Govt school students from remote area develop gas saving kit

Udupi: Two

class X students

from the

Charamakki Narayana Shetty Memorial Government High School

,

Albadi Ardi

,

Kundapur

, have developed a

gas saving kit

(GSK) for use in the kitchen. The project has secured fourth place in the

CSIR Innovation Award for School Children-2021

and is the only one from the state to feature among the top 14 projects.

Anusha and Rakshitha Naik, who developed this kit, said that the kit will help in saving tonnes of LPG. “My mother is particular that there is no wastage when using the gas stove. This forced me to think of measures to save gas,” Anusha said.

Explaining about the project, she said, “GSK is placed on the gas burner and the vessel used for cooking is placed on it. GSK is made up of a metal frame, and has copper coils so that water can easily flow through it. This coil has two ends. One end is connected to an ordinary tap, and when the water passes through the coil, hot water can be collected in the bucket and used for bathing, as food is being cooked. The kit costs about Rs 625 to produce, and is economical, as it can save electricity bills and investment on geysers. In areas that receive heavy rain, solar heaters do not work. Our assessment showed that by running the gas for about 10 minutes, we can get about 13 litres of hot water for bathing, by using the GSK.”

The school is located in a remote area in the district. The project has been developed with the help of headmaster Shekhar Shettigar and science teacher Vyshali Rao G C has been the project guide. English teacher Shrikanth Nayak and physical education teacher Premanath Tholar helped the students to gather the materials to make the GSK. Maths teachers Ramesh R and Sumalatha helped the students with mathematical calculations of the copper tubes, diameter, water flow and other parameters, and social science teacher Suresh Marakal Saibarakatte played an important role in designing and welding works. Teachers including Uday Shetty, Malini K R and Malathi, and clerk Jyothsna guided the students in the documentation of the project.

“The kit has been tested practically both in the school and in my house. We are working towards obtaining a patent for the kit, and the GSK is being fine-tuned,” said Suresh Marakal Saibarakatte.