A spin-off from a critical technology that would aid future pilots of Indian Air Force (IAF) flying the Light Combat Aircraft (LCA) Tejas with non-stop supply of oxygen while undertaking long-endurance missions is now being offered to hospitals combating coronavirus.
This product to fly out from the hangars of Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) is in the form of a Medical Oxygen Plant (MOP), is an offshoot technology from the Onboard Oxygen (OBOX) generation system being developed for Tejas.
The MOP technology is developed by Defence Bioengineering and Electromedical Laboratory (DEBEL), a life sciences wing of DRDO situated in Bengaluru’s C V Raman Nagar.
MOP utilizes pressure swing adsorption (PSA) technique and molecular sieve technology to generate oxygen directly from atmospheric air.
The OBOX technology for Tejas being developed by DEBEL has been approved by the Centre for Military Airworthiness and Certification (CEMILAC), an agency mandated to certify the products.
Sources in DRDO confirm to Onmanorama that the oxygen generator components have been developed by DEBEL and the technology has been transferred to a Coimbatore-based firm.
“This plant will be useful to provide oxygen supply during corona pandemic in hospitals in urban and rural areas. The installation of MOP helps in avoiding hospital’s dependency of scarce oxygen cylinders,” says a DRDO official monitoring the work.
Ever since the coronavirus outbreak, the scientists at DEBEL have been working developing various products for the healthcare sector.
Masks and sanitizers developed by the lab have already been distributed in bulk, while work on affordable ventilators has reached advanced stages of completion.
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