LPU & IISER students develop algae-based Air Purifier
New Delhi: Student researchers from Lovely Professional University and IISER, Mohali today announced that they have jointly developed an algae-based room air purifier that will not only neutralize 98% of the harmful gasses and particulate matter in the air but will also increase the amount of oxygen making indoors more breathable. Algae has been used as microbes in algae conduct photosynthesis and using sunshine, water and carbon dioxide can produce oxygen making the air more breathable. The research was conducted by Anant Kumar Rajput and Deepak Deb, both B. Tech 3rd year students at LPU and Mr. Ravneet Yadav, Ph.D. scholar from IISER Mohali. They were guided by Division of Startup, Lovely Professional University and Dr. A Sunila Patil, Asst Professor, IISER Mohali.
The powerful air purifier applies a completely new technology than what is used by the existing air purifiers in the market. The device, which uses an in-built container filled with marine algae, decontaminates the indoor air and effectively removes toxic industrial gases like carbon monoxide, nitrogen oxides and Sulphur oxides with an impeccable success rate of over 98% and further infuses oxygen in the filtered air. This innovative air purifier produces biomass as the byproduct of the photosynthesis process which can further be sold to industries like Bio Development products, FMCG and Pharmaceuticals at Rs. 800/kg for producing energy.
The student’s got the inspiration to build an algae-based air purifier from the ongoing space research to produce oxygen in space through algae. The team has also developed a working prototype of the product and successfully conducted trials. They have filed for the patent and are now in discussion with industry experts for its commercialization. The product, OX- C and its higher version OX- C 2.0 are expected to be commercialized by September 2020 and will cost about Rs. 18,000/- and Rs. 25,000/- respectively. The team is now working on algae-based face masks which they expect to develop by mid of 2020.
Mr. Naveen Luthra, Head – Division of Startup at Lovely Professional University said, “There are several air purifiers available in the market, but they all work on same or similar principle, that is, filtering out the pollutants through Carbon and HEPA filters. What makes us happy is the initiative taken by our students to come up with an alternative technology to solve this problem. The product is already on its way to commercialization and it will be a proud moment when this purifier hits the market.”
About Lovely Professional University:
Established in 2005, Lovely Professional University (LPU) is a private university based out of Jalandhar, Punjab. The university campus spreads over 600 acres on the outskirts of Jalandhar. LPU offers a wide variety of courses such as engineering streams, Computer Application, Hotel Management, and Tourism, Architecture and Design, Pharmaceutical Sciences, Agriculture, Fashion Design, Journalism, Films and Creative Arts, Law, Physiotherapy and Paramedical Sciences as well as Art and Languages.
With over 36,000 students currently enrolled LPU offers students full-time as well as part-time courses. LPU houses students from over 70 countries and encourages diversity. The sprawling campus consists of its own shopping mall, a MAC lab / SAP Lab for students to develop & deploy Apple apps, an aviation lab, a skating rink, in-house bowling complex, convenience stores, and numerous food kiosks.
The vision of LPU is to be a premier academic institution, recognized internationally for its contribution to industry and society through excellence in teaching, learning, research, internationalization, entrepreneurship, and leadership. LPU aims to implement a relationship of cooperation between industry and academia and to prepare graduates to be lifelong learners with strong analytical and leadership skills.