DRDO comes up with 2 products to kill viral microbes

Vijay Mohan

Tribune News Service

Chandigarh, April 18

As part of its ongoing innovations to counter the threat of COVID-19 pandemic, the Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) has come up with two products which can enhance safety at public places neutralising viral mircrobes.

Two laboratories at New Delhi, the Defence Institute of Physiology and Allied Sciences (DIPAS) and Institute of Nuclear Medicine and Allied Sciences (INMAS), have designed and developed an ultraviolet C-light based sanitisation box and hand-held device, which are good at destroying genetic material in COVID-19.

The radiation warps the structure RNA which prevents the viral particles from making more copies of them.  The C-light kills the microbes quickly. Sanitisation of the items by employing C-light avoids the harmful effects of the chemicals used for the disinfection. This is environment friendly and is a contact-free effective sanitisation method.

The C-light box is designed for disinfecting personal belongings like mobile phone, tablets, purse, currency, cover of office files, etc. By placing them in the box and exposing them to the ultraviolet light for about a minute.

The hand-held device having an 8 watt UV-C lamp disinfects office and household objects like chairs, files, postal delivered items and food packets with an exposure of 45 seconds. This measure can reduce the transmission of coronavirus in office and public environment which is required to work in all conditions.

The other product is an automatic mist-based sanitiser dispensing unit developed by the Centre for Fire Explosive and Environment Safety (CFEES), Delhi. It is a contactless sanitiser dispenser which sprays alcohol-based hand rub sanitiser solution for sanitisation of hands while entering the buildings and office complexes. It is based on water mist aerator technology, which was developed for water conservation.

The unit operates without contact and is activated through an ultrasonic sensor. A single fluid nozzle using an atomiser, only 5-6 ml sanitiser is released for 12 seconds in one operation and it gives the full cone spray over both palms so that disinfection operation of hands is complete.

It is a very compact unit and the bulk fill option makes it economical and long lasting product. It is easy to install system as wall-mountable or on a platform. As an indication of operation an LED illuminates the spray.         

The unit can be used for sanitisation of hands at entry and exit to hospitals, malls, office buildings, residential buildings, airports, metro stations, railway stations, bus stations and critical installations. The product is also expected to be very useful for entry/exit of isolation and quarantine centres.

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