EcoLogicStudio has designed AirBubble, a children’s play pavilion that uses algae in solar-powered bioreactors to remove carbon dioxide and pollutants from the air. The London-based studio claims the 52 bioreactors mounted around the structure’s perimeter can purify the entire volume of air inside the pavilion each day to keep pollution levels within World Health Organization guidelines. AirBubble is a playground that contains a microclimate of algae-purified air AirBubble is located outside the Copernicus Science Centre (Centrum Nauki Kopernik) in Warsaw, Poland, a site EcoLogicStudio chose partially because the city is one of the most polluted in Europe. Algae in the bioreactors uses photosynthesis to split carbon dioxide into carbon, which it needs to grow, and oxygen, which it releases into the cylindrical interior. The algae also absorbs atmospheric pollutants. The timber structure contains a ring of algae-filled bioreactors The 52 glass bioreactors contain a total of 468 litres of living green chlorella sp. algae cultures. This can filter 200 litres of polluted air per minute, the designers claim, meaning the algae can purify all the air inside the 283-cubic-metre structure in a 24-hour period. The algae needs to be harvested each week while the power needed to run the […]
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