Great wall of solar panels to mitigate yellow dust storm--颗粒学报PARTICUOLOGY

Pui, D. Y. H., Cao, J., An, Z., & Wang, J. (2014). Great wall of solar panels to mitigate yellow dust storm. Particuology, 13, 146–150. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.partic.2014.03.002

David Y.H. Pui ^a *, Junji Cao ^b, Zhisheng An ^b, Jing Wang ^c d

a University of Minnesota, Department of Mechanical Engineering, Minneapolis, MN 55455, USA
b Institute of Earth Environment, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Xi’an 710075, China
c ETH Zurich, Institute of Environmental Engineering, 8093 Zurich, Switzerland
d EMPA, Analytical Chemistry, 8600 Dübendorf, Switzerland

10.1016/j.partic.2014.03.002

Volume 13, April 2014, Pages 146-150

Received 30 October 2013, Accepted 30 December 2013, Available online 26 March 2014.

E-mail: dyhpui@umn.edu

Highlights

• We propose to build windbreak walls equipped with solar panels to mitigate dust storms.

• The walls could remove the major fraction of airborne dusts during storms.

• The solar panels generate electricity in sunny days which could power nearby towns.

Abstract

Mitigation of the large scale yellow dust storm is a serious problem facing China. We propose the approach of building windbreak walls equipped with solar panels in the proximity of dust origins. The solar panels generate electricity in the sunny days; the walls break the wind and remove airborne dusts based on the impactor principle during wind storms. Preliminary calculation indicates the walls may be able to remove the major fraction of the airborne dusts and the generated electricity could be significant. More detailed studies are needed to prove the feasibility of the approach.

Graphical abstract

Keywords

Solar panels; Dust storm; Mitigation; Windbreak; Sustainable development

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