IIT-Kanpur researchers develop tech to convert ACs into air purifiers
LUCKNOW : A team of researchers from the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT), Kanpur, has developed a novel technology to turn ACs into affordable air purifiers. “The one-of-a-kind technology is conceptualised and developed with the infrastructural as well as R&D support from IIT Kanpur as the team of researchers found a way to turn regular ACs into air purifiers during the winter season,” the institute said in a press release.
The innovation comes in line with IIT Kanpur’s work in the domain of air quality assessment and monitoring. The prestigious institute has been involved in assisting various state governments and organisations in deploying technologies to combat air pollution.
Prof Ankush Sharma, professor-in-charge, Innovation and Incubation, IIT Kanpur, said, “The novel air purification technology used in these air filters has successfully proved its efficiency towards protecting us from life-threatening viruses. This innovation is a great addition to the R&D work IIT Kanpur is involved in.”
Co-professor-in-charge, Innovation and Incubation, IIT Kanpur, Prof Amitabha Bandyopadhyay, said, “This indigenous revolutionary innovation has tremendous potential to succeed in the global market. This launch is indicative of technology catering to critical world problems.”
This technology comes as a simplistic handy tool, which can be easily mounted atop regular ACs and utilised by switching on ‘fan mode’. The minimum cost of such air purifiers in the market is around Rs 10,000 which usually comes with a fan and an air filter to clean the air. On the other hand, this new type of air filters developed at IIT Kanpur has proved to restrict the microbial growth and is capable of capturing PM 2.5, PM 10, dust, pollen, allergens and germs from the air while purifying.
The air filters are equipped with the “Anti-Microbial Air Purification Technology” developed at IIT Kanpur in collaboration with researchers from the Indian Institute of Science, Bengaluru. It has been tested at NABL accredited lab and has proved to be able to successfully deactivate SARS-CoV-2 (delta variant) with an efficiency of 99.24%.
The innovation has been licensed to AiRTH, a startup incubated at the Startup Incubation and Innovation Centre, IIT Kanpur, for marketing. It has been launched in the form of a product as “Clean Air Module” and comes at an affordable price of Rs 2,000. The product is now available for purchase through AiRTH’s website.