Influence of plant structure and flow path interactions on the plant purification system: dynamic evolution of the...

Sulfur dioxide is a major air pollutant in the environment. Fortunately, the plant purification system can effectively reduce SO₂ pollution. However, the effect mechanism of plant purification system for the dynamic evolution of SO₂ remains incompletely clear. In this work, inspired by the "Boston ivy," we successfully designed and constructed a semi-continuous plant system. Subsequently, based on the "vine-like plant" and the "island-like plant," the semi-continuous plant system and the isolated plant system are selected as the models of plant purification system, respectively. The dynamic evolution of SO₂ in the plant systems is investigated using the computational fluid dynamic (CFD) method. It is demonstrated that the dynamic evolution of SO₂ is impacted by the plant structure and the flow path ((c_g/l_g) + (c_l/l_l)). In the semi-continuous plant system, the strong flow paths with gradually weakened fluctuation are restricted by this special plant structure, the length of flow paths are extended, and more SO₂ can be dissolved. In the isolated plant system, the mild flow paths with linear relationship can easily pass through the plants, such that only a little SO₂ is dissolved. Overall, the present study opens a new path into the dynamic evolution of SO₂ pollution in the plant systems, which helps providing guidance for the designing of plant purification system.