A Simple Electrostatic Device for Eliminating Tobacco Sidestream Smoke to Prevent Passive Smoking

Abstract

An electrostatic apparatus was constructed to capture tobacco sidestream smoke. This apparatus consisted of a perforated polypropylene plate with metal spikes and a grounded metal net arrayed in parallel at a defined interval. Spikes were negatively charged to positively polarize the net and an electric field was formed between the opposite charges of the spike tips and the grounded net. Discharge from the spike tips occurred, which depended on the pole distance and the voltage applied to the spikes. At lower voltages (<12.1 kV) that do not cause arc discharge from the tips, a corona discharge occurred with the generation of an ionic wind from the spiked plate to the net. This discharge increased in direct proportion to the applied voltage and relative humidity, while a larger corona discharge generated a stronger ionic wind. The ionic wind involved negative ions and the number of negative ions in the wind increased with increasing applied voltage. The optimal voltage (10 kV) generated sufficient negative ions to ionize smoke particles in the electric field, before the ionized smoke particles were successfully captured by the oppositely charged metal net. Thus, this study provides an experimental basis for the practical application of an electrostatic-based method to prevent the production of tobacco sidestream smoke that leads to passive smoking by non-smokers.

Insect Physical Control: Electric Field-Based Pest Management Approach

“…Initially, the apparatus was presented as a new device to capture the airborne conidia (spores) of phytopathogenic fungi during crop cultivation in a greenhouse. As the research progressed, the targets of the screen were expanded from fungal spores [2,3] to include flying insect pests [4,5], pollen grains that cause pollenosis [6], and fine particles of tobacco smoke [7,8] by optimising the structure of the electric field screen and its capture capabilities. Advances in electric field screen technology have allowed broader application of the device, from agricultural fields, e.g., crop production, processing, and storage, to environmental fields and public health science.…”

A Promising Physical Pest-Control System Demonstrated in a Greenhouse Equipped with Simple Electrostatic Devices that Excluded all Insect Pests

“…Applied electrostatic engineering has successfully managed pathogens and insect pests affecting agricultural crops at various stages of crop production and preservation. Electrostatic principles have been applied in diverse ways, including for capturing spores and insects by exploiting the attractive force generated in a static electric field (without electric discharge) [4,20,21,50,51,[66][67][68][69], repelling insects via their aversion to electric fields [19,51,52], disinfecting bacterial and fungal pathogens using ozone produced through streamer discharge [16], instantaneously dislodging fungal pathogens from plants through exposure to a plasma stream produced via a corona discharge in the electric field [13], instantaneously pulverizing insects nesting in dried rice grains [70], electrocuting virus-carrying mosquitoes in the screen by insect-mediated arch discharge [71], and negatively ionizing smoke particles in the ionic wind produced during corona discharge [27]. In this work, we used electrostatic devices to repel and capture insect pests, creating a pest-free space in a greenhouse with open windows.…”

“…If an effective force could be generated, an electrostatic approach would be an extremely promising tool to provide a spore-free, pest-free space for crop plants in greenhouse environments ( Figure 1A). As the research progressed, the structure of the electric field screen was optimized so that it could capture not only fungal spores and flying insect pests, but also pollen grains [23] that cause pollinosis [24,25], and fine particles [26,27] in tobacco smoke that can cause disease, disability, and death [28][29][30]. Advances in electric field screen technology have allowed broader application of the device, from agricultural fields, e.g., crop production, processing, and storage, to environmental and public health.…”

A Promising Physical Pest-Control System Demonstrated in a Greenhouse Equipped With Simple Electrostatic Devices That Excluded All Insect Pests: A Review

“…Applied electrostatic engineering has successfully managed pathogens and insect pests affecting agricultural crops at various stages of crop production and preservation. Electrostatic principles have been applied in diverse ways, including for capturing spores and insects by exploiting the attractive force generated in a static electric field (without electric discharge) (Matsuda et al, 2006;Kakutani et al, 2017;Nonomura et al, 2014a;Matsuda et al, 2012;Matsuda et al, 2011;Takikawa et al, 2015;Moriura et al, 2006aMoriura et al, , 2006bNonomura et al, 2009), repelling insects via their aversion to electric fields Matsuda et al, 2011;Matsuda et al, 2015b), disinfecting bacterial and fungal pathogens using ozone produced through streamer discharge (Shimizu et al, 2007), instantaneously dislodging fungal pathogens from plants through exposure to a plasma stream produced via a corona discharge in the electric field , instantaneously pulverizing insects nesting in dried rice grains (Matsuda et al, 2018c), electrocuting virus-carrying mosquitoes in the screen by insect-mediated arch discharge (Kakutani et al, 2018), and negatively ionizing smoke particles in the ionic wind produced during corona discharge (Matsuda et al, 2018b). In this work, we used electrostatic devices to repel and capture insect pests, creating a pest-free space in a greenhouse with open windows.…”