IIT students invent cooling tank, an alternative to air conditioner

Now, install cooling tank, the latest innovation by IIT students, in your house and beat the heat during the summer.

Kolkata, May 20: Unlike this year, next summer you might junk your beloved air conditioner and install a cooling tank in your house to beat the heat.

The latest innovation--cooling tank-- by two students of the premier Indian Institute of Technology, Kharagpur, might make ACs, coolers and fans almost redundant in the future.

The cooling tank, a part of an alternative future, will help reduce carbon production and save electricity consumption, say the brains behind the latest innovation. The students' innovation is basically a water tank inserted into walls that could potentially substitute ACs and lead to a 50 per cent reduction in cooling cost.

In fact, the concept is India's entry in the five finalists of Shell Ideas360 audience choice awards.

The team Takniquee, comprising Sahashranshu Maurya and Somrup Chakraborty of Department of Geology and Geophysics, at the institute has proposed a cooling system called passive solar water wall which revolves around a rectangular water tank fitted into a wall.

"This ties with future city concept. The water tank is different from conventional tanks as it has a very high surface area so maximum air can interact with the tank walls and get cooled. It could be an alternative to air conditioners in the future," Maurya told IANS.

Maurya said ACs contribute to about 35 per cent of total household electricity consumption and produces 1.5 tonnes of carbon every year.

The water is heated and passively circulated keeping the inner wall relatively cool, reducing the air temperature and the need for air cooling systems, Maurya said in the pitch for the awards open to voting by audiences.

"For a basic set up, an initial investment would be about a lakh of rupees. The design would evolve depending on the architecture," he said.

"A large number of ACs contribute to the increase in local urban temperatures. The efficiency of the ACs depend upon the temperature difference they are trying to maintain. They are creating the very problem they are trying to solve. Also consider the scenario that the global average temperature is increasing. The number of Acs in the market is going to sore. Is that the real solution?" the team posed in their pitch.

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