In its latest contribution to the fight against coronavirus disease Covid-19, the Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) has pitched in with an ultra-violet disinfection tower that can be used for sanitising places such as airports, shopping malls, metro stations, hotels, factories and offices, two officials said on Monday.
The tower can be used for rapid and chemical-free disinfection of high-risk areas where the flow of people is heavy, said the first official cited above.
The UV disinfection tower (named UV Blaster) has been developed by Laser Science and Technology Centre (Lastec) with the help of New Age Instruments and Materials Private Limited, Gurugram. Lastec is a Delhi-based DRDO laboratory.
“The UV Blaster is useful for high touch surfaces like electronic equipment in laboratories and offices that are not suitable for disinfection with chemical methods,” said the second official cited above.
He said the system can also be operated remotely through the laptop or mobile phone using the Wi-Fi link. The UV blaster takes 10 minutes to disinfect a 12 by 12 foot room and 30 minutes for a 400 sq ft area. This system switches off automatically on accidental opening of the room or human intervention, the second official added.
Different wings of the defence ministry, including the armed forces and the DRDO, have designed and developed a wide range of products to support the country’s effort to contain the spread of the pandemic.
{{/usCountry}}Different wings of the defence ministry, including the armed forces and the DRDO, have designed and developed a wide range of products to support the country’s effort to contain the spread of the pandemic.
{{/usCountry}}The DRDO has developed many products to combat the pandemic including ventilators, personal protective equipment (PPE) kits, large area sanitisation solutions and Covid-19 sample collection kiosks. Last month, the DRDO stepped forward to provide medical oxygen plants to hospitals in far-flung areas to help them generate their own oxygen supply.
It has also developed a mobile virology research and diagnostics laboratory that will speed up coronavirus disease screening and other Covid-19 research and development activities.