Air Scrubber v0 — Design Doctrine Purpose The Air Scrubber is a core stewardship subsystem of the Lazarus Forge. Its purpose is to prevent the release, accumulation, or uncontrolled transformation of hazardous airborne byproducts generated during Forge operation. The scrubber is not an accessory or afterthought; it is an enabling system without which the Forge shall not operate. The Air Scrubber exists to: Protect operators, nearby systems, and environments Prevent secondary hazard creation (e.g., toxic reaction products) Capture, stabilize, and channel byproducts into managed streams Provide diagnostic insight into Forge chemistry and health --- Design Philosophy 1. Capture Is Part of Production All Forge processes assume byproduct generation. The Air Scrubber is designed as a continuation of the production path, not a cleanup step performed after the fact. No Forge mode assumes “clean exhaust.” Every mode assumes containment. --- 2. Interaction Is Forced, Not Hoped For The system does not rely on dilution, dispersion, or passive escape. Airflow is deliberately manipulated to: Increase residence time Increase molecular and particulate interaction Convert mobile hazards into capturable forms The scrubber biases physics toward capture. --- 3. Charge, Cool, Then Capture Hazardous species are most difficult to manage when they are hot, fast-moving, and neutral. The scrubber architecture follows a consistent logic: 1. Charge airborne species to encourage attachment and agglomeration 2. Cool the gas stream to reduce volatility and stabilize intermediates 3. Capture contaminants into liquid or solid phases This ordering is intentional and forms the backbone of the system. --- 4. Negative Pressure as a Safety Boundary The Air Scrubber operates under slight negative pressure relative to its surroundings. Design intent: Leaks draw air inward rather than expelling contaminants Loss of airflow is treated as a critical fault The Forge defaults to shutdown rather than uncontrolled exhaust Containment is maintained even during partial failure. --- Functional Architecture (Conceptual) Stage A — Sacrificial Mechanical Intercept Intent: Protect downstream stages and define a human-safe interaction point. Captures coarse particulates and debris Prevents fouling of ionization and wet stages Designed for frequent replacement or servicing This stage is treated as expendable by design. --- Stage B — Ionization / Electrostatic Conditioning Intent: Convert poorly behaved contaminants into cooperative ones. Imparts charge to particulates, aerosols, and vapors Encourages agglomeration and surface attachment Increases downstream capture efficiency Ionization energy is moderated; the goal is interaction, not destruction. Ozone or unintended reactive species are considered fault conditions and must be monitored. --- Stage C — Thermal Quench / Cooling Zone Intent: Reduce mobility, volatility, and reaction rates. Rapidly lowers gas temperature Encourages condensation of semi-volatile compounds Stabilizes charged species long enough for capture Cooling may be active or passive but must be explicit in design. --- Stage D — Wet Scrubbing / Water Column Intent: Perform bulk removal and phase transfer. This stage simultaneously: Absorbs soluble gases Captures charged and agglomerated particulates Condenses vapors into liquid form Removes heat from the exhaust stream Water is operated in a recirculating loop with monitoring. The scrubber assumes that captured material is hazardous until proven otherwise. --- Stage E — Polishing / Last-Chance Capture Intent: Avoid reliance on any single mechanism. Captures residual contaminants that escape primary stages Provides redundancy against upstream variability Serves as a final barrier before release The specific method is modular and may evolve without changing upstream philosophy. --- Waste as a Managed Output Captured materials are not treated as disposable nuisances. Liquids, sludges, and solids are routed into controlled handling paths Composition is monitored as a diagnostic signal Outputs may become future feedstock or require immobilization The Air Scrubber doubles as a sensor system for Forge chemistry. --- Monitoring & Failure Doctrine The scrubber is instrumented to detect: Loss of airflow or pressure balance Excessive ionization byproducts Water chemistry drift Overflow or carryover conditions Design rule: > If the scrubber cannot verify safe operation, the Forge does not run. Safety is enforced through system logic, not operator vigilance. --- Compatibility With Autonomous Operation While this document does not prescribe control software, the Air Scrubber is designed to: Operate continuously without manual tuning Provide clear health signals to supervisory systems Fail into containment rather than release Human oversight is optional; stewardship is not. --- Summary Doctrine The Air Scrubber is not a filter. It is a boundary system that: Forces hazardous matter into managed forms Prevents accidental chemistry Makes responsible operation possible at scale A Forge that cannot clean up after itself is incomplete by definition.