Smart Cities Beat The Heat Through Smart Cooling System

Smart cities have smart solutions. In a bid to provide relief from the simmering heat to motorists and commuters, the Andhra Pradesh government has introduced mist spraying machines that release water from pipes having high pressure to cool down the atmosphere.

As the machines employ flash evaporation technique, the water released as minute droplets from the pipes would get evaporated instantly absorbing the heat from the surrounding atmosphere, thereby reducing the temperature 3-5 degree centigrade.

The machines are now plying the thoroughfares and busy junctions in Vijayawada and Vizag, giving the much-needed relief from the sweltering summer.

Vijayawada is known as the “Oven of Andhra Pradesh” due to its intense summer heat, often exceeding 44 degree Centigrade. The city experiences a tropical climate with scorching, humid conditions from April to June. In such sultry atmosphere, these machines are effectively cooling down the temperature and providing succor to the commuters.

The water, released as mist, is also retaining the greenery by preventing plants at medians and avenue trees alongside the road stretches from drying up in the intense heat. The water released from high pressure forms a humidity chamber providing the cooling effect. In addition, the mist spraying machines are also being employed on dusty roads to avoid dust from rising into the air, causing inconvenience to the commuters.

As part of pilot project, these machines are deployed at MG Road and Benz Circle in Vijayawada and on the Beach Road in Vizag, along with bus and railway stations where huge crowds are witnessed almost throughout the day. If implementation of the project gives successful results, more mist machines would be deployed in the pilgrimage town of Tirupati, Nellore, Guntur and Rajahmundry which also experience simmering heat during summer.

Under the direction of the Chief Minister, the officials are also planning to install the mist pipes at busy junctions, which would be under the control of a central system, so as to automatically get activated whenever the atmospheric temperature crosses a certain threshold.

In the evenings, the mist is enhancing the beauty of colourfully illuminated roads, making people enjoy the landscape matching those in foreign countries.