Sabertec is an environmental technology company that specializes in the development of emissions reduction technologies. Our mission is to provide highly effective, universally affordable solutions that can be applied within a wide range of operating conditions.
Mayor studies apparatus for reducing pollution
After testing the technology, Laboratory in USP says that Impact Diesel Particulate Filter is capable of reducing particulate material by up to 70%.
The city authorities of São Paulo are studying a new way of reducing the emission of pollutants from vehicles in the capital of the State of São Paulo. The prototype of a device that is expected to be utilized by the buses in the capital over the coming years has been tested at the Interlagos Race Circuit by Sabertec, with participation by São Paulo Transport (SPTrans). Today, the municipality of São Paulo spends more than US$ 8 billion a year on healthcare. According to the University of São Paulo (USP), around 9% (i.e. approximately US$ 750 million) is spent on treating symptoms and diseases relating to excess emission of pollutants. “Today, the city has 40,000 buses and licenses 300 to 400 new passenger cars per year, the equivalent of installing two thermoelectric power stations a year in the capital”, explains Paulo Hilário Saldiva, head of the Department of Atmospheric Pollution of the School of Medicine of USP.
The Impact Diesel Particulate Filter (IDPF), which has the function of decreasing the rate of pollution emission from vehicle exhausts was conceived by the São Paulo engineer Sergio Sangiovani. The engineer’s idea was patented and licensed by Sabertec, an environmental technology company with its head office in Austin, Texas. The company manufactures a series of solutions for decreasing emission, which reduce the emissions of both gases and particulates from diesel and gasoline engines. The cost of the product is US$ 1,100. “The amount is relatively small if we think of the sum that São Paulo invests without really resolving the problem”, emphasizes Bill O’Brien, CEO of Sabertec. He also says that if the city authorities were to put the device into the city’s public transport, it would spend around US$ 40,400, an amount that is well below the present public sector expenditure.
Differing from conventional catalyzers, the IDPF is used in vehicles powered by diesel with high sulfur content, as is the case with Brazilian diesel and the diesel in many developing countries. Moreover, the IDPF does not convert the particulate material into carbon dioxide (CO2), one of the great causative agents of the greenhouse effect and the principal contributor towards global warming. Easy to install, the IDPF is also capable of being utilized under a variety of operating conditions, and can be reutilized after a simple cleaning procedure.
To determine the parameters and protocols for the efficiency of the reduction provided by the IDPF, Sabertec has also had support from a variety of entities, including the Experimental Atmospheric Pollution Laboratory of the Department of Pathology of the School of Medicine of USP (FMUSP) and the Green and Environment Department of the Municipality of São Paulo.
The Interlagos Race Circuit served as the stage on which the scientists and engineers simulated normal traffic conditions, using a bus assigned from São Paulo’s fleet. The route reproduced some stops, accelerations, climbs, descents and curves. It was only in July this year that Sabertec presented the IDPF in Brazil. Yesterday, the company already announced the final results from the tests carried out on the equipment, which were conducted by the Experimental Atmospheric Pollution Laboratory of the Department of Pathology of the School of Medicine of USP.
The final report revealed a significant reduction in emissions, with a retention rate of up to 70% of the particulate material of diameter less than or equal to (=) 2.5 micrometers (PM 2.5). In 2005, PM 2.5 was identified by the World Health Organization (WHO) as one of the polluting elements that was most harmful to human health.
Particulate material results from a mixture of solid or liquid particles suspended in the air, which vary in shape and diameter. Tiny particles, with diameters less than 2.5 micrometers, are especially damaging because they deeply invade the human respiratory system without any type of defense. The human body is relatively efficient in its defense against larger substances, but has little or no defense against smaller particles.
In large urban centers in Brazil, studies conducted by the Company for Environmental Sanitation Technology (CETESB) have shown that around 40% of the emissions of PM result from vehicle emissions. And in this segment, diesel-powered vehicles are the biggest villains, responsible for around 28% of the inhalable PM.
During the research carried out by the Department of Atmospheric Pollution of the School of Medicine of USP, it was observed that the inhalation of pollutants such as PM 2.5 could bring serious consequences for human health, from respiratory and cardiovascular problems to cancer. “São Paulo’s air receives around three millions tons of pollutants a year, and 90% of them are emitted as gases from motor vehicles”, says Paulo Hilário Saldiva, head of the Department of Atmospheric Pollution of the School of Medicine of USP. According to studies coordinated by Saldiva, increases in pollution levels, which mainly occur in winter, may increase the risk of death due to respiratory diseases by up to 12% on peak air contamination days. Also according to this specialist, 2,600 people die in the capital because of cardiopulmonary diseases relating to pollution. After the conclusion of the tests, the results revealed that the accumulated concentration of PM 2.5 collected in the outlet from the filter was 70% lower than the concentration of PM 2.5 accumulated before installing the filter.
IVO MADOGLIO
Santos wants to exchange cars for bicycles
The city of Santos may be the starting point for an important cultural change with regard to the use of bicycles as a means of transport. This month, the city will host the launch of an educative and encouragement campaign for the use of bicycles in the Santos Lowlands. The Pedal Brazil Institute (IPB), a major promoter of the use of bicycles for transportation and responsible cycling chose Santos to inaugurate a national campaign on this theme.
Differing from what takes place in first-world countries and in Europe in particular, bicycles in Brazil are still not regarded by a large proportion of the economically active population that goes to work every day by bus, car or metro as an efficient means of transport that has various advantages. Their characteristics and differentials are unknown or ignored by the majority.
The campaign that the IPB is launching in Santos seeks to change concepts. According to Antonio Miranda, a partner of the Pedal Brazil Institute in its initiatives promoting mobility by bicycle, in Tokyo, the ninth biggest city on the planet, with more than 7.9 million inhabitants, 25% of journeys from home to work are made by bicycle. In New York, more than 4% of the population’s daily journeys are made by bicycle.
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