PULLMAN, Wash.A group of Washington State University chemical engineering students will be traveling to Salt Lake City this weekend for the national American Institute of Chemical Engineering reaction car competition with a homemade car that is powered by energy from a chemical reaction.
The team, including students from the Voiland School of Chemical Engineering and Bioengineering, won the regional car competition this spring, which qualified them for the national competition. Teams from 31 universities around the U.S. will participate in the event, scheduled for Nov. 7 from 2 to 4:30 p.m. in the Salt Lake Convention Center. The winning team receives a $2,000 prize.
The WSU team’s car runs off a lead-acid battery similar to the one in most cars, says Dillon Ford, one of the team members. It stops using an “iodine clock.” The students pass an iodine solution through a sensor. When the solution changes color, the sensor sees the color change and shuts power off to the car’s electric motor, stopping the car. The cars in the competition are autonomous, and once they start there is no human intervention allowed to start or stop the car.
The American Institute of Chemical Engineers (AIChE) is holding the 12th Annual Chem-E-Car Competition in conjunction with its annual meeting and annual student conference.
“This is a wonderful opportunity for students to come up with innovative and alternative solutions for alternative energy fuels that are critical to solving our nation’s energy challenges,” said Dick Zollars, professor in the Voiland School of Chemical Engineering and Bioengineering and advisor for the student group. “At the same time, the students are also getting valuable, hands-on experiences and problem-solving skills that will serve them well in the future.”
The national car contest, in fact, was originally the idea of the WSU student chapter of AICHE. The contest requires that vehicles be driven by some type of chemical reaction and be able to travel a distance of between 50 and 100 feet. They also carry a varying payload of between zero and 500 mL of water. Students learn the exact specifications of distance and weight shortly before the contest and then have one hour to prepare. The contestant whose vehicle goes closest to the prescribed distance wins.