IIT-Guwahati develops 5 new safety systems for war against coronavirus

GUWAHATI: The premier technology institute, IIT-Guwahati, has been developing innovative solutions to address sanitation and precaution concerns amid the pandemic. The latest from the IIT-G stable are a low cost heat-based sanitizer trunk, injection mould for mass manufacturing of face shield, disinfectant tunnel, universal foot operated hand sanitization system and high-grade quality face shields.
A students' team under the supervision of professor Uday Shanker Dixit, from the mechanical engineering department of the institute, has designed the heat-based sanitizer trunk for disinfecting clothes as well as papers, leather items, belt, currency notes, wallets and other non-washable items.
"The team has developed designs of low-cost sanitizer trunks of different sizes. A small sized sanitizer trunk has been developed for sanitizing masks, wallets and currency notes. The cost for making this trunk is only about Rs 50. A 90 cmx45 cmx36 cm trunk may cost around Rs 300," said an IIT-G statement issued on Wednesday, as the number of Covid-19 positive cases in Assam spiked like never before.
These sanitizer trunks work on the principle of thermal heating along with some amount of ultraviolet rays. The procedure is to place the objects to be sanitized for about 15 minutes in the sanitizer trunk. The temperature of the trunk is about 85 degree Celsius.
Supradip Das, assistant professor of the design department of IIT-G, has developed the injection mould for mass manufacturing of face shield to cater to the needs of hospitals.
"The injection moulded face shield is lightweight, approximately 25 gm. It is recyclable or reusable and autoclavable. The face shield is not porous. Many of the products available are made of sponge or foam sheet. Objects made of these materials are highly porous, there are gaps between layers and those areas are perfect hiding spots for germs. The faculty has planned to produce 10,000 face shields. So far, he has supplied 3,000 pieces to doctors, organisations and hospitals," read the statement.
On the other hand, Vixudha Bio Product Pvt Ltd, a start-up incubated at IIT-G, in collaboration with Oasis Fabrications, has designed and developed Disinfectant Tunnel (DT).
Mihir Kumar Purkait, head of the centre for the environment, and professor, chemical engineering department, along with Prabir Kumar Saha, professor of chemical engineering department at the institute, are leading the start-up.
A disinfectant tunnel is a full-body disinfection chamber meant to decontaminate a person. High-pressure nozzles spray the disinfectant fluid in fine mist occupying the whole chamber. This fluid disrupts the protein structure of microorganisms on the surface, thus killing them eventually. The spraying continues for a set time of seven seconds.
"This innovation can be used in hospitals, office buildings, residential societies, food markets, school, colleges, bus stands, cinema halls and malls," the statement added.
The fourth innovation, Universal Foot Operated Hand Sanitization System, is a hands-free foot-operated hand cleaning and sanitization system. It is a low-cost, easy to use, energy-efficient, zero electrical energy use and electronic freehand sanitization system that can be operated by foot.
"There was an urgent need of a system which would avoid touching of a sanitizer bottle by hand to prevent contamination. This system will reduce the risk of transmission to a great extent," the statement said. This has been developed by Arun Chandra Borsaikia from the civil engineering department.
Himujjall Sarmah, an industrial designer and an alumnus of IIT-G, has manufactured high-grade quality of face shields, the fifth innovation in the list, to fulfil the need for face shields locally for northeast hospitals.