Controlling Dust with New Technology

Controlling Dust with New Technology

Kim and Kim

People living in dry climates experience the problems wrought by dry air and blowing dust, which affects everything from respiratory health to cars and other machinery. To address the problem, a team led by engineering assistant professors Dr. Minkyu Kim and Dr. Kwangmin Kim has developed an environmentally safe biocompatible polymer blend keeps the ground damp for more than two months, even when exposed to the open desert air, to aid in dust control. This product is being commercialized through Clean Earth Tech as a new way to control dust in arid environments and places such as mines, construction sites, and subway tunnels. An added feature is that because the new material can be mixed with water, it can be distributed and applied using pre-existing technologies and machinery such as water tank trucks using current spraying techniques.

Project Investigators: