Research and calibration of the stopping mechanism in the Chem-E-Car competition through electrochemical means : a case study
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Date
2024-10-10
Authors
Σούλου, Αγγελική
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Abstract
This diploma thesis focuses on the participation of the Lamborgenius team in the 2022 Chem-E-Car competition. The competition, organized by AIChE, challenges Chemical Engineering students to build a small vehicle with the sole utilization of chemical reactions as starting and stopping mechanisms and the goal of traversing a given distance with the smallest deviance possible.
The focal point is the design and the research process behind the construction of the vehicle in order to meet the requirements of the competition. The car was powered by an environmentally friendly system of Zinc-air batteries, chosen for their consistency and sustainability. The stopping mechanism was based on the iodine clock reaction, a color-changing reaction. Three-dimensional components designed by the team were used for the battery cells, gears and protective guards.
Under the transparent glass container of the solution of the color changing reaction, there is a photoresistor and around the glass inside its base in the pipe, there is a LED light. In this way, when the solution is colorless, the light from the LED spreads and is detectable from the photoresistor, but after it acquires the dark blue color, the light cannot be transmitted and is undetectable from the photoresistor, which signals the Arduino to interrupt the feed. The feed is the motor that is powered by the Zinc-air batteries.
The team should ensure that the vehicle could traverse a distance of thirty meters within a 120-second limit. During the calibration, it was indicated that the reaction was dependent on the temperature, the existence of stirrer, and the amount of certain of its solutions’ ingredients. Moreover, different forms of the reaction were also examined to decide on the most effective. The ultimate purpose behind these multiple calibrations was the assessment of the iodine clock reaction's behavior for better predictions of its color-changing time.
Error analysis highlighted the significance of the factors that affected the reaction’s comport, while simultaneously providing the team with an amount of certainty about the expected performance of the vehicle. This was achieved with the calculation of the percentages of deviance and the biggest and the average expected errors for the biggest and smallest period of time.
Some potential applications of clock reactions are also being discussed. More specifically, the role of clock reactions in colloidal and gel systems is presented as an already explored and interesting idea. Moreover, it is also a competition that promotes sustainability, and this project could also be implemented on a large scale in the future.
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Keywords
Chem-E-Car, Calibration, Stopping mechanism, Iodine clock reaction, Zinc-air batteries, Metal-air battery, Theory of errors