Environmentalists

Tanta | Space for Change

Climate change and the energy problem

High-Level Project Summary

To solve the problem of climate change through factories, we created a design for an algae farm next to factories, where the algae would feed on the carbon dioxide produced by the farm instead of rising into the air. We also worked to increase the amount of fat inside the cells and the production of biodiesel.We developed the project by calculating the farm production. We also created a full feasibility study for the farm and a video showing the its design.The project related to the challenge as it solves the problem of climate change and leads to environmental justice between countries. the project solves a problem that the world needs to solve to live in a better world.

Link to Project "Demo"

https://docs.google.com/presentation/d/1eBmx_ETIl0ilktqtDgCKns_HffiJDiMt/edit?usp=sharing&ouid=109191724161218451886&rtpof=true&sd=true

Link to Final Project

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1F9SLOY-TyUiufYln_ohcUcZbTHQ5NO2x/view?usp=sharing

Detailed Project Description

General Idea:

Studies have proven that the world suffers from many problems such as climate change and the high level of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere. It is a big problem that affects the environment and affects humans, especially in poor countries such as tropical countries “fig1”. So, we got excited and started researching, but we found that Chlamydomonas algae “fig 2” can be a suitable solution to all the previous problems, simply because: 1: It mainly depends on carbon dioxide "main problem" to complete the process of photosynthesis. 2: Contributes to 50% of the oxygen in the atmosphere. 3: Its cells contain fats that can be used as biodiesel, which is clean energy, unlike fossil fuels, which cause the same problem, which is climate change and air pollution. After that, we began to think of a way to exploit the algae, until we reached the establishment of an algae farm "Figure 3" next to the factories complex so that we work to deliver the carbon dioxide produced from the factories directly to the farm and expose it to the algae. So that it is the only source that feed on in a closed system.

Fig 1 Fig 2 Fig 3

The farm & CO2 binding method:

The idea of our farm depends on the combination of methods of growing algae, where the algae are grown in open farm ponds inside a greenhouse, where they protect them from pollution and are supplied with carbon dioxide directly from the factories through chimney tubes connected to air filters to obtain carbon dioxide only and is pumped to the farm through Ventilation system. The Farm is built on 2.3 acres area to have a big production, we chose to build the ponds from clay as its less expensive and its thermal consumption is higher than the plastic and the concrete. we chose the rectangle shape pond with 400 m square area and built 24 ponds of it as it’s the most fit able to Exploit the farm space, on every pond we put an engine to stir the water in the ponds to help dissolving CO2 on it. And must consider the appropriate conditions for the growth of algae, which is the temperature and the degree of salinity and the amount of sunlight where the optimum salinity should be from 150 to 3000 parts per million and possibly up to 3500 parts per million. The temperature is from 25_35 degrees Celsius for the water, and the amount of solar radiation in the afternoon times may lead to the loss of the farm So, we cover the greenhouse in summer with 130 micron treated white plastic. Therefore, we made sensors to measure the temperature and salinity of water, which send signals to the computers connected to it in case of increase or decrease in the normal range. Algae Cultivation does not need arable land, as ponds can be built in desert places and salty lands, and algae has a negative effect on the soil, as it makes it not suitable for cultivation due to its severe salinity and grows in salty water and its harvest cycle is from one to ten days, which is fast compared to other crops.

Results of the farm:

Naturally, in front of every useful thing, a certain thing is sacrificed... But in our project, the opposite is true. The result was a benefit to us... After we created a design for the farm, we conducted a search for the expected outcome. Studies have shown that the amounts of algae are more than exposing them to carbon dioxide directly, and the percentage of increase can reach 40% compared to normal. So, we thought of exploiting this number of algae. We have come to a study conducted by the students of Japanese Professor Hasunuma, where they exploited the amount of fat contained within the algae cells in the production of biodiesel and worked to supply the quantity. Focusing on marine microalgae, Professor Hasunuma's group found that Chlamydomonas sp. JSC4, a new species of green alga harvested from brackish water, combines a high growth rate with high levels of lipids. The research team developed an analysis method called "dynamic metabolic profiling" and used this to analyze JSC4 and discover how this species produces oil within its cells. Professor Hasunuma's team incubated JSC4 with carbon dioxide as the sole carbon source. 4 days after the start of incubation, over 55% of cell weight consisted of carbohydrates (mainly starch). When saltwater comprised 1-2% of the incubation liquid, the team saw a decrease in carbohydrates and increase in oil, and 7 days after the start of incubation over 45% of cell weight had become oil.

Making the biodiesel:

Once the algae are harvested, the lipids are extracted from the walls of the algae cells, by different methods. First method: The oil press is the most popular method. It can extract up to 75 percent of the oil from the algae being pressed. Then the hexane solvent method (combined with pressing the algae) extracts up to 95 percent of oil from algae. First, the press squeezes out the oil. Then, leftover algae are mixed with hexane, filtered so there's no chemical left in the oil. Second method: The supercritical fluids method extracts up to 100 percent of the oil from algae. Carbon dioxide acts as the supercritical fluid - when a substance is pressurized and heated to change. At this point, carbon dioxide is mixed with the algae. When they're combined, the Carbon dioxide turns the algae into oil. The additional equipment and work make this method a less popular option. Once the oil's extracted, it's refined using fatty acid chains in a process called trans esterification. Here, a catalyst such as sodium hydroxide is mixed in with an alcohol such as methanol. This creates a biodiesel and glycerol. The mixture is refined to remove the glycerol.

Production:

After the experiment and percentage Raise, we calculated the production percentage by the following method: total ponds area is 9600 meters and every 100-meter products1212 kg algae every 7 days, so we have total 116352 kg of algae. Every kg of algae consumes 7.5kg of Co2 so we consume 872640 Kg of Co2 weekly, and every 2.7 KG of algae produce 1.4 Kg of oil, so we have total 60330 kg of oil weekly. We clarified all the details related to the costs (construction, equipment, labor, and networks) and calculated the fixed capital, weekly capital, and net profit, and we clarified all the cost calculations in the next feasibility study…

Fig “5” Feasibility study

Summary for the feasibility study:

The cost of the greenhouse: The farm was built on an area of 2.3 acres, the cost of one qirat reaches 32,000 Egyptian pounds, so the cost of the greenhouse is 736,000 pounds.

The greenhouse needs a 130-micron treated plastic roof, a kilo of cover is enough to cover 9 square meters, the price per kilo reaches 41 pounds, so the cost of the roof is 44,000 pounds.

The source of carbon dioxide gas is through a sub-chimney equipped with purification filters coming out of 35 meters from the length of the original chimney of the cement factory, with the farm being 50 meters from the factory, so we need a sub-chimney of 61 meters, and the cost per meter is 1050 pounds, so the cost is 64,000 pounds.

We need a central cooling system to reduce the temperature of carbon dioxide entering to preserve the algae, the system consists of separate cooling units connected to each other through pipes wrapped around the farm from the outside and all are connected to the central system, and the whole system cost reaches 4,200,000.

Establishing an electricity, water, and sewage network from the original network of the neighboring factory in order to reduce the cost, reaching 322,000 pounds.

24 ponds for algae are being built with an area of 400 square meters and a height of 32 centimeters, the cost of one pond is 17,500 pounds, so the total cost is 420,000 pounds.

We need laboratory tools that are TDS, PH, D.W, a microscope at a cost of 30,000 pounds, and a sensor system connected to computers to report any increase or decrease in the required percentages at a cost of 25,000 pounds.

The cost of only the original generation of algae will be high, as we use genetic engineering applications on it to make it withstand higher temperatures and then enter it in selective breeding cycle, and all of this will cost 200,000 pounds.

The process of producing biofuels takes place in two phases, the first is the extraction of oil and the second is the conversion of oil into fuel, the oil is extracted through centrifuges and mixed with hecthane and drying, the price of one device is 9,7500 pounds, we need 10 devices so that the capacity is equivalent, so the cost is 975,000 pounds.

The hexane is used on the algae to extract the oil, then the algae are dried and the hexane floats, which can be easy to use again, so we need about 100 liters and this is the maximum cost of 17,3200 pounds.

Monthly costs

The cost of electricity depends on the outside temperature, as the largest percentage of consumption is the cooling system, which is estimated to have an average monthly consumption of 20,000 pounds per month.

The price of a service cubic meter of water is 3.5 pounds, and the exchange rate is 3 pounds. The water consumption is in filling the basins and is filled to the middle, and by calculating the size of the basin, we will need 64 cubic meters per basin, 1536 cubic meters to fill the 24 basins at a cost of 5370 pounds per month.

Half of the water is drained every month and new water is added to reduce the concentration of excess salts, so we drain 781 cubic meters at a cost of 2344 pounds per month.

The labor cost is shown in the feasibility study, with a value of 43,000 per month.

The algae need catalysts in small quantities, which are potassium and nitrates, as each pond needs a kilo of both substances every seven days, the price of a kilo of nitrate is 4 pounds, while the price of a kilo of potassium is 90 pounds, and the monthly cost of all ponds is 9024 pounds.

Summary:

In this way, we have solved the problem of climate change in two ways: The first method is to prevent the rise of farm carbon dioxide into the atmosphere and use it for algae. The second way is to use a clean energy alternative to fossil fuels, which is biodiesel.

Space Agency Data

These websites Helped us to know the meaning of climate change and its conditions ,causes of climate change and how much is earth's climate changing right now. Helped us to know how to measure changes of temperature in different places and increase confidence in measurements of temperature of earth due to global warming.

Helped us to know the effects of climate change on environment already occurring and will occur in future.

NASA websites and maps also helped us to know which countries suffer from the problem of climate change, whether they are rich or poor.

Hackathon Journey

We learned a lot from our NASA Hackathon trip and we are still taking experience, but what we have already learned is teamwork, we have talked with people of different cultures and also become good at scientific research.

We chose this challenge due to the importance of its subject and the actual need for a solution to this problem and to make the world better for future generations. Our approach is to find a solution without sacrifices.

We reached the end of the project and achieved teamwork and accurate scientific research.

We would like to thank everyone who helped us, whether university doctors or those who helped us in general, and we would like to thank NASA for providing this type of competition to achieve equal opportunities.