AIR-INK™ |
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In the last few decades, Asia has grown exponentially. But this growth has come at a cost - air pollution. AIR-INK is the first ink made entirely out of air pollution. After capturing air-pollution through pilot trials of KAALINK™ we've repurposed pollutants into tools for art. Whenever the inks or markers are used to draw, write, paint or create, they’re literally making our streets more beautiful. Thank you for making our Kickstarter a great success. After all,
“Pollution is nothing but the resources we are not harvesting. We allow them to disperse because we’ve been ignorant of their value.” ~ R. Buckminster Fuller We have successfully formulated tested and piloted AIR INK™ over the last 3 years. We have just launched a preview store to share what we have with those who share interest in art, science, recycling, and environment.
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0.7MM ROUND TIP
Fine point marker for everyday creativity. Approx. 40 minutes of diesel car pollution |
2MM ROUND TIP
Perfect for shading and small detail. Approx. 50 minutes of diesel car pollution. |
15MM CHISEL TIP
Thick lines, smooth strokes, great feel. Approx. 130 minutes of diesel car pollution. |
50MM WIDE TIP
Made extra wide for murals and large-scale pieces. Approx. 130 minutes of diesel car pollution. |
Why?
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Over the last 150 years, mankind has depended on burning fossil fuels directly or indirectly for their energy needs. Soot is the major byproduct of the burning of fossil fuels. Research has shown that many premature deaths are directly related to soot in the environment. Particle exposure leads to around 20,000 premature deaths in America each year. Data also shows that soot annually causes almost 300,000 asthma attacks and 2 million lost workdays due to respiratory problems.
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Our vision is to arrest the urban PM air pollution in a way that it doesn’t reach our lungs. The process of creating AIR INK™ carefully detoxifies heavy metals and particle carcinogens from the soot or carbon.
The pollutants which could have been in the lungs of millions of people are now beautifully resting as art. |
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How it's made
We use our proprietary technology, KAALINK to capture particulate matter emitted from direct and ambient sources. This happens without considerable backpressure.
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Pollution collected by KAALINK undergoes various proprietary processes to remove heavy metals and carcinogens. The end product is purified carbon based pigment.
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During the final stage, the carbon is taken through another chemical process to make different types of inks and paints.
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removal of heavy metals; dealing with carcinogens; and then optimizing product mix for development of variety of inks and paints.
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So What’s the deal? You capture air pollution, and make inks, or both? Why?
Air Pollution has been one of the most conspicuous of all the problems we face today. If not captured it causes health problems, global warming, haze- billions of dollars worth of losses to governments. We capture pollution and then we turn it into Inks. Fossil fuel based air pollution is rich in carbonaceous particulate matter. Hence, the idea is to confine and bind that captured pollution into high grade inks that everyone can use and express themselves with through art or writing.
“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
“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
How do you capture pollution?
KAALINK is a post tailpipe retrofit. It’s a mechatronic system which consists of filters, sensors, and a capture unit. Our 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.
How to you purify captured pollution?
The captured pollution contains toxic impurities like re-entrant dust, heavy metals, oils, VOCs etc. This is purified by proprietary chemical processes beginning with gravity based separation for high-mass particles, to comminution 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. Our inks are certified safe by two independent international testing labs.
How is AIR-INK better than regular black ink?
The process of making Air Ink not only eliminates soot from polluting the air, but it also doesn’t burn extra fossil fuels that making regular ink does.
What do you do with the heavy metals, etc separated from carbon during purification process?
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.
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.
Are these inks harmful?
No, AIR-INK is as safe as any other ink available in the market. However, Graviky is yet to test and declare it safe for children below 6 years of age. And, our inks are not edible, no! :)
Will you be releasing further technical details on the process?
We are a PCT patent-pending technology. Papers with details on our testing and results will be submitted to SAE, and other journals for publishing and made public. We also conduct workshops internationally on pollution capture and recycling to popularize this concept.