Airborne system and method for removing pollutants from a volume of air

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-2016288904-A1
Application number	US-201514673488-A
Country	US
Kind code	A1
Filing date	Mar 30, 2015
Priority date	Mar 30, 2015
Publication date	Oct 6, 2016
Grant date	—

Abstract

An air filter bank may include a housing configured to be coupled to an exterior of an air vehicle. The housing may have an air intake at a forward end and an air exit at an aft end and defining an air path therebetween. The air filter bank may further include at least one air filter positioned within the housing along the air path. The air filter may be configured to remove pollutants entrained in a volume of air entering the air intake and impinging on the filter surfaces prior to exiting the air exit.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1 . An air filter bank, comprising:
a housing configured to be coupled to an exterior of an air vehicle, the housing having an air intake at a forward end and an air exit at an aft end and defining an air path therebetween; at least one air filter positioned within the housing along the air path; and the air filter having a filter surface configured to remove pollutants entrained in a volume of air entering the air intake and impinging on the filter surface prior to exiting the air exit.

2 . The air filter bank of claim 1 , wherein:
the filter surface is oriented non-parallel to the air path.

3 . The air filter bank of claim 1 , wherein:
the filter surface is oriented at a non-perpendicular filter surface angle relative to the air path when the filter surface is viewed from a side.

4 . The air filter bank of claim 1 , wherein:
the housing has an upper wall and a lower wall facing the upper wall; and the at least one filter surface extending from an inner surface of at least one of the upper wall and the lower wall and having a free edge extending into the air path.

5 . The air filter bank of claim 1 , wherein:
the filter surface is configured as an electrostatic filter, a chemical filter activated with charcoal, or a combination thereof.

6 . The air filter bank of claim 1 , where:
the housing has a housing length oriented substantially perpendicular to a direction of forward motion of the air vehicle.

7 . An air vehicle, comprising:
at least one air filter bank coupled to an exterior of the air vehicle; and the air filter bank including one or more air filters operable to remove pollutants from a volume of air passing through the air filter bank during forward motion of the air vehicle.

8 . The air vehicle of claim 7 , wherein the air filter bank includes:
a housing coupled to the air vehicle and having an air intake at a forward end and an air exit at an aft end and defining an air path therebetween; at least one air filter positioned within the housing along the air path; and the air filter having a filter surface configured to remove pollutants from the volume of air entering the air intake and impinging on the filter surface prior to exiting the air exit.

9 . The air vehicle of claim 8 , wherein the at least one air filter comprises:
a series of air filters arranged in spaced relation to one another along a direction of the air path.

10 . The air vehicle of claim 8 , wherein:
the housing has a housing length oriented substantially perpendicular to a direction of forward motion of the air vehicle.

11 . The air vehicle of claim 7 , wherein:
the air vehicle includes one or more propulsion units powered by at least one of the following: solar cells, a battery, fuel cells, an internal combustion engine, a gas turbine engine, and combinations thereof

12 . A method of manufacturing an air vehicle for removing pollutants from a volume of air, comprising:
providing an air filter bank having at least one air filter operable to remove pollutants from a volume of air passing through the air filter bank; and affixing the air filter bank to an exterior of an air vehicle.

13 . The method of claim 12 , wherein:
the at least one air filter includes a series of air filters.

14 . The method of claim 12 , wherein the air filter bank includes:
a housing coupled to the air vehicle and having an air intake at a forward end and an air exit at an aft end and defining an air path therebetween; the air filter being positioned within the housing along the air path; and the air filter having a filter surface configured to remove pollutants entrained in the volume of air entering the air intake and impinging on the filter surface prior to exiting the air exit.

15 . The method of claim 14 , wherein:
the housing has an upper wall and a lower wall facing the upper wall; and the air filter includes air filters extending from an inner surface of the upper wall and air filters extending from an inner surface of the lower wall.

16 . The method of claim 14 , wherein:
the housing has a housing length oriented substantially perpendicular to a direction of forward motion of the air vehicle.

17 . A method of removing a pollutant from a volume of air, comprising:
moving an air vehicle through the air along a direction of forward motion, the air vehicle having an air filter bank coupled to an exterior of the air vehicle, the air filter bank having at least one air filter; passing a volume of air through the air filter bank when moving the air vehicle through the air; and removing, using the air filter, pollutants from the volume of air.

18 . The method of claim 17 , wherein the air filter bank includes a housing containing the air filter having a filter surface protruding into an air path extending from an air intake at a forward end of the housing to an air exit at an aft end of the housing, the step of removing pollutants from the volume of air including:
passing the volume of air into the air intake; impinging the volume of air on the filter surface; removing, using the filter surface, pollutants from the volume of air; and discharging the volume of air from the air exit.

19 . The method of claim 18 , wherein:
the housing has a housing length oriented substantially perpendicular to a direction of forward motion of the air vehicle.

20 . The method of claim 17 , wherein the step of moving the air vehicle through the air includes:
moving a fleet of the air vehicles through the air; and at least some of the air vehicles having an air filter bank configured to collect and remove a pollutant from a volume of air passing through the air filter bank.

Assignees

• Boeing Co

Inventors

• Tanielian Minas H

Classifications

• B64U2101/00

  UAVs specially adapted for particular uses or applications · CPC title

• G08G5/0043

  Physics · mapped topic

• B01D53/06

  with moving adsorbents, e.g. rotating beds {(B01D53/025 takes precedence)} · CPC title

• B64C39/024

  of the remote controlled vehicle type, i.e. RPV · CPC title

• B01D2253/102

  Carbon · CPC title