Young researchers from Mechanical Engineering- S.K Hassan, M.Vijaya Bhargava, Jithin Peram, and Meghana Bonthu- have added one more laurel to SRM University-AP by inventing something novel! Under the supervision of faculty from the Department of Mechanical Engineering, the quartet have published a patent A Comprehensive Disinfection System during Pandemic for Personal Items and Protective Equipment(PPE) to Safeguard People.
The current Covid-19 pandemic has led to an enormous demand for gadgets/objects for personal protection. To prevent the spread of the virus which proliferates also through surface transmission, it is important to disinfect objects of common use. One of the ways suggested is to use a UV-C disinfecting box that is efficient and effective in deactivating the COVID-19 virus. The novelty of the product prototype is the use of a UVC transparent material (fused silica quartz glass tubes). This not only physically supports the objects to be disinfected but also improves the effectiveness of disinfection. The aluminium foil which the students have used, a UV reflecting material, was used as the inner lining of the box for effective utilization of the UVC light emitted by the UVC lamps. Care has been taken to prevent leakage of UVC radiation out of the system. COVID-19 virus can be inactivated in 5 minutes by UVC irradiation in this disinfection box.
This novel product can help in efficiently sanitizing normal household items such as mobile phones, keys, purses, grocery and also PPE kits (masks, gloves, visors etc.). This product is not only affordable but also makes disinfection faster. Moreover, the operational process is simple – open the door, place the objects, turn it on and then retrieve them sanitised within minutes.
“We are looking forward to taking up this UV Box to the next stage of implementation with a more compact and more efficient mechanism”, says the proud team behind the invention. “We are ready to undertake new projects and with the help and support from Dr Venkat Nori and other faculty members”, they added.
Link to patent document: https://ipindia.gov.in/writereaddata/Portal/IPOJournal/1_4971_1/Part-1.pdf