Self-cleaning air purification system and process

An air purification system for use in a poultry house, hog confinement, paper mill, industrial facility, factory, or dwelling, comprising:

• a room having upright walls and a ceiling;
• an aliquot series of air inlet passageways defining intake ports in at least one of said walls or ceiling for ingress of air into the room;
• an array of interconnected modules in proximity to the ceiling and positioned at an elevation above said air inlet passageways, said modules cooperating with each other for emitting overlapping flow patterns of ions to charge particulates of dust and noxious gases in the air of said room, said modules comprising ionizers, said ionizers being spaced apart from each other, and each of said ionizers having a set of ion-emitting needles energized by an electric circuit;
• an aliquot series of air outlet passageways defining outlet ports in at least one of said wall for egress of effluent air from said room, said outlet ports being substantially larger than said inlet ports and being spaced at an elevation below said inlet ports;
• an air blower system comprising electrically powered fans positioned in said outlet ports at an elevation below said modules and said inlet ports, said fans cooperating with each other to draw influent air into the room through said inlet ports to circulate the ions and air in the room and to blow effluent air out of the room through said outlet ports;
• said inlet ports being spaced at an elevation between said modules and said outlet ports;
• said fans cooperating with said modules, said inlet ports, and said outlet ports for decreasing the concentration of dust and noxious gases in the room to help purify the air in the room;
• each of said modules comprising a self-cleaning ionizer, said self cleaning ionizer comprising
• ion-emitting needles having tips for emitting only negatively charged ions to ionize airborne particulates of dust and noxious gases;
• curved ribs providing a needle guard operatively associated with said ion-emitting needles for substantially preventing the tips of said ion-emitting needles from puncturing a human finger, poultry or animals;
• a circuit for cyclically applying a negative potential charge to said ion-emitting needles;
• at least one radial arm having a needle-engaging cleaner extending therefrom for engaging and cleaning the tips of said ion-emitting needles;
• and
• a motor connected to said circuit and said radial arm for intermittently rotating said radial arm so that said needle-engaging cleaner engages and periodically cleans the tips of said ion-emitting needles.

An air purification process, comprising steps of:

• emitting overlapping flow patterns of ions in a room with a set of modules;
• ionizing airborne dust in the room with said ions;
• circulating air and ions in the room with at least one fan spaced from said modules;
• heating the air in the room with at least one heater spaced from said fan;
• drawing influent air into the room;
• discharging effluent air out of the room;
• each of said modules comprising a self-cleaning ionizer, said self-cleaning ionizer comprising
• ion-emitting needles having tips for emitting only negatively charged ions to ionize airborne particulates of dust and noxious gases;
• curved ribs providing a needle guard operatively associated with said ion-emitting needles for substantially preventing the tips of said ion-emitting needles from puncturing a human finger, poultry or animals;
• a circuit for cyclically applying a negative potential charge to said ion-emitting needles;
• at least one radial arm having a needle-engaging cleaner extending therefrom for engaging and cleaning the tips of said ion-emitting needles;
• and
• a motor connected to said circuit and said radial arm for intermittently rotating said radial arm so that said needle-engaging cleaner engages and periodically cleans the tips of said ion-emitting needles.

An air purification process for use in a poultry house, hog confinement, paper mill, industrial facility, factory, or dwelling, comprising the steps of:

• drawing influent air into a room through air inlet passageways defining intake ports in at least one of the walls or ceiling of the room;
• emitting overlapping flow patterns of ions to charge particulates of dust and noxious gases in the air of the room with an array of interconnected modules, said modules being positioned in proximity to the ceiling of the room and at a elevation above the air inlet passageways, said modules comprising ionizers, said ionizers being spaced apart from each other, and each of the ionizers having a set of ion-emitting needles energized by an electric circuit;
• circulating the ions and air in the room with fans positioned in outlet ports in at least one of the walls of the room, the fans being located at an elevation below the modules and the inlet ports;
• attracting and collecting the charged particulates of dust and noxious gases with an opposite polarity charge;
• blowing effluent air through said outlet ports and out of the room;
• decreasing the concentration of dust and noxious gases in the room to help purify the air in the room;
• and
• each of said modules comprising a self-cleaning ionizer, said self-cleaning ionizer comprising
• ion-emitting needles having tips for emitting only negatively charged ions to ionize airborne particulates of dust and noxious gases;
• curved ribs providing a needle guard operatively associated with said ion-emitting needles for substantially preventing the tips of said ion-emitting needles from puncturing a human finger, poultry or animals;
• a circuit for cyclically applying a negative potential charge to said ion-emitting needles;
• at least one radial arm having a needle-engaging cleaner extending therefrom for engaging and cleaning the tips of said ion-emitting needles;
• and
• a motor connected to said circuit and said radial arm for intermittently rotating said radial arm so that said needle-engaging cleaner engages and periodically cleans the tips of said ion-emitting needles.

A self-cleaning ionizer, comprising:

• an ion-emitting assembly comprising ion emitters for emitting negatively charged ions to ionize airborne particulates of dust and noxious gases in an area, said ion emitters comprising in an array of ion-emitting needles, said ion-emitting needles having tips, a circuit board secured to and supporting ion-emitting needles, an electric circuit mounted on said circuit board for cyclically applying a negative potential charge to said ion-emitting needles at a sufficiently high voltage to ionize the particulates and noxious gases without substantially generating ozone, and an electrical wire connected to said electrical circuit and extending from said circuit board for connection to an electrical box mounted to a ceiling or wall;
• a housing assembly for at least partially enclosing and supporting said ion-emitting assembly, said housing assembly having a cover defining ion-emitting apertures about said ion-emitting needles, a skirt extending from said cover and peripherally surrounding said ion-emitting assembly, a peripheral flange extending from and about said skirt for securing said housing assembly to a surface of the electrical box, ceiling, or wall;
• and
• an ion-emitting needle cleaner assembly comprising at least one radial arm with a needle-engaging cleaner extending therefrom for engaging the tips of said ion-emitting needles to remove accumulation of particulates of dust from the tips of said ion-emitting needles;
• said electrical circuit comprising timing circuitry connected to a motor for intermittently activating said radial arm to intermittently rotate said radial arm and periodically remove build up of particulates of dust from the tips of said ion-emitting needles;
• and
• including curved ribs providing a curved needle guard extending from said cover for substantially preventing the tips of said ion-emitting needles from puncturing a human finger, poultry, or animals.