DRDO invents Ultra Violet disinfection tower to kill coronavirus

The Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) has developed an Ultra Violet (UV) Disinfection Tower for the rapid and chemical-free disinfection of high infection prone areas.

The invention, known as the UV blaster, emits ultraviolet rays to sanitise areas and has been developed by the DRDO’s Laser Science and Technology Centre (LASTEC).

According to a release by DRDO, the blaster is useful for high tech surfaces like electronic equipment, computers and other gadgets in laboratories and offices that are not suitable for disinfection with chemical methods.

“The product is also effective for areas with large flow of people such as airports, shopping malls, metros, hotels, factories, offices, etc,” the release said.

The UV based area sanitiser may be used by remote operation through laptop/mobile phone using a wifi link.

The equipment has six lamps each with 43 watts of UV-C power at 254 nm wavelength for 360 degree illumination. For a room measuring 12 by 12 feet, disinfection time is about 10 minutes. For a room measuring 400 square feet, 30 minutes is required because of the need to reposition the equipment at different places within the room.

This sanitiser turns off automatically if the door to a room being sanitised is opened.