This start-up transforms particles into ink

Turning the particles of a diesel engine into ink is a bold gamble. At only 24 years of age, Kushagra Srivastava launched his start-up, and the initial results are absolutely conclusive. Its concept consists of applying an innovative filter to highly polluting diesel generators to destroy particles... in order to produce ink. Inspired by "traditional" Diesel Particle Filters, the young man is evolving alone on a very buoyant segment. What if this ingenious system were to become widespread on diesel cars?

An advanced DPF

In just a few months, the start-up Chakr Innovations has faithfully kept its promises and commitments. 70 DPFs for diesel generators have already been installed. These operate otherwise from the DPFs found on a diesel vehicle. First of all, they are important devices used outdoors on the exhaust of large generators. There is no sieve inside these filters because the particles cool down before coagulating by a thermophoresis principle and expanding. To such a degree, they become larger and are sucked through a succession of labyrinths, bathed in a solvent. The result is a liquid that can be easily transformed into ink. The air coming out of the filter is therefore much cleaner since 70 to 90% of the particles are neutralized.

A growing success

Two fundraisers followed, for an undisclosed amount. According to Kushagra Srivastava, CEO of this young innovative company, the market is estimated at more than 200 million tons, for a total amount of more than 730 million euros. Dell has notably acquired the ink emitted by these filters although the demand is 100 times higher than the current production.

On the other hand, the young boss does not envisage an application for the automotive industry. Therefore, it's not tomorrow that the DPF of your Audi A3 TDI will recharge your pens! According to him, the automobile would not be of major interest because of its obsolescence, which he estimates at around ten years. This applies to internal combustion vehicles. On the other hand, Srivastava's idea goes beyond the Indian borders since several businesses have started, in turn, to develop this similar type of process which is certainly expensive since the target audience is exclusively made up of companies.

Do you want to know if your Catalytic Converter is Bad ? Do you want to know if your DPF is clogged ?