KKEK ChemEcar competition

Mg-Cu Driving Mechanism with Mg-HCl Stopping Mechanism in ChemEcar Competition

Heng Joe Shen Department of Chemical Engineering, Faculty of Engineering, University of Malaya, 50603 Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia

Abstract
Chem-E-car competition challenges student teams from institutions of higher learning locally and abroad to create and construct a shoebox-sized car powered by a chemical reaction or fuel cell. This event is organized by the Institution of Engineers of Malaysia (IEM) and hosted by different university annually. The car must be able to carry a certain load of water and stop within 2 minutes at a specified distance. The competition comprises of 2 sessions (poser presentation and model car competition) and the winners are the teams that ended nearest to the designated line. In this article, one of the possible driving and stopping mechanism is being tested and run for few times. The chosen driving mechanism is a voltaic cell comprises of magnesium stripe in magnesium sulphate solution (MgSO4), copper rod in copper sulphate solution (CuSO4), connected externally through copper wire and whisking tube acts as the porous pot. The highest voltage achieved is 12 V with electromotive force of +2.71V. The chosen stopping mechanism is corrosion of magnesium stripe by hydrochloric acid that breaks the circuit. By varying the concentration of hydrochloric acid, the model car managed to reach different designated distance. Assuming the power of the voltaic cell remains constant, multiple calibration graphs are plotted. Keywords: ChemEcar, magnesium-copper cell, hydrochloric acid, model car.

1. INTRODUCTION
Rules Eligibility Model car Load container Distance and load Scores Time allocation : All undergraduates (public and private universities) including diploma students but no inter-varsity team is allowed. : Must fit into 40 cm x 30 cm x 18 cm shoe box. : Must be able to carry 500mL of water : Between 15-25m +0.005m and 0-500mL of distil water : Distance from ending line for within bound and distance plus 3.00m for out of bound. Will be disqualified for more than 30.00m from starting line. : Introduce their entry to audience (university name and briefly mention the propulsion system) and 1 minute to reach the ending line. Must be ready 5 minutes before the round started. No. of opportunities Winner PPE MSDS Prohibition Model car Stopping mechanism Power source Chemicals Complaint Prizes Model car : 1st RM3000 + certificate + trophy 2nd RM2000 + certificate 3rd RM1000 + certificate Poster presentation : 1st RM500 + certificate 2nd RM300 + certificate 3rd RM200 + certificate Special award : RM500 + certificate : No remote control or mechanical starting : No mechanical force including stop switch using liquid draining out of a vessel. Only chemical reactions such as colour changes are allowed. : No leakage, flame/any smoke and pressurized container, : No corrosive/hazardous chemicals and no open/improperly secured containers. All chemical waste must be disposed accordingly. : Deposit of RM200 within 1 hour of the incident. : 2 opportunities to complete the course in 2 different rounds. Each round will have different distance and load being set. : Team with lowest score and required 70% in the poster presentation. For special prize, the winner will be the one with lowest average error. : Must wear lab coat, shoes, safety goggles and other required items. : All MSDS of chemicals must be prepared.

Poster presentation will be evaluated according to 5 different categories: Description of chemical reaction, design creativity/unique features, environmental/safety, economic aspect and quality of presentation.

2. LITERATURE REVIEW
List of possible combination for a model car is studied thoroughly. Model car Motor Driving mechanism : Voltage varied from 6-12 V at different sizes and different tyre size : Run on DC current : Only primary battery cell is studies in details here [1]. i. Voltaic cell of copper and magnesium. Theoretical EMF achieved is +2.71V. ii. Zinc air battery [2]. The cell is made of zinc sheet as negative terminal and stainless steel (scour pad) as conducting agent between sodium hydroxide solutions with oxygen in the air. Theoretical voltaic cell achieved is 0.87V iii. Daniel cell. Theoretical EMF achieved is +1.10V. iv. Lemon battery. Theoretical voltage achieved is 1.6V. Stopping mechanism i. Reaction between magnesium stripes with hydrochloric acid. The magnesium stripe corrodes and eventually breaks the circuit. ii. Reaction between hydrogen peroxide with liquidfied beef [3]. The oxygen gas formed will expand the syringe that eventually pushes the off button at the circuit. iii. Iodine clock reaction. Iodine turns from yellow to dark purple in presence of starch that eventually blocks the LED light from reaching the light dependent resistor (LDR) [4].

3. EXPERIMENTAL METHODS
Driving mechanism 7 copper rods were being polished with sand paper and inserted into whisking tube with one end being tied. Magnesium stripes were cut in a spiral shape. Both of them were then inserted into the voltaic cell carrier where the copper stood in the middle of each tube and magnesium stripe curled around it. Copper sulphate solution was injected into each copper rod while magnesium sulphate was injected into outside of the whisking tube. 2 crocodile clips were tied to both end of a copper wire and 8-10 of these were prepared. These wires were then connected from copper rod in one cell to magnesium stripe in another cell. They were arranged in such that it forms 4-3 cells in parallel to one another.

Stopping mechanism Approximate 10 cm of magnesium stripe was cut and put into a small sample bottle. 10.0 M hydrochloric acid was diluted to 5.0 M in 200 mL storage bottles. The acid was diluted to the required amount according the competition in a 10 mL measuring cylinder.

Figure 1: Actual model car.

Figure 2: 2D diagram showing the completed model car with Mg-Cu driving mechanism and Mg-HCl stopping mechanism

4. RESULTS
Customized check-list prior to the competition is prepared. Item 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 Model car Copper wire with clips Voltaic cell holder 500 ml water bottle Scissors 2 big beakers 12 sample bottles with Mg 2 small beaker 10 ml measuring cylinder Brought? 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 Item Magnesium coil Magnesium stripe (stopping) 16 Copper rods Whisking tube (16 ready) 2L MgSO4 solution 2L CuSO4 solution 500 ml HCl solution Distil water 2 Syringes 3 Cellophane tapes Sand paper Glu Brought?

10 1000 ml measuring cylinder 11 Filter funnel 12 6 dry cells

6 Mg-Cu cells are arranged in different order to study the variation in voltage and current such that optimum power is obtained.

Table 1: Voltage obtained at different arrangement of voltaic cells. Arrangement 1 cell 2 in series 3 in series 4 in series 6 in series 3-3 in parallel 2-2-2 in parallel Voltage (V) 1.2 3.2 4.9 5.0 10.2 5.1 3.4 Resistance () 12 32 57.6 66.7 102 25.5 11.3 Current (A) 0.10 0.10 0.85 0.75 0.10 0.20 0.30

Concentration of power source: 200g/500ml of MgSO4 and 200g/500ml of CuSO4 First run: 206 mL of water for 17.25 m Concentration (mol/dm3) Distance (m) 2.5 2.6 3 4 Calibration curve 500 mL of water Concentration (mol/dm3) Distance (m) 2.20 2.60 3.00 300 mL of water Concentration (mol/dm3) Distance (m) 2.20 2.60 3.00 18.80 13.75 10.08 11.40 9.70 9.48 400 mL of water Concentration (mol/dm3) 2.20 2.60 3.00 200 mL of water Concentration (mol/dm3) 1.50 2.20 2.60 Distance (m) 20.65 13.02 12.58 Distance (m) 15.80 10.34 5.07 18 14.76 14.38 8 Second run: 480 mL of water for 15.45 m Concentration (mol/dm3) 2.2 2.3 2.5 Distance (m) 14.63 & 9.76 13.50

21.00 y = -5.8845x + 31.586 R = 0.9277 19.00 y = -5.0867x + 28.28 y = -6.3125x + 32.688 17.00 y = -13.413x + 45.276 Distance travelled (m) 15.00 y = -2.8423x + 20.933 R = 0.9248 y = -2.125x + 16.075

13.00

11.00 206 ml 9.00 200 ml 300 ml 7.00 400 ml 5.00 1.50 480 ml 2.00 2.50 3.00 Concentration of HCl (mol/dm3) 3.50 4.00 500 ml

Graph 1: Linear correlations between concentrations of hydrochloric acid with distance travelled.

5. CONCLUSION
Combination of magnesium-copper voltaic cell as driving mechanism with magnesium-hydrochloric acid stopping mechanism is possible to be applied on a model car in ChemEcar competition. From the results obtained, future research is required to improve the performance of the car.

6. REFERENCE
1. List of battery types. Retrieved from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_battery_types 2. NurdRage. (2011). Make a zinc air battery. Retrieved from http://www.instructables.com/id/Make-aZinc-Air-Battery/ 3. Julia, F. (2011). Novel stopping mechanism nets prize in national Chem-E car competition. Retrieved from http://www.bucknell.edu/x73073.xml 4. Ross, K. (2011). AIChE Chem-E-Car. Retrieved from http://aiche.students.mtu.edu/chemecar.htm