Kaalink - Air ink

AIR-INK is a brand of ink and ink-based art products made by condensing soot-based gaseous effluents generated by air pollution due to incomplete combustion of fossil fuels. Founded by Graviky Labs,

1. kaalink By Ganji Gopinath Rule out pollution

2. Particulate matter (PM) FACTS The term fine particles, or particulate matter 2.5 (PM 2.5 ), refers to tiny particles or droplets in the air that are two and one half microns or less in width. There are about 25,000 microns in an inch. The widths of the larger particles in the PM 2.5  size range would be about thirty times smaller than that of a human hair. Soot includes the fine black particles, chiefly composed of carbon produced by incomplete combustion of fossil fuels. The soot particles are extremely tiny – 2.5 micrometers or smaller in diameter; this is smaller than dust or mold. Soot is about 1/30 the diameter of a human hair. It can travel deep into our lungs, where it can cause serious harm.

3. Impact on life expectancy

4. The ingredients of air pollution Particulate matter (PM) Hydrocarbons (HC ) Nitrogen oxides (NOx) . Carbon monoxide (CO) Sulfur dioxide (SO2). 

5. WHAT IS KAALINK KAALINK is a post tailpipe retrofit. It’s a mechatronic system which consists of filters, sensors, and a capture unit. capture technique is a fusion of electrostatic filtration, depth filtration, wall flow filtration, etc. The filtration technologies are pipelined with each other to achieve the desired filtration granularity. The system is under rigorous testing process right now, and is installed on diesel generators and automobiles, that produce fossil fuel emissions.

6. ELETROSTATIC PRECIPITATION OR FILTRATION An electrostatic precipitator (ESP) is an device that removes dust particles from a flowing gas (such as air) using the force of an induced electrostatic attraction i,e like charges repel; unlike charges attract Electrostatic precipitators are highly efficient filtration devices that allow the flow of gases through the device, and can easily remove fine particulate matter such as dust and smoke from the air stream.

7. A Depth Filter is a filter consisting of either multiple layers or a single layer of a medium having depth, which captures contaminants within its structure, as opposed to on the surface. Depth filters typically have nominal pore size ratings. depth filter

8. The captured pollution contains toxic impurities like re-entrant dust, heavy metals, oils, etc. This is purified by proprietary chemical processes beginning with gravity based separation for high-mass particles, and catalysed activation. Finally the recovered soot is taken through a grinding process to bring to a consistent particle size, as good as an ink pigment What goes where The generated waste during the process are mainly of type A4, B1 and B2 according to the MoEFCC. We use the services of a leading waste management company to sort and recycle them accordingly.

9. WHY MAKE INKS? WHY NOT JUST BURY THE CAPTURED POLLUTION? The particulate matter derives its carcinogenic properties from its ability float in air and thus being able to enter into our respiratory system and settling in lungs.  By binding the captured pollution into inks, we are able to take away its ability to float in air. Storing in earth leads to soil pollution in coming generations “Pollution is nothing but the resources we are not harvesting. We allow them to disperse because we’ve been ignorant of their value.” ​ Buckminster Fuller,

10. KAALINK is used to capture particulate matter emitted from pollution sources. This happens without considerable backpressure on the exhaust How is it made

11. Pollution collected by KAALINK undergoes various proprietary processes to remove heavy metals and carcinogens. The end product is purified carbon based pigment. 

12. During the final stage, the carbon is taken through another chemical process to make different types of inks and paints. 

13. removal of heavy metals; dealing with carcinogens; and then optimizing product mix for development of variety of inks and paints. 

14. Interdisciplinary researcher, MIT Media Lab, augmented reality Anirudh sharma founder of GRAVIKY LABS, Bangalore