Vehicle Exhaust Air Filter

Central Question: How can we help mitigate the issues of air pollution and climate change?

By: Lucy Mogan, Nick Lloyd, Chase McAndrew, and Vanessa Diaz

Background Experimentation Methods

A big problem facing our planet is air pollution. Air pollution ranges from
solid particulate matter to harmful greenhouse gases. 28% of greenhouse gas
emissions comes from motor vehicles in the US. Some health effects are lung
diseases or irritation and sometimes even death in large amounts. Carbon
capture and storage is fairly new technology that isn’t completely developed
yet. The main products are for large scale factories or power plants that use
liquids or gases to pull carbon dioxide directly from the emissions or air.
There are a few scaled down versions of carbon capture devices for
transportation vehicles but they are too expensive to keep replacing.
Objective
Our goal is to reduce as much particulate matter and carbon dioxide that
comes from an exhaust pipe as possible. We also want to keep our
product affordable so consumers can keep up with the replacement parts
without any inconvenience.
Testing
Four tests were done on our prototype: one that tested nylon as a
potential filter material, another that tested cotton as a potential filter
material, a further one that tested the effectiveness of potassium
hydroxide as a carbon dioxide sponge, and lastly one that tested
whether clamps or adhesive are better fasteners.
Experiment Results
The experiments on filter materials inevitably determined that both nylon and
cotton, while being good at capturing particulate matter, were ineffective as
materials due to their susceptibility to heat. For the production model, the filter
will be made of basalt. Additionally, the experiment on potassium hydroxide
proved it to be ineffective at capturing CO2 in direct air flow and impossible to
apply to a surface. Lastly, the test on clamps found them to be effective at
securing soft metal exteriors to the exhaust pipe and that the adhesive worked
better with harder metal exteriors. Our designs will feature an integrated clamp
system for the shelf model and an applied adhesive for the auto body model.
2008 Chevy Silverado
Before Weight After Weight
Design Overview
The CARbon Capture car exhaust filter comes in two different designs. One
design is an internal cartridge while the other is an attachment on the end.
They both fit in the exhaust system to capture particulate matter and carbon
dioxide.
When testing the nylon filters, we placed them on a contraption that fit onto the exterior
of the exhaust pipe. Two different cars were used: a 2008 Chevy Silverado and a 2008
Toyota Corolla (each car had four trials). For three of the trials the cars were put in idle
for three minutes with the filter on the end of the exhaust pipe, the weight of the filters
was taken before and after to determine its effectiveness. The last trial had both of the
cars drive for five minutes at 45 mph with the prototype attached, its weight was taken
before and after as well. This same experiment sequence was repeated for the cotton
filter tests. Nextly, the potassium hydroxide was tested by placing a solution of the
chemical in one beaker and creating CO2 gas by forcing a reaction between baking soda
and vinegar in another beaker. The gas was ran through a tube, which connected the
beakers and the weight of the potassium hydroxide flask was weighed before and after.
Lastly, for the clamp vs. adhesive test we simply attached the prototype to the ends of
both cars and drove them. We then recorded whether or not they stayed on.
Design specifications
The main features of our design include a particle filter, reusable screen, outer casing,
and potentially a CO2 capture system. The particle filter is made out of basalt, which is
incredibly competent at capturing larger particulate matter and resistant to extremely
high temperatures. The reusable screen is comprised of a metal mesh, which holds the
basalt filter in place. The outer casing is made from stamped steel and encases the filter,
while attaching to the exhaust pipe via an integrated clamp. The design may also include
a soda lime cartridge that captures CO2, changing colors when it has absorbed its
maximum capacity. However, this design requires high amounts of maintenance, which
is antithetical to the central concept of our design. It is possible to create but not logical
to sell to consumers because of its short lifespan of capturing carbon dioxide.
Acknowledgements
Mentors: Virginia Vogl (Chemistry and STEM Teacher) and Nick Williams
(Physics and STEM Teacher)
Supervisors: Claudio Tronconi
Glass Weight: 222g 94 g = 1 mL deionized
water
Before Weight After Weight Weight Change
(Without Glass (Without Glass
Container) Container)

Trial 1 4 grams 5 grams 0.5 mol/L Trial #1 104 g 106 g 2g

Trial 2 5 grams 7 grams 0.5 mol/L Trial #2 104 g 105 g 1g

Trial 3 4 grams 5 grams 1 mol/L Trial #1 102 g 105 g 3g

2008 Chevy Silverado 1 mol/L Trial #2 102 g 101 g -1 g

Adhesive Clamp 2 mol/L Trial #1 108 g 108 g 0g

2008 Toyota Corolla 2008 Chevy Silverado 2008 Toyota Corolla
Stayed On Fell Off 2 mol/L Trial #2 108 g 112 g 4g

Before Weight After Weight Trial 1 Before- 33g After- 34g Trial 1 Before- 14g After- 16g 3 mol/L Trial #1 122 g 122 g 0g

Trial 1 5 grams 5 grams Trial 2 Before- 35g After- 37g Trial 2 Before- 15g After- 17g 2008 Toyota Corolla 3 mol/L Trial #2 122 g 123 g 1g

Trial 2 4 grams 5 grams Trial 3 Before- 33g After- 34g Trial 3 Before- 13g After- 14g Adhesive Clamp 4 mol/L Trial #1 120 g 122 g 2g

Trial 3 5 grams 6 grams Trial 4 (Driving) Before- 34g After- 28g Trial 4 (Driving) Before- 16g After- 13g Fell Off Stayed On 4 mol/L Trial #2 124 g 124 g 0g