• Agni’s VAAYU, the first-of-its-kind product is a portable chamber with dynamic turbulent airflow technology
• Unlike chemical-based sanitization tunnel, It is a chemical-free sanitization method that uses air dynamics of different pressure to sanitize a person
• The air blows from high-efficiency particulate filters sanitize a person within 45 seconds

As the situation has begun to ease in India, the adoption of diverse advanced devices to ensure the safety of individuals has become imperative. After successfully launching ‘Robot Nurse' for medical assistance, the students of Agni College of Technology under the crucial guidance of their Dean came up with a splendid, user-friendly, air velocity technology-based Bio-Intelligent Disinfectant Clean Air Chamber, named AGNI'S VAAYU to ramp up security while confining the spread of the virus in a scientific way, which can be ideally utilised in various public places including schools, hospitals, colleges, offices, banks etc.

In a conversation with the Machine Maker, Dr Mahesh Raghavan, Dean, Agni College of Technology stated, “To combat COVID and help the nation ensure the safety of individuals to the best extent, we concocted the chamber since the majority of schools, colleges, offices and factories have begun to re-open and function regularly. The students and professors of our college have been constantly innovating products TO COMBAT COVID in different ways and this chamber was one such idea. They roped me in to offer insights and we all worked collectively as a team. The grunt work of the actual building is largely by the mechatronics students of Agni College, the hand sanitiser set up outside the chamber is a formula made by the chemical engineers of Agni and myself and the air-velocity based technology has been intended by the biomedical engineering students and professors.”

Features of VAAYU

Agni’s VAAYU, a unique first of its kind product is a portable chamber (4’×4’×9’) with dynamic turbulent airflow technology with high-efficiency particulate filters, which is effective in trapping and filtering micro-organisms, allergens and viruses which are commonly transmitted airborne. It claims to filter 99.9% of the pathogens and can break the chain of various diseases. In fact, it is a NABL certified, chemical-free sanitization method that uses air dynamics of different pressure to sanitize a person entering the chamber from top to bottom. “Nowadays, the chemicals utilized in several sanitization tunnels are very harmful to the skin, even in the short run, therefore we wanted to design something that is human-friendly in every possible way so that one doesn’t end up with skin disease. As a doctor in the medical field for 27 years along with my team of microbiologists and engineers, we ensured the entire system is free from any kind of chemical which might cause skin irritation, allergies and eye irritation,” says Dr Mahesh.

Whenever an individual walks into the chamber, initially temperature is being monitored, after which there is a foot-operated hand sanitizer set up along with the chamber, and as soon as they step inside wearing goggles provided (to keep the eyes safe), the air blows to sanitize them for almost 45 seconds. Indeed, a separate sanitization system for the footwear is also outfitted there.

Other Innovations

As of now, the working demo is available at Royal Mother Hospital, Ashok Nagar and the team is endeavouring to commercialize and custom-build it. In fact, they have additionally started executing orders for a couple of educational institutions across Tamil Nadu, more specifically in Chennai. 

Apart from this, the team is also working upon developing efficient ventilators that will help the COVID patients nationwide since the cost-effective ventilators manufactured currently have been failing consistently. “This is still a significant work under progress, as it is a matter of life and death. We are continuously trying and testing different technologies and hope to come up with a solid product in the next 6-8 weeks,” adds Dr Mahesh.

For more details contact: www.agnivaayu.com