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EDD presentation 2011-2012
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May 23, 2012
Engineering Design
Development
WELCOME
Gantt Chart/ Timeline
Alternative to scraping windshields of cars in the mornings of the
winter season.
Store and keep leftovers cool after
lunch
Provide a method to keep lunch at
workplaces safe and away from thieving
hands
Keeping liquids in car cool during travel and
after travel
Provide a way to close windows that are open during rain
causing water to come into home/car
Headphones getting tangled during sleep
The Brainstorming
NARROWED DOWN TO TWO PROBLEMS:
Store and keep leftovers cool after
lunch
Provide a method to keep lunch at
workplaces safe and away from thieving
hands
So as any good engineering project and salesmen, we
decided to ask the students of Norwalk High School what
they wanted in the form of a survey.
EngineeringSurvey.pdf
RESULTS
361 People SurveyedSkip Logic Surveys
DIFFERENT LOOK AT SURVEY:The results we received told us
that not many people were interested so we begin to look at
the survey from another perspective and this is what we
found:
OUR PROBLEM HAD CHANGED DUE TO UNEXPECTED RESULTS
SOON…
WE BEGAN TO CONTEMPLATE THE IDEA OF ALTERNATIVE
ENERGY SOURCES
THE QUESTION BECAME: WHAT IS A READILY
AVAILABLE SUBSTANCE THAT COULD BE USED AS AN ALTERNATIVE ENERGY
SOURCE?
ORGANIC WASTE
The Future:Alternative Energy
The food waste found in cafeterias could be processed
using different methods to harvest its potential energy allowing for a solution
to the world’s problem of the depletion of natural resources.
+=
SIMPLE MATH
EXPERIMENT:FOOD COLLECTION
Procedure: Collect trays from students during lunch and separate food waste
from non-organic waste (Bottles, plastic, etc.) for three days and at the
end of each day weigh trash cans full of the separated organic waste to see
what amount had been thrown away
EXPERIMENT RESULTS:
Day 1: 99.7 Lbs.Day 2: 102.3 Lbs.Day 3: 101.1 Lbs.Total: 303.1 Lbs.
THAT’S OVER 18,000 POUNDS OF FOOD IN A SCHOOL YEAR!!
How we proceededWe began to look outside the school for help on our project • Dr. Dong Shik Kim
• Chemical Engineer• PHD• Researcher
Penn State
University of Toledo
YouTube • Bruce E. Logan• Chemical Engineer• PHD• Researcher• Federal Grants
Keego Tech:FuelCellTechnology
DR. DONG SHIK KIM
• Many different contacts in the chemical engineering field
• Dr. Kim jumped on board to help us with our project.
• Series of emails sent back and forth
• Skype conferencing
• Visit to the University of Toledo • Many different approaches to organic waste and turning it into energy
Visit To University of Toledo
December 23, 2011
Nitschke Hall: Location of Chemical and Environmental Engineering Building
Tour of the Laboratory
Variety of new ideas on how to use organic
waste
Anaerobic Digesters• $10,000 • Methane Gas• Blending Food
Drying Process• Cheap, affordable• Burn dried food patties • Blending food
Organic Fuel Cells• Cathode • Anode• Direct Electricity• Microbes
Continued
The Path We Decided To Pursue
• Relatively new technology
• MFC (Microbial Fuel Cells)
• Simple, cost effective
• Efficient, easy to manipulate variables
• Able to operate in our setting
GENERAL PRINCIPLES OF MICROBIAL FUEL CELLS
A microbial fuel cell (MFC) converts chemical energy, available in a bio-convertible substrate, directly into electricity
A MFC consists of an anode, a cathode, a proton or cation exchange membrane and an electrical circuit.
Bacteria are very small organisms which can convert a huge variety of organic compounds into CO2, water and energy.
TAKING A LOOK BACK
ACQUIRING A MFC
Appealing to the science teachers of Norwalk High School, we persuaded the teachers to
help convince Mr. Cooley in order to purchase a Microbial Fuel Cell from the
manufacturer, KeegoTech.
Affordable MFC from KeegoTech We made contact with KeegoTech and we got a MFC donated for free.
THE MUDWATT Complete MudWatt MFC:
- MudWatt ANODE- MudWatt CATHODE
- MudWatt VESSEL- MudWatt HACKER
˖ 1 Pair of Nitrile Gloves
HOW THE MUDWATT WORKS• Nutrients in the soil provide the
fuel for the bacteria’s metabolic processes.
• Colonies of bacteria develop on the anode, and transfer electrons to the anode during their metabolic processes.
• Electrons flow through the wire, power the load, then flow into the cathode.
• Oxygen in the cathode combines with protons from the anaerobic reactions in the soil and the electrons to form water.
Soil that has been enriched with nutrients could enhance the performance of a microbial fuel cell. The cafeteria food mixed with the mud should make the
MFC reaction occur faster and better than using regular mud without any food mixed in.
HYPOTHESIS
RED: MudWatt with
Mud
Green: MudWatt with
Food
SETTING UP THE FIRST MUDWATT (MUD)
Mud from a corn field
Mud PH: Basic/Not Acidic
Cookie Dough Consistency
Control Group
No change in material that is needed to make this work
Independent Variable: Mud
Dependent Variable: Power output
Setting up the Second MudWatt (Food)
Cafeteria food: Pizza Stick and Pizza ground up
Some mud from the same corn field
Cookie dough consistency
Food mixed with mud PH: Basic/Not Acidic
Independent Variable: Solid cafeteria food mixed with mud
Dependent Variable: Power output
THE RESULTS (MFC MUD)
Voltage
Dates
THE RESULTS (FOOD)
ERROR ANALYSIS • Undecomposed food waste became the substrate for fungi that was
present in the soil.
• The fungal colonies overtook the MFC and prevented it from functioning properly by starving the cathode of oxygen and by covering the anode, preventing the bacterial colonies from developing.
• If the food was broken down into its simple sugar molecules, the bacteria would be able to metabolize it easier, and the fungi would be less likely to grow in the MFC. • A process such as composting may be useful for breaking food waste
down in to simpler molecules for use in the MFC.
OUR CONCLUSIONDue to the unaccounted fungal growth, the
cafeteria food mixed with the mud did not make the MFC reaction occur faster and better than using
regular mud without any food mixed in.
MFC with Mud MFC with Food
FUTURE ENDEAVORS • With more knowledge and money, we would like to see this project
continued.
• Investigate how to operate microbial fuel cells on a larger scale.
• Study how this technology could be implemented in various situations.
• Study how different species of bacteria could influence fuel cell efficiency
• Conduct more research on which “fuels” work best.
This is a promising technology, and we, along with many other researchers and scientists, hope to see this technology developed in coming years.
Dr. Dong Shik Kim
KeegoTech
Mrs. Deanna Lund
and the Audience
Mr. Adam Leutenegger
TLC and Mr. Lee
Kwik surveys
SPECIAL THANKS
Science Department Teachers
Mr. Brad Cooley
The Conversion to Electricity
The protons flow through the proton or cation exchange membrane to the cathode.At the cathode, an electron acceptor is chemically reduced. Idealy, oxygen is reduced to water. To obtain a sufficient oxygen reduction reaction (ORR) rate a Platina-catalyst has to be used.
The bacteria live in the anode and convert a nutrient-rich substrate into CO2, protons and electrons.
Under aerobic conditions, bacteria use oxygen or nitrate as a final electron acceptor to produce water. However, in the anode of a MFC, no oxygen is present and bacteria need to switch from their natural electron acceptor to an insoluble acceptor, such as the MFC anode.
Due to the ability of bacteria to transfer electrons to an insoluble electron acceptor, we can use a MFC to collect the electrons originating from the microbial metabolism. The electron transfer can occur either via membrane-associated components, soluble electron shuttles or nano-wires.
The electrons then flow through an electrical circuit with a load or a resistor to the cathode. The potential difference (Volt) between the anode and the cathode, together with the flow of electrons (Ampere) results in the generation of electrical power (Watt).