG. 4 illustrates a cross-sectional view of the air purification apparatus with display of parallel filtration process, according to one embodiment of the present invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF EMBODIMENTS [0035] In the following detailed description, a reference is made to the accompanying drawings that form a part hereof, and in which the specific embodiments that may be practiced is shown by way of illustration. The embodiments are described in sufficient detail to enable those skilled in the art to practice the embodiments and it is to be understood that the logical, mechanical, electronic and other changes may be made without departing from the scope of the embodiments. The following detailed description is therefore not to be taken in a limiting sense.

[0036] Normally, the conventional air purifiers have one thing common i.e. in a closed loop, an air stream is passed with pressure from one end to different filter based and/or electron and/or charge/or electromagnetic/or electrostatic/ or plasma basis screens and installed to clean the air. The different contamination or pollutant are arrested by the screens to deliver the clean and filtered air received at another end. The air flow is generated by an electrical power drive.

[0037] Here, if we convert mechanical energy received by a wind turbine to generate electricity, then there will be a loss of energy during conversion and since, the same electrical power received from the wind turbine is used to create a wind flow by any mechanical action of fan or impeller, hence there will be an additional energy loss. In the present invention, the aforementioned energy losses are reduced as the present invention using harvested mechanical wind power in mechanical form, no energy form is change.

[0038] Generally, the conversion of the kinetic energy into the electrical energy is not optimal and a large part of the energy is lost during conversion. By enabling a mechanical drive for air purification in addition to the mechanism for electric energy generation allows an efficient conversion of the kinetic energy of the wind by the windmill [0039] As shown in FIG. 2, the air purification apparatus implements a vertical axis wind turbine unit 101 to convert the wind energy into a mechanical energy. A plurality of blades 201 in the turbine unit are rotated along a vertical axis through an impending wind. The rotation of the plurality of blades 201 results in rotation of a central shaft 202 connected to the plurality of blades. The central shaft 202 is further connected to at least two gear assemblies. The first gear assembly is connected to an electrical power generator unit while the second gear assembly is a gear unit 103 for driving a plurality of impellers 104 in a plurality of filtration units 105. The generator unit 102 is connected to the shaft assembly of the turbine unit 101 through a generator gear box. The gear unit 103 is connected to the shaft assembly and forms a mechanical power transmission unit.

[0040] As showing in FIG. 3 and 4, the filtration units are 105 at least four in number and each filtration unit is connected to a dedicated impeller 213 which is further connected to a central gear 212 in the gear unit. Each impeller 213 comprises an impeller or fan unit rotated through a shaft 214 connected to a slave gear 211 which is driven by the central gear 212. The central gear 212 is connected to the central shaft 202 in an inline manner or series connection. The central shaft 202 is connected to a top cover 204 through the bearing assembly 203. The central shaft 202 is connected to a secondary shaft 209 through a gear 208 forming the first gear assembly. The first gear assembly is connected to a secondary shaft 209 which is arranged in parallel to the central shaft 202 of the turbine unit. The secondary shaft 209 is attached through a rotary joint or a bearing assembly 203 to a base plate 219 of the air purification apparatus. [0041] The rotation of the secondary shaft 209 creates a rotation in the rotor assembly of the generator unit 210 which allows the generator unit to produce a required amount of electrical energy.

[0042] The central shaft 202 is further connected to the top cover 204 on one end and the base plate 219 on a toe end in a vertical manner through bearing assemblies in such a way that the bearing assemblies allows a rotation of the central shaft 202 in an exemplar but not limited direction of counter clock. The turbine unit and the generator unit are housed from sideways through a main frame 205 to form a closed chamber. The base plate 219 is further provided with a safety lock 206 which provided a resistance to a movement of the plurality of blades in the turbine unit on activation thus providing a safeguard against unintentional motion of the blades and reducing a wear and tear of the turbine unit.

[0043] The bearing assembly provided between the base plate and the central shaft also connected to a brake assembly 207 with is activated simultaneously but not in limited sense with the safety lock 206 to lock a rotational motion of the central shaft.

[0044] According to one embodiment of the present invention, the generator unit, the gear unit and the filtration unit are connected to the central control unit (CCU) 220. The central control unit 220 receives a data feedback from a plurality of sensors connected with central shaft, the central gear, the secondary shaft, the generator unit, the impeller and the pre-filter

215 as well as filter 216 with screen units in the filtration unit. The plurality of sensors provide a rotational speed data of the central shaft, the secondary shaft and the impeller, an air quality data from the filtration unit and an electrical output data from the generator unit to the CCU. The CCU 220 manipulates a gear ration between the central gear and the slave gears, and the central gear and the gear in the secondary shaft on the basis of detection of a rotation speed of the central shaft, the secondary shaft and the shaft in the impellers to allow maximum electrical output as well as optimal air purification.

[0045] According to an exemplar embodiment of the present invention, the rotational motion of the impeller 213 causes a suction of the air from a radial as well as a lateral direction into the pre-filter 215 and an outlet of the air from a radial as well as lateral direction of the filter

216 with screen as shown in FIG. 4.

[0046] According to one embodiment of the present invention, the CCU 220 also monitors a quality of the pre-filter 215 and the filter 216 in the filtration unit and generates an alert to a remote computing unit for replacement of the pre-filter and the filter in case of non-optimal air purification. [0047] According to one embodiment of the present invention, the pre-filter 215 comprises an intake port 217 for radial intake of the air and a side screen for lateral inlet of the air. The filter 216 comprises an outlet port 218 for air outlet in a radial direction and a side screen for lateral outlet of the air.

[0048] According to an exemplar embodiment of the present invention, the base plate and the main frame forms circular periphery around the at least four filtration units connected to the central gear in a central axis. The filtration units are also rotated through the central gear around the central axis thus leading to a rotational motion of the impellers for a radial suction and outlet of the air through the pre-filter and filter and a rotational of all the filtration units tangential suction and outlet of the air through the pre-filter and filter.

[0049] As shown in FIG. 4, the impeller in each filtration unit is replace with a suction pump and a blower connected to the pre-filter and the filter respectively. The suction pump drives an air suction in the pre-filter at a speed different than a blow speed of the air through the filter from the blower. The respective speeds of rotation of the suction pump and the blower are controlled by a suction gear 213a and a blower gear 213b. The suction gear 213a and the blower gear 213b are driven by the slave gear connected dedicatedly to them.

[0050] For filtration, electrical and non-electrical filter screens may be used. Normally in single stage filter, HEPA filters are used. HEPA filter are 99.9% effective to reduce PM 2.5 and PM 10 partials and 99% to bacteria and viruses. The filters used in the present invention as mentioned below:

[0051] STAGE 1 - PRE-FILTER:

[0052] It’s a fine mesh, washable filter that filters out larger dust particles, small insects found in the air, pet dander and human hairs.

[0053] STAGE 2 - ELECTROSTATIC PLASMA FILTER:

[0054] This filter works by producing an electric charge which is passed through the wires fitted into this filter. It generates electro-magnetic flux on the metal plate and help attract pollutants like dust mites, light dust particles, pollen grains, allergens etc to stick onto the washable metal plate.

[0055] STAGE 3 - ACTIVATED CARBON FILTER (Live Charcoal):

[0056] This filter is made up of light charcoal granules. Here the property of charcoal known as ADSORBTION is used to absorb and neutralize the problems like smoke, odor, formaldehyde, ammonia and VOC.

[0057] STAGE 4 - HEPA (High Efficiency Particulate Air Filter): [0058] HEPA filters are composed of a mat of systematically arranged fiber, composed of fiberglass. HEPA filters, by definition, removes at least 99.97% of airborne particles of size 0.3 micrometers (pm) in diameter. HEPA filters are critical in the prevention of the spread of airborne bacterial and viral organisms and, therefore, infection.

[0059] STAGE 5 - Ti02 Filter or also known as Photo-Catalyst Filter:

[0060] Photo-catalytic oxidation (PCO) is achieved when you combine UV light rays with a Ti02 coated filter. This process creates hydroxyl radicals and super-oxide ions, which are highly reactive electrons.

[0061] These highly reactive electrons aggressively combine with other elements in the air and sterilizes bacteria and viruses caught by HEPA, VOCs (Volatile Organic Compounds), harmful pollutants such as formaldehyde, ammonia and many other common contaminates released by building materials and household cleaners generally found in the home.

[0062] Once bound together, the chemical reaction takes place between the super-charged ion and the pollutant, effectively "oxidizing" (or burning) the pollutant. This breaks the pollutant down into harmless carbon dioxide and water molecules, making the air more purified.

[0063] STAGE 6 - ULTRAVIOLET STERILIZATION (UV):

[0064] Built in UV with 254nm wavelength, helps in activating the Photo-Catalyst Filter & also effectively sterilizes all kinds of bacteria, viruses and other flu with efficiency of >98.7%

[0065] STAGE 7 - NEGATIVE IONS:

[0066] Negative ions are odorless, tasteless, and invisible molecules that we inhale in abundance in certain environments like mountains, waterfalls, and beaches. Negative ions help freshen and purify the air by causing allergens such as pollen, mold spores, dust, and animal dander floating in the air (which have either a neutral or a positive charge) to be attracted to and stick to each other, forming 'clumps'. These clumps of particles then become heavy enough so that AIR PURIFIER can pull them inside, where they can be filtered, rather than staying in suspension where they can be breathed in and cause allergic reactions.

[0067] According to one embodiment of the present invention, at least one or a combination of any of the above stages of filter is used as per user preference.

[0068] The present invention addresses air purification using wind energy such that a vertical axis wind turbine is used to drive impellers of an air purification section. Further, the present invention eliminates a need of external electrical energy for purifying air. Further, a filtering of the airstream can be increase by increasing a suction using adjustable impellers. Furthermore, a filtering of the airstream can be increased by increasing a blow capacity of the blow/exhaust facility.

[0069] Each filtration unit can be interchangeably function in bootstrap mode through a connection in series as well as in a tandem mode through a connection of filtration units in parallel. The function mode and the assembly structure (series or parallel) is determined by the speed and quality of filtration required.

[0070] It is to be understood that the phraseology or terminology employed herein is for the purpose of description and not of limitation. Therefore, while the embodiments herein have been described in terms of preferred embodiments, those skilled in the art will recognize that the embodiments herein can be practiced with modification within the spirit and scope of the claims presented in the complete specification or non-provisional application.