Odour Blasters
Had it with stinky public toilets? Pune-based Arklite has a UV-based solution that could make them smell fresh like the hills ……..Omkar Sapre
WHETHER you have been inside a roadside public toilet or not, you wouldn’t have missed the unbearable odour while walking down the road or while waiting at a traffic signal. Not anymore. Arklite, a Pune-based company, will ensure odour-free toilets (well, almost) and save you from literally running for cover. The company, which manufactures high-performance lamps, has come up with a technology that helps deodorise and disinfect the air, making for a tolerable use of toilets.
Based on the germicidal properties of ozone and ultraviolet (UV) light, the air purifier developed by this company neutralises any odour generated by an organic source. Arklite’s chairman and chief technology officer Avinash Kulkarni says, “To get rid of bad odour like in a toilet, people normally tend to overpower it with a much stronger good odour, like a perfume or room freshener. This does not deodorise bad odour but only reduces its intensity by adding good odour to the air, which is again overpowered by bad odour in no time. However, our technology deodorises the bad odour, and also disinfects the air using ozone and UV light.”
He goes on to explain: “UV light of all wavelengths neutralise all living organisms like bacteria, fungi and virus, when they are exposed to it. Some wavelengths of UV light (such as 185 nanometre), if not absorbed by the glass of the bulb, generate ozone when exposed to air. Apart from germicidal properties, this ozone neutralises any volatile organic compound (VOC), which is any smell generated from an organic source, like vegetables, tobacco smoke, rotting flesh, urine, fresh flowers, etc. A chemical reaction between an acid and a base, produces salt and water. Similarly a chemical reaction between ozone and a VOC produces carbon dioxide and water (vapour). Depending on the glass used to make the UV bulb inside it, the machine can be used for air purification or odour removing purposes.”
When switched on in toilets, both the odour and ozone are being simultaneously produced and keep neutralising each other. So the toilets will smell fresh even in the absence of any ventilation. The small range (6W) one works for a small toilet with up to seven people using it every hour, while the 21W model can suffice for up to 50 people an hour, within a 300 sq ft area. Interestingly, the purifier works best in places with less ventilation. “A human nose can smell ozone, above 20 parts per billion (PPB). At this concentration, it gives a feeling of fresh air, normally experienced on hilltops. So for efficient working, ozone should be allowed to build up in the room. This also reduces the expenditure on ventilation mechanisms like an exhaust fan,” says Kulkarni.
The thought of such a machine crossed Kulkarni’s mind during a company meeting. “We were aware that our UV lamps were used in water purifiers for their germicidal qualities. I realised that their germicidal action could also be used to purify air, since both are fluids by nature. We worked on it for two years and finally came up with this design,” he says, adding that they have been granted two patents for the application, while one is pending. It has sold 150 units in the last six months under a test marketing exercise to multiplexes, corporates and public toilets in Pune. Deepak Kapre, sales and marketing manager said that though the purifier could be used in a variety of applications like hospitals, food processing units, and meat and poultry farms, Arklite will primarily target the toilet segment. The company now plans to make larger models for industrial use.