Hands-free sanitiser units in production

Augetto Graig

Advanced Biotech is the name chosen for this entrepreneurial start-up, ventured into by the Beukes brothers - serial entrepreneur Sylvanie and his production-line foreman older brother Sidney.

They are on a mission to “totally control the epidemic”, Sylvanie says, having been inspired into action by the outbreak of Covid-19 in Namibia. “This is innovation out of necessity,” he said.

“We started with this innovation under lockdown so we had to think out of the box to create these units. We are creating a system that does not exist with a 12-volt DC pump working with a 22-volt AC sensor via charge control,” he says. Putting things together cleverly is intellectual property, he says

Now employing around 10 people, the workshop is alive with the assembly of their automated sanitiser stations and prototype specialised installations.

The company is filling orders for 15 of the big hands-free unit sanitising systems consisting of a block-shaped passage, which when approached alerts the sensor and activates a burst of vaporised sanitiser as a person passes through. They also have orders for eight of the smaller hands-free sanitiser dispensers, according to Sylvanie.

He is eager to talk about their latest innovation for mobile battery powered units with built-in solar and grid-charging capabilities. That version is suited for emergency deployment or for a gathering away from the office. It is still in ‘proof of concept’ development, he says.

All the devices use Namibia Standards Institution (NSI) approved 70% alcohol-based sanitiser. The vaporising of the sanitiser liquid into a fine mist that does not wet the person being disinfected is the biggest challenge, according to Sylvanie. The liquid moves from the tank to full capacity in three to five seconds, the pipes and nozzles convert to a sprinkler system at three-bar pressure tolerance and squeezes the liquid forced through at five-bar pressure, creating the sudden spray of sanitiser vapour. The sensor of the walk-through units is set to allow six to 12 seconds for a person to pass through, and can activate the system or operate continuously, allowing many people to by sanitised. The system only works on demand, he explained. They also come with wheelchair ramps, he said.

According to Sylvanie the units are built to last and can be stationed at entry point with only the occasional need to replenish the sanitiser. The pump has a lifecycle of around five years, he says, and the company does provide a warrantee on their products. “I am encouraging Namibians to have faith in their own and reminding them that we do with what we have,” he said.