Fires are great threat for tropical forest in Indonesia. According to the Forest Department, forest land-area burned in 2015 reached more than 60,000 hectares with 140 hotspots. Smog due to forest fire causing the concentration of smoke and dust rise up to 10 times of the average in populated areas prone to forest fires.
Based on air quality measurements by BAPEDALDA (Badan Pengendalian Dampak Lingkungan Daerah/Regional Environmental Impact Control Agency) in 2013, smoke condition caused by fire shows the average particle concentration reaches 670 µgr. BNPB estimated more than 43 million Indonesian population are exposed by smog due to forest fires. This regards causing economic losses up to 200 trillion rupiahs.
To see the background of the problem, four students at Faculty of Fisheries and Marine Science of Brawijaya University Initiated an idea so-called Super Solar Smoke Sucker (S4). They are Kenny Agatha Sitanggang, Kania Nurizki W, and Yuniar Qaifatur (Management of Aquatic Resources 2015), and Wildan Bagaskoro (Technology of Fishery Products 2014). S4 is a smog reducer on the open scope based on Zeo-absorption and electro-statistic filter as a mitigation effort on forest fire smog.
Kenny explained that S4 work mechanism starts with smog absorption in free air when power sensor on ISPU detector device reached level 100 or in the alert level. Afterwards the propeller will rotate automatically to absorb smog with diameter 10 inches (25.4 cm) and speed up 3,800 rotation/second. Then the smoke and fog will forwarded to ESP filter and zeolite absorbent. ESP filter functioned to separate suspended solids in smog using positive negative electrostatic principle, meanwhile zeolite absorbent has specific mineral and so could absorb gases of CO2, CO, water vapor, particulate, NOx and SOx. S4 uses solar panels mirror as the main electricity sources and portable.
Kania continued, S4 has the working effectiveness of the machine reaches 1 ppm/minute. By measuring the capacity of 1 hectare forest fire fumes with tree density reaches 30% peat reaches 87.3 ppm, can be reduced by S4 in 88 minutes. This is proven by air velocity principle and blower suction power (mechanical and static efficiency) of S4 in form of clean air which contains of 79% N2 and 21% O2.
“Waste produced by S4 is in form of dust and liquid smoke that can reprocessed to become wood and bamboo preservatives (liquid waste) and used as mixture of cement and craft basic materials (waste powder), Kenny ended. [Irene/Humas UB/trans. Denok]
