IIT Ropar Develops ‘Sanitising Trunk’ to Fight COVID-19 Spread

Necessity is the mother of all inventions.

This old saying has been proven right yet again, this time by the Indian Institute of Technology, Ropar. When the world is grappling with the horrors of COVID-19 pandemic, they have invented a device that can keep high-end sanitisation process accessible and user-friendly.

The institute has developed an extremely low-cost but highly effective way to sanitise grocery and currency notes. A trunk-shaped device armed with ultraviolet germicidal irradiation technology can sanitise items in 30 minutes. Another 10 minutes it takes to cool down for items placed inside to be taken out. The team said that the trunk will be available at Rs 500 once commercialised.

The precautions for containing the spread of coronavirus does not limit till washing hands, restricting movement and social distancing. The virus can stay alive for a long time on vegetables, fruits, plastic covers, papers. The easy-to-use remedy yet suggested was immerse everything in soapy water for 20 seconds, however this was not possible with groceries, fruits, vegetables, currency notes, wallets. This sanitising trunk is super easy way to sanitise these things.

The Technology Behind

The sanitiser trunk uses the same ultraviolet germicidal irradiation technology that is commonly adopted in water purifiers.

Scientific Officer at the IIT Ropar Views

A senior Scientific Officer at the IIT Ropar Naresh Rakha has said that it can used with any trunk commonly found in homes, but it is imperative to disinfect it first. The sanitising trunk should be kept at doorsteps or maybe closer to the entrance anywhere. Items such as currency notes, fruits, milk packets, wristwatch, wallets, cell phones or any papers, can be stored inside it.

He has cautioned against directly looking into the lights inside the trunk.

Source: Financial Express

Image Source: Google Images