Problem

 Ventilators are very important equipments in an indoor environment. They help us stay cool, warm and breathe filtered air. But the very device we relay up on to keep us safe from air bourn pandemic have become the major liability because indoor air filtration system before filtering the air will help the virus move from one place to another on the process of air circulation. In an indoor café, restaurant, school or office, people sit in rows and columns separated by desks or tables. If one person sitting on the last bench has the COVID-19 virus and the air filtration inlet is on the other side of the person infected with the COVID19, the ventilation system will make the COVID-19 virus found on the exhaled air of the infected person travel all over the room because of the inevitable circulation characteristics of the system. This problem has been found and reported in many indoors in many countries of the world during this short period of time. 

Solution

I have built new kind of ventilation system for indoor that prevents transmission of COVID through air circulation due to ventilation equipments that help us stay cool. This is done by separating the circulation process of air filtration by taking out exhaled air through different path from the path it originally came after it is filtered by using multiple small suction hoses or pipes installed at different positions which will prevent the exhaled air travel from one side of the room to another spreading the COVID virus before it is filtered in ventilation system. We install one suction pipe in each desk or table in gathering indoor places like café, restaurant, school and office. Each suction pipes are connected to each other to be directed in to a header. The header will be connected to an exhaust fan which will be connected to the room air filtration system. When a person sitting in a specific table breaths out, the exhaled air will be sucked into the suction pipe on that specific table preventing any chance of infection to the person sitting on the next table who is in the way of the air circulation path to the ventilation equipment.      

When one or multiple desks or tables with installed suction hose or pipe are not being used because no one is sitting in that spot, there is a valve that closes the pipe or hose opening. This will save power consumption and it will increase the suction capacity of the other tables because the closed pipes will be vacuumed.   

 

Market

The main targeted markets for this product are all places where people gather for long period of time for work and/ or recreation. These include the following places but not limited to;

The market targets of this project listed above are very important for the economic survival and fulfillment of the basic need of a society. The impacts on the society due to the collapse of these industries have been seen in the recent COVID-19 crisis. According to resources "The International Monetary Fund has scaled back its estimate of the hit to the global economy from Covid-19 this year but warned that the final bill for the pandemic would total $28tn (£21.5tn) in lost output.  Gita Gopinath, the IMF’s economic counsellor, described coronavirus as the worst crisis since the Great Depression, and said the pandemic would leave deep and enduring scars caused by job losses, weaker investment and children being deprived of education." This lose are results of the summation of lose of the above listed industries.

Prior arts

There have been some developments for controlling the spread of airborne pandemic COVID-19 in indoors but as we have seen from the up to date crisis none of the solutions have managed to be successful and even for some technologies like the ventilation systems they have become major liability of getting infected than becoming a solution. Meaning room ventilator manufacturing companies have managed to come up with a product that can filter air up to 99 percent but prior filtration the room ventilators spread the COVID-19 virus trough air circulation caused by the fans of the ventilation system. This implies that it will worsen the problem rather than solve it because without the high air circulation current at least the virus will not get a pushing force to travel from one spot to another. This project will provide an efficient way to solve this problem by small modification of air filtration system of an indoor place by separating the route of the incoming filtered air for inhaling from the exit path of the exhaled air to be filtered or for discharging in to the outdoor. This is very innovative because this mechanism is first in its core idea and working mechanism that no place in the world has come up with. This mechanism will change the indoor air filtration and room ventilation system worldwide and create many new possibilities. 

Technology

The working mechanism of this product follows existing science because this new ventilation system is very simple in its core design, has components we use day to day, very cheap to implement, has valid scientific approach to connect the components of the mechanism to work for intended purpose and can be implemented at immediate capacity.

We install one suction pipe in each desk or table in gathering indoor places like café, restaurant, school and office. Each suction pipes are connected to each other to be directed in to a header. The header will be connected to an exhaust fan which will be connected to the room air filtration system or discharge it to the outdoor. At tip of each pipe on the table or desk there is one installed valve that is used for closing the opening of the pipe or the hose when the mechanism is not being used because no one is sitting on that specific table. This is very important for saving power consumption and closing one or more air inlet pipe valve will increase the suction capacity of the others because vacuum is created on the closed pipe.    

Impact

This project has huge impact for the halt and/ or slowing future disease outbreaks transmitted trough air. This is because it breaks the transmission means in crowded indoor places where peoples cannot keep their distance apart by making sure the exhaled air of a certain person sitting on a specific spot will not be inhaled by a person sitting next to the spot before the air is filtered. This is very important because even if there is airborne diseases outbreak worse than the COVID-19, the transmission will be significantly controlled big time.  

Transformability of the project

This invention has an impact beyond solving the transmission path of COVID-19 or any pandemics that will occur in the future. In full capacity of Anteneh's Ventilation against COVID-19 mechanism, recreational places like restaurants, cafes, bars, clubs and other places people who smoke tobacco products will enable to enjoy without any restrictions because the suction in each table will prevent the smoke coming from the tobacco products from going to the next table preventing second hand smoke which will harm health. In another case at it's maximum capacity people in recreational places will not have to feel ashamed when they fart because the smell will be sucked at each table preventing the gas from going to the next table. This will transform the ventilation system in to another level.