DRDO imports zeolite to make oxygen for Covid-hit.
Two Air India cargo plane have landed in Bengaluru with 34,200kg of zeolite imported by the Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) to make medical oxygen for treating Covid sufferers, an official mentioned on Sunday.
“The two aircraft carrying zeolite from Rome arrived as the first consignment of the key component,” a DRDO official instructed IANS.
Zeolites are ‘molecular sieves’ comprising silicon, aluminium, and oxygen amongst others and are used as a uncooked materials to make industrial and medical oxygen.
“The component will be used to make medical oxygen at Tata Advance Systems Ltd plant at Malur in Kolar, with the technology developed and transferred by DRDO,” mentioned the official, who didn’t need to be recognized.
“Zeolite will be used as a molecular sieve in making purified oxygen in the plant, which adopts pressure swing adsorption technology developed by the DRDO,” mentioned the official.
More consignments of the uncooked materials are scheduled to land on the metropolis airport this week from Italy and South Korea to generate oxygen, whose demand shot up exponentially for treating Covid sufferers amid the pandemic’s second wave.
“The technology has been transferred to 5-6 companies for making medical oxygen on priority to meet the growing demand,” added the official.
DRDO developed the expertise to generate oxygen onboard its fighter plane Tejas, which has been inducted by the Indian Air Force.
