COLLEGE STATION, Texas, Nov. 24, 2008 – Texas A&M University’s alternative-powered vehicle raced to a third-place finish in the American Institute of Chemical Engineers’ (AIChE) national Chem-E-Car competition in Philadelphia Nov. 15 at the institute’s Centennial Annual Meeting.
In this year’s event, students were challenged to transport 250 milliliters of water 60 feet. Each team received two chances to run their cars, with their final score being their best attempt at meeting the established distance. Cornell University came the closest and took the top prize of $2,000. Finishing in second place and taking home $1,000 was Louisiana State University, using citric acid and sodium carbonate. Taking third place and $500 was Texas A&M, which used chemicals making hydrogen gas to propel their car.
“The team is extremely excited to have placed third this year,” said Stephen Pope, president of Texas A&M’s AIChE chapter. “Texas A&M has never created a car that has moved at the national conference, but this year the team showed amazing dedication, with over 1,000 man hours invested and an all-nighter before the competition.”
The Aggie team was sponsored by BP and included seniors Daniel Arnold, Matt Johnson, Derek Nelson, Stephen Pope, Neil Rodrigues and Thomas Wanja, and junior Travis Walthall. Graduate student Michael Landoll provided additional leadership, along with chemical engineering faculty and staff members Randy Marek, Jerry Bradshaw, Victor Ugaz and adviser Lale Yurttas.
Pope said the main feature of Texas A&M’s car is the engine, which the team constructed “from scratch.”
“With permission, we used five pictures from the internet to draw a five-cylinder radial engine in AutoCad. Then using brass tubing and sheet brass, we constructed an efficient homemade engine.”
The car runs on hydrochloric acid and sodium bicarbonate to produce carbon dioxide gas at pressures on the order of 120 psig. The gas runs through a pressure regulator set at 60 psig and then runs the handmade engine.
The goal of the competition is to create a shoebox-sized car that runs off of a chemical reaction a distance from 50 to 100 feet. The distance is specified at the competition, and teams calculate the amount of reactants needed to move the correct distance.
“When we found that the distance was 60 feet, we were excited because we knew that we could get close to 60 feet without any problem,” Pope said. “Our first run we had some technical difficulties, so we were left with one run to perfect the distance. By the end of the first run Cornell sat in first place after making Chem-E-Car history by hitting the car directly on the money. LSU was sitting in second, missing the mark by 10 inches. The second run we traveled a distance of 59 feet, 0.5 inches, putting us in third place with a distance of 11.5 inches from the goal line.”
Then the Aggies waited as each team took their second turns.
“After Cornell ran the second time we secured our third-place position. We now have an opportunity to apply for the international conference in Quebec,” Pope said.
The Chem-E-Car competition, first raced in 1999, is a fun and practical way for students to apply their knowledge of chemical engineering principles while helping build interest and expertise in alternative fuels. Historically, chemical engineers have been involved in developing new fuel technology, and given the price of gasoline and concerns about climate change, it’s more important than ever for college students to learn about chemical reactions that can move vehicles. (Watch a video of the 2008 AIChE Chem-e-Car competition.)
“The competition has grown over the last 10 years because of the heightened awareness of the need for alternative fuels,” said John Sofranko, AIChE executive director. “With each year’s competition, there is more creativity from our student members that could potentially impact our global energy supply and demand. Meeting the energy challenge is a core issue of AIChE and the chemical engineering profession.”
About AIChE
AIChE, celebrating its 100th anniversary this year, is a professional society of more than 40,000 chemical engineers in 92 countries. Its members work in corporations, universities and government using their knowledge of chemical processes to develop safe and useful products for the benefit of society.
Through its varied programs, AIChE continues to be a focal point for information exchange on the frontier of chemical engineering research in such areas as nanotechnology, sustainability, hydrogen fuels, biological and environmental engineering, and chemical plant safety and security. More information about AIChE is available at http://www.aiche.org.
Story by: Lesley V. Kriewald, Texas A&M Engineering Communications
