DRDO develops UV disinfection tower for sanitising coronavirus-prone areas

Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) has developed an Ultra Violet (UV) disinfection tower for rapid and chemical-free disinfection of COVID-19 infection prone areas.

The equipment named UV Blaster is a UV-based area sanitiser designed and developed by Laser Science & Technology Centre (LASTEC), the Delhi-based premier laboratory of DRDO, with the help of New Age Instruments and Materials from Gurugram.

The UV Blaster is useful for surfaces like electronic equipments, computers and other gadgets in laboratories and offices that are not suitable for disinfecting 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.

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The UV-based area sanitiser may be used by remote operation through laptop/mobile phone using 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 of about 12 x 12 feet dimension, the disinfection time is about 10 minutes and 30 minutes for 400 square feet area by positioning the equipment at different places within the room.

This sanitiser switches off on accidental opening of room or human intervention. One more salient safety feature of the product is the key to arm operation.

Also Read: Coronavirus Lockdown Live Updates: Total cases surge to 42,836; Indians stranded abroad to be brought home

On Monday, the total number of confirmed coronavirus cases in India closer to the 43,000-mark, while the death toll topped the 1,300-mark, according to the latest data released by the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare. With 2,573 new cases in the last 24 hours, the total number of confirmed COVID-19 cases climbed to 42,836, while 83 patients succumbed to deadly virus during the same time periiod, taking the death toll to 1,389.