MIT scientist to fight Delhi mog |
In winter, Delhi`s air quality deteriorates drastically because of a temperature inversion, which traps pollutants close to the ground. During an inversion, the air temperature near the ground becomes less than above, up to a certain height. Now, imagine a technology to fight this meteorological phenomenon.A team led by Moshe Alamaro, a scientist from Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), and Iyyanki V Muralikrishna, a former professor of Jawaharlal Nehru Technological University, is pursuing an idea that could help disrupt the winter inversion layer.This group of scientists plans to pilot a project under which de-commissioned jet engines will be placed close to a power plant. The turbojets and turboprop engines will be directed upwards to form powerful updrafts and disrupt the winter inversion. The energy from these jets is enough to penetrate through the inversion layer and dissipate the energy trapped below the inversion layer, believe the experts involved in the project.This will ensure that emissions from the power plant are trapped and brought above the inversion layer. The scientists were inspired by a similar experiment with turbojets in the Baltic region about 45 years ago. A technical paper by the team shows that a single jet engine can address the smog generated by a 1,000MW coal power plant.The added emissions due to the jet operation are roughly 0.1% of the emissions from the power plant. Furthermore, the jet engines do not operate continuously. They will work only during foggy conditions, which could last for 30-50 days a year.
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