NEW DELHI: To fight coronavirus, the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) Kharagpur has installed a specially designed tunnel to sanitize every entrant into its campus. It has been designed in less than a week and during the lockdown.

Led by Mihir Sarangi, professor, mechanical engineering, faculty members and staff from other departments of the institute also worked on the prototype which sprays disinfectants on visitors while they pass through the tunnel.

Every visitor is sprayed with disinfectant solution which gushes out at high pressure from an air compressor at the entry point of the tunnel thereby disinfecting the person, his clothes, other articles including shoes.

Sarangi said, “The output material is like mist and highly effective as it covers a larger surface area, unlike liquid disinfectant. Also, it does not need any drainage.”

To emphasize that it is not a substitute for handwashing, hand wash stations have been placed just outside the disinfection tunnel.

Virendra K Tewari, director, IIT Kharagpur said, “Such technologies can be quickly built and employed at any location which has a daily influx of essential service providers. I congratulate the team to have built this disinfection system in such a short period.”

The estimated cost of the commercial model is Rs 4 lakh.

Also Read:

• COVID-19: An IIT Kanpur team designed a low-cost ventilator in a week

• COVID-19 Lockdown 2.0: IIT Bombay starts Corona Design Challenge

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