Vega Zag

Zagazig, Sharkya | Space for Change

Vega Zag

High-Level Project Summary

We have identified regions where such environmental injustice occurs so we made a data analysis map that shows the most important industrial areas in Egypt, and identified local sources of carbon emissions and estimate amounts of carbon emissions for different human activities, and based on it, we thought about creating an air purification filter as a design implementable solution that enables equitable outcomes to be placed at the top of the chimney so that the filters purify this percentage to produce carbon dioxide then we collect this amount of gas and move it to the second stage of the project which is converting it into carbon and then converting it into carbon fiber sheet as a product

Link to Project "Demo"

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1NGciM3wjT9Ugm1_Z_3Uffp4fe6aykIuB/view?usp=sharing

Link to Final Project

https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1WzrfIP_2jUu0wkkmxOcnIcnk34j0282V?usp=sharing

Detailed Project Description


“Progress is impossible without change, and those who cannot change their minds cannot change anything.”


Welcome to Space for Change With Vega Zag Team


GOALS AND STRONG POINTS:

We want to create a project with the aim of sensitizing people about the carbon emissions topic. Everybody would be able to know exactly its daily affected thanks to the constant update of data collected by the system. Vega zag tracks down your purchases and your travels collaborates with companies and keeps you informed on global scale events related to carbon emissions with the precious NASA's dataset. Vega zag is a Cleaner life, healthy bodies, purer air, luxurious life, fun, intuitive, practical, and provides captivating features in order to entertain and sensitize at the same time. Our hope is to shape a world where carbon emissions are a primary topic to deal with in ordinary life.



Why we Choose this Challenge

After the Corona pandemic, and what we have seen of injuries and deaths in most parts of the world, we saw a glimmer of light behind this pandemic, which is the breathing of nature, the decrease in global warming rates and the healing of the ozone hole. Global warming occurs when carbon dioxide (CO2) and other air pollutants and greenhouse gases collect in the atmosphere and absorb sunlight and solar radiation that have bounced off the earth’s surface. Normally, this radiation would escape into space—but these pollutants, which can last for years to centuries in the atmosphere, trap the heat and cause the planet to get hotter. That's what's known as the greenhouse effect. Curbing dangerous climate change requires very deep cuts in emissions, as well as the use of alternatives to fossil fuels worldwide. The good news is that we’ve started a turnaround: CO2 emissions in the United States actually decreased from 2005 to 2014, thanks in part to new, energy-efficient technology and the use of cleaner fuels. And scientists continue to develop new ways to modernize power plants, generate cleaner electricity, and burn less gasoline while we drive. The challenge is to be sure these solutions are put to use and widely adopted



Our Challenge:

We have identified regions where such environmental injustice occurs so we made a data analysis map that shows the most important industrial areas in Egypt, and identified local sources of carbon emissions, and estimate amounts of carbon emissions for different human activities to aid scientists in mapping carbon sources and sinks so we can inform decisions to adapt to the consequences of a changing world and aid policy makers in making plans for the future and reducing CO2 in the atmosphere by making a filtration process to the air outing from the factory and based on it, we thought about creating an air purification filter as a design implementable solution that enables equitable outcomes to be placed at the top of the chimney, and the addition was that we added additional filters to the three-hole filter so that 70% of the smoke comes out from the first two holes and the remaining percentage comes out from the last hole From the smoke, which is 30% , so that the filters purify this percentage to produce carbon dioxide, then we collect this amount of gas and move it to the second stage of the project, which is converting it into carbon and then converting it into carbon fiber sheet as a product



How we Identify regions where such environmental injustice

We had two challenges to solve except that we identify the areas that will be affected by the spread of carbon and measure its spread across borders, let it be an industrial city or a capital Create a solution to tackle carbon and reduce its spread


So let's start collecting a lot of data about CO2 distribution in order to determine how and what to solve


The idea is that we place the sensors in separate places around the carbon source, for example, a circle of 100m, 300m, 900m


And we can use drones that measure impressions in real-time at a rate of once a day for a period of time

All this taking into account the movement of the wind, its speed, and the type of emissions


After collecting the data, we will start doing the analysis and see how we can implement our solution.



so our idea is about creating an air purification filter as a design implementable solution that enables equitable outcomes to be placed at the top of the chimney especially Cement factories and collect carbon dioxide through it into carbon fibers in three stages:



First Stage:

Reducing CO to solid products is challenging, since any product may coat the surface of the catalyst through van der Waals adhesion, preventing access to the catalytically active sites and causing damage to the catalyst in a process known as coking. The term coke describes the formation of carbonaceous substances that adhere to the surface of the catalyst and reduce the catalytic activity. As such, the term applies in common usage in the field of catalysis when (a) carbonaceous materials are produced and (b) these materials adhere to the surface. Recently introduced liquid metal-based (LM) catalysts have been shown and have been shown to be remarkably resistant to deactivation by coke. The fluid nature of the catalyst prevents any carbonaceous material produced from sticking to the surface during the course of the reaction by eliminating the effect of van der Waals adhesive forces between the byproducts and the LM surface. As a result, LM-based electrocatalysts are expected to be ideally suited for continuous reduction of CO to carbonic and graphitic products, as surface adhesion of the products and subsequent inactivation are expected to be a major challenge.



The Chemical Process:

Gallium-based alloys are ideal targets for designing LM-based electrocatalysts, as they remain liquid at room temperature, are non-toxic, and are able to dissolve most other metallic elements in concentrations suitable for catalysis. Moreover, the bulk of LM is oxygen-free, allowing the stabilization of spontaneously ignited elements, such as rare earth metals, which previously could not be considered to catalyze CO in its zero-valent state. The mineral nature of these fluids also ensures excellent conductivity which is critical when designing electrocatalytic processes. Common low-melting-point gallium alloys, such as the eutectic mixture of Ga, In and Sn, herein referred to as galinstan, have been found to be somewhat inactive catalysts when investigating processes, such as electrochemical hydrogen evolution and carbon dioxide reduction, As a result, these alloys are largely unexplored for such applications. Interestingly, the surface of LMs can be effectively tuned by mixing with other metallic elements. When complex alloys containing multiple metallic elements are designed, the inner oxide of LM is dominated by the oxide that provides the greatest reduction in Gibbs free energy. These oxides usually form thin and two-dimensional (2D) interlayers.


In this work, we show that this phenomenon can be exploited to produce highly energetic electrical catalysts for CO2 reduction. The LM containing cerium was used as an electrocatalytic system, which successfully converted carbon dioxide into carbon and graphite products at room temperature. Here the reduction of Ce3+ to metallic Ce0 at the LM electrode occurs at relatively low potentials close to the standard reduction potentials of the CO2/CO and CO2/C pairs. Access to Ce0 may also enable previously inaccessible catalytic pathways, due to the spontaneous nature of ignition for Ce. Interestingly, the incorporated Ce appears in the form of nanoparticles and was found to enhance the catalytic process. Taken together, these properties make LM-containing cerium an interesting target for designing efficient CO2-reduction electrocatalysts. Here, we show a high CO2-to-solid carbon reduction efficiency at the interface of this material.



Second Stage:

Alloys containing cerium were able to support large current densities and exhibited very low starting potentials (up to −310 mV versus CO2/C) in the presence of CO2. The control experiment conducted in the N2 atmosphere yielded negligible current densities. Successive cycles of saturating the electrolyte with N2 and CO2 were performed and a significant current density was only observed when electrochemical tests were performed in the CO2 saturated electrolytes, which indicates that the observed electrochemical processes are a result of the presence of dissolved CO2. The experiments were found to be reproducible and close to the identical current densities observed over several subsequent cycles. The lower current densities of the N-saturated electrolytes also indicate that the hydrogen evolution reaction, a competitive process for CO reduction, exhibits a relatively increased potential on the LMCe electrode.


Electrochemical conversion of carbon dioxide using LM

The synthesis of different weight fractions of metallic cerium (0.5, 1.0, and 3.0 wt%) was performed in liquid galenstan using the mechanical alloying method. Cerium containing LM was created, as cerium oxides are known to reduce CO to CO via the Ce3+–Ce4+4,5 cycle. The solubility of cerium in liquid gallium and its alloys is expected to be between 0.1 and 0.5 wt%, while Ce2O3 is expected to dominate the surface of LM, as a 2D layer, under ambient atmospheric conditions due to the higher reactivity of cerium when compared to the components galenstan, and the known oxidation mechanism of cerium. The mineral that leads to the elemental form of Ce2O3 at the metal-air interface.


The electrochemical reduction of CO was performed using LMCe catalysts and pure LM (control) in dimethylformamide (DMF)-based electrolyte, due to the high solubility of CO in the solvent. Linear sweep voltage (LSV) measurement was performed using carbon dioxide or N2 saturated electrolytes (control)



Third Stage:

The idea of turning carbon dioxide from the air into useful products is a popular one, and the field is littered with many more unfulfilled promises than success stories.

so our project is a reasonable path to lowering atmospheric carbon dioxide levels.”

This could include the adoption of reactors on a massive scale so we focus on industrial factories especially cement one



Other schemes include a typical CO2 reduction reaction in a different solvent, with a saturated CO2-free and electrolyte-free control experiment performed. When using acetonitrile, a similar behavior was observed as in the DMF-based experiment, indicating that it is unlikely that solvents were involved in the reaction. Pristine galinstan was found to be a somewhat inactive electrode. However, the activity of the alloy increased when the element cerium was added to the molten metal. The observed current density correlates with an increase in cerium content, and the starting potential of the more active electrode LMCe3% 310 mV versus CO2/C was found. During the experiment, gas evolution was observed at higher applied potentials, indicating gaseous products. The inactivity of the cerium-free LM electrode in CO2-saturated electrolytes highlights the importance of cerium in the catalytic process.



Project implementation requirements

As we talked about Project and its idea we care very much about our product, not just serving the environment, but keeping the Startup generating revenue Because the average cost is $ 8580, filters, machines, and chemicals.


What is unique about the project is its cost after the first 5 cycles

It produces 572 pieces of fiber carbon at a market selling price of 20$, thus achieving the cost of the project.

Since Egypt has a high level of carbon, it helps us that we value a large number of factories and produce a large number of carbon fibers, the price of which is 20 dollars each, as well as its great importance in our life because of its durability is very high, its weight is light, its importance and it is of great importance in the manufacture of aircraft and spacecraft


Finally,


“The Earth is what we all have in common.”


we are the change,

Vega zag team.

Space Agency Data


From the dense amount of data provided by NASA, we have been able to extrapolate precious information about the major sources of carbon dioxide emissions on the planet. Vega Zag is based on this set of data and provides user-education features. Thanks to the EPA calculator, we can estimate a household's carbon footprint with good accuracy, varying the parameters and types of different energy sources used in different parts of the world. NASA's data set has helped us map wildfires and global changes.


We used the methods provided by NASA, where we calculated the number of emissions that factories receive in nature, and based on them we made complex calculations to draw a map on which we identify the most important areas in which we implement our project.


We know that the use of fossil fuels is the primary source of carbon dioxide. Carbon dioxide can also be emitted from direct human impacts on forests and other land uses, such as deforestation, land clearing for agriculture, and soil degradation. Also from the production of electricity and heat (25% of 2010 global GHG emissions), industry (21% of 2010 global GHG emissions), agriculture, forestry, and other land use (24% of 2010 global GHG emissions), and transportation (14 % of 2010 global greenhouse gas emissions) and buildings (6% of 2010 global greenhouse gas emissions). Similarly, the Earth can also remove carbon dioxide from the atmosphere through reforestation, soil improvement, and other activities, so we made the filter to collect carbon dioxide from the atmosphere to turn it into carbon fibers and put it into factory objects.


We also determine the location and number of plants we can use to lay our filters that collect carbon dioxide and turn it into carbon fibers.

Hackathon Journey


The NASA Space Apps Challenge is not only about tech. Hackathons and challenges are usually known as a competition for developers, engineers, or scientists, but it is not only about that. it needs more diversity, knowledge from different kinds of people, and empathy to create world and outworld problem solutions. Believe in ourselves and in the greater good, it is not all about hard skills! Another important factor is to always do the greatest good and have the ability to be empathetic. These are extremely necessary in order to build solutions that can actually solve global problems


Our Methodology,

to achieve the research objectives, the following methodology was adopted in this thesis:

1- verification of the finite element modeling and the results ( CO2 calculator ) by comparing the experimental results obtained from research taken from the literature with the numerical results from Erlangen-Nuremberg university 

2- our project consists of 4 phases:

- the first phase is to identify the local area that contains a resource of CO2 like factors and draw a map of these places

- the second phase is To convert CO2 to a solid, researchers worked with a type of liquid metal catalyst that was first proposed by researchers from the University of Erlangen-Nuremberg in Germany. The metal alloy is made from gallium, indium, and tin is a liquid at room temperature and conducts electricity.

- the third phase is to bring The metal which is “doped” with cerium and a small amount of water. Carbon dioxide is bubbled into a container filled with an electrolyte liquid and a small amount of the liquid metal, which is then charged with an electrical current. The CO2 slowly reacts with the cerium in the presence of electricity and converts into solid flakes of carbon, which detach from the liquid metal surface. The process allows the continuous production of carbonaceous solid.

The solid carbon created could be used for other products or could be stored underground without the potential for leakage that liquid CO2 under high pressure poses. “While we can’t literally turn back time, turning carbon dioxide back into coal and burying it back in the ground is a bit like rewinding the emissions clock,”

- the fourth phase is to convert the solid carbons into carbon fiber sheets which are already used in high-end applications such as electronic components and batteries, and if costs came down they could be used more extensively - improving the strong, lightweight carbon composites used in aircraft and car components, for example.

References

Tags

#filter #purification #airquality #implementable_solution #clean_energy #carbon #co2 #awareness #pollution #ghg #NASA #spaceapp #technical_project #accessibility #equitable outcomes #challenge #equality #ecofriendly #emission #apulaster12 #Vega_Zag

Global Judging

This project has been submitted for consideration during the Judging process.

Space for Change

Marginalized communities are often disproportionately impacted by environmental hazards. Your challenge is to use NASA's Earth observation data to: 1) identify regions where such environmental injustice occurs, and 2) design implementable solutions that enable equitable outcomes.