Economical Eco-friendly Air Purifiers soon to be launched in India Market
Air Pollution is a major issue posing serious threats to health and food security and needs to be tackled on an urgent basis. Recently designed economical Indoor Green Air Purifiers by Shoolini University, Solan, Himachal Pradesh, ranging from Rs 10000 to Rs15000 to be launched in April 2020 are going to prove a feasible air purification system using microalgae along with maximizing the efficacy of the biosystems. The instrument is beautifully designed to add to the aesthetics of homes as well. The air purifiers designed by Lovely Professional University, Punjab and Indian Institute of Science Education and Research (IISER), having approximately price Rs 25000 will be launched in September 2020.
Air Pollution is of great concern for India like developing country which ranks the third-largest country in contributing emission of Greenhouse gases after China and the US and Delhi being the capital of the country is the second-most populous city which has attained almost top position in the world concerning pollution.
According to the WHO report, Air pollution causes an estimated Seventy Lakh people to die worldwide every year. Acknowledging the concern, recently the Indian Union budget 2020-21
allocated Rs 4,400 Crore to promote states to formulate comprehensive plans for clean air in every Indian state. About 90% of the world population is exposed to unhealthy air containing particulate matter 2.5 PM (10µg/m3), which exceeds WHO guidelines, resulting in a high impact on health in the form of cardiopulmonary and lung cancer mortality.
The newly designed instrument’s one part will absorb the 98% dust present, while through the other part the pure air will enter the room. As the dirty air will enter the instrument, the size of the microalgae will enhance.
What are Microalgae based Air Purifiers?
Microalgae are a group of photosynthetic microorganisms that help in improving air quality by removing the fine particulates. Carbon dioxide and other toxic compounds are converted
to potential biofuels, foods, feeds and high-value bioactive compounds by Microalgae which produce approximately 70-80 percent of the oxygen of atmosphere in the presence of sunlight by the process of photosynthesis.
The microalgae-based preliminary version of the device thus developed can be used for improving the air quality at the household level and in major polluted places across the world.
The system consists of a culture tank filled with a standardized culture fluid including the algae,
an air supply unit with gas pressure unit, gas pump and an agitator for forcing and proper distribution of polluted air into the culture fluid and a lighting unit for radiating light to the culture fluid.
Since algae use carbon dioxide as a nutrient for their growth, Photosynthesis of the algae is promoted to convert carbon dioxide into oxygen by radiating light in the presence of carbon dioxide. As a result, the device can efficiently purify the polluted air to generate fresh air, rich in oxygen.
This device also produces biomass as a byproduct which can be sold at Rs 800 per Kg for energy production for which Universities have applied for a patent as well. The team is working on the manufacturing of Algae-based Facemask which is projected to be done by this year.
Conclusion
Although there are plenty of air purifiers available in the market because of high cost and low
efficacy they have not been able to influence the market that much. This new economical, eco-friendly highly efficient air purifier will mark its presence because of its high quality and unbeatable design.
