Layout and design of a building, as well as occupancy, type of heating, ventilation, and air conditioning system (HVAC), can impact the potential airborne spread of Coronavirus, according to the US Environmental Protection Agency.

A Kerala-based researcher has now patented an air steriliser that operates on a ground-breaking visible light photo-catalytic technology and promises ‘100 per cent safe air’ in air-conditioned, closed environments. A visiting Vice-President M Venkiah Nadu commended the invention at a function here as last week.

Cleaner air indoor

Syriac Joseph Palackal, a scientist in synthetic chemistry with many international patents to his credit, said that his Aerolyz ASR 600 steriliser can generate cleaner air indoor than outdoor. Available data suggest that indoor air is five-time more polluted than outdoor.

Aerolyz would seek to stand conventional wisdom on its head, he told BusinessLine here. Rajiv Gandhi Centre for Biotechnology (RGCB), an autonomous body under the Department of Biotechnology, Government of India and based here, has now certified it as a stand-out performer.

It conducted using the ‘single-pass method’ according to a modified ISO 18184:2019 protocol. Influenza A, 2009 H1N1-Swine flu, Coronavirus E gene and Coronavirus S gene were fed into the steriliser and subsequent air samples checked at different time intervals for the presence of the pathogen using RT-PCR.

Efficiency tested, proven

More than 100 million viral counts per milliliter were pumped in at four-time intervals 80 times over and RGCB concluded that the steriliser killed the pathogens in a single pass through the equipment. Even he was stunned at the results which were once thought impossible, says Palackal.

This has implications for not just the HVAC sector but also the healthcare, hospitality and transport sectors, including aircraft. Aerolyz is manufactured by Panlys Biosecurity Solutions registered with the Kerala Startup Mission from its plant at the industrial estate of the State Industries Department at Manvila near here.

Chandrabhas Narayana, Director, RGCB, handed over the efficiency test certificate to KK Shylaja, Minister of Health & Family Welfare, at her office last week. Also present were Radhakrishnan R Nair, Head, Department of Laboratory Medicine & Molecular Diagnostics, RGCB; Syriac Joseph Palackal; KC Sanjeev and Suraj Sanjeev, Directors, Panlyz Biosecurity Solutions.

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