Ecofriendly piston
El-Sadat STEM School – Grade 10 – Semester 2 –(2021 /2022)
25105
Youssef Omar – Abdelrahman Ahmed – Mazen Ashraf – Mostafa Elbaz – Alaa Nasser
Keywords: Stirling engine – Thermodynamics – Kinetic Energy- Piston - Pollution
Abstract Method
For our project ,it is assigned to solve some of Egypt’s grand challenges each semester. Our grand As for the method, we followed a method that looks like the car's
challenges for this semester are climate change, pollution, recycling and increase the industrial base in combustion engine so,
Egypt. The alternative source of energy that is needed to be used instead of coal and fuel because they 1. Firstly, we bought a can to act like the place where the car piston exists,
increase the percentage of greenhouse gasses, and a source should be used with same benefits or more
and we will cut it from above so it will be the container of the whole
that is more ecofriendly. There are a lot of pollutants that effect on the environment negatively. Also, it combustion process.
is necessary to search for them and try to make them ecofriendly. There is a lot of non-used things that 2. Secondly, we bought 3 small metal bars, 2 small aluminums circles, some
can be used or be recycled to be usable or get rid of these things that harm the environment. These
metal wires and close them with some aluminum circle
challenges are solved by safe, cheap, and clean methods to keep up with development without any
hurdles. In our project, kinetic energy is generated from recycled or old materials to keep the
environment clean therefore the sterling engine was our choice as a solution and used the waste heat
3. to simulate the combustion, process the best way.
then, we got each metal bar connected to two small
coming from the factories as a heat energy source to boil alcohol inside a used container instead of a aluminum circles, and between them the metal wire
new one. A simpler piston used by us was made of a neck of a bottle and a balloon that move a rod of
to act as the car piston then we make one of that Fig (3)
iron that finally moves a crank shaft. Before constructing the prototype, some design requirements were Figure
Prototype3
set as: using cans that has high melting point and reduce the friction of the aluminum plate with the simulated pistons and put it in the can and put the prototype
can. After the test, The rotations of the wheel was measured, and it was 443 RPM. aluminum circle on the top of it so, no leakage happens then lastly we
connect the piston on a metal bar so it connects on the same metal bar which
Introduction acts like the engine's crankshaft then we will make a small hole in aluminum
We are assigned to solve some of the biggest grand challenges that Egypt is facing. For each semester we
circle of the container and connect a small hose to it then connect it to a
balloon that has a cap inside it, therefore, the pressure produced from the
get to solve about 4 grand challenges. So, in this semester we should solve the pollution, recycling,
moving of piston in a container is transferred to the balloon and connect the
industrial bases and alternative energy.
bar to the balloon that will act also on the crankshaft so it will help to keep
As we all know Egypt has been suffering from pollution for a long time because of the factories that the rotation process going on.
were built randomly without studying the population distribution maps and close to
3. Thirdly, we put the waste heat source (flame) under the container to make
residents’ living areas. as shown in figure 1.
the alcohol boil, by burning alcohol in the container there will be huge,
So, we have followed the EDP and started searching for the prior solutions pushed vapor, and this acts like the whole combustion process.
lastly, the pushed vapor will push the pistons which will move the crankshaft
and we have found plenty. Such as: How to generate fuel from corn and
that will produce kinetic energy.
anerobic digestion. The way to change from corn to fuel is very useful (Fig 1)
(Fig 1)
Factories in Egypt
as it depends on something that is non-used and generate fuel that can be Factories in Egypt
used in different fields, but it also has disadvantages like it depends on Test Plan
As for our capstone project, we have chosen the following design
a catalyst which is high in cost. Anaerobic digesters are a device that transform
requirement:
the food waste to electric energy as shown in figure 2. The anaerobic digestion
process involves the controlled breakdown of organic wastes by bacteria in the (Fig 2)
1.The base (cans) of our prototype must have high melting
point because it will face high heat.
Anerobic(Fig 2)
digestion
absence of oxygen. There are three main digester types available: 2.No leakage in the liquid that we used (alcohol)
Anaerobic
(a) covered lagoon; (b) mechanically mixed; (c) plug-flow.. digestion because we need to make our protype a closed system
and to make the piston work efficiently without leakage. (Fig 3)
After many research about prior solution we have decided to work on the sterling engine after . Because
it’s ecofriendly and easily constructed in daily life. And we have chosen some design requirements that 3.No friction between the aluminum circles in the piston and the prototype
container because the friction will decrease the speed of rotation of the
are: The base (cans) of our prototype must have high melting point because it will face high heat, choose
a material with low boiling point, no leakage in the liquid that we used (alcohol) because we need to crankshaft so decrease the efficiency of the speed of the rotating cd.
make our protype a closed system and to make the piston work efficiently without leaking, no friction That’s for the design requirement and for our test plan,
between the aluminum plates in the piston and the container because the friction will decrease the speed
We first put a fire under the can so it gets hotter and hotter till it reaches the
of rotation of crankshaft. The sterling engine works with a mechanism that is like the mechanism of a
boiling point of alcohol which is 78.37°C, also we used material which is
car’s engine and it produces kinetic energy and it’s ecofriendly and solves most of the grand challenges.
aluminum which has boiling point equal (660.3 °C) to put the alcohol in it
which can resist high temperatures without melting so after the container
Materials reached 78.37 Celsius degrees the alcohol began to boil forming high-
pressured vapor which moves the simulated piston upwards and then it moves
the crankshaft then it moves downwards again and then upward and so on.
Also, the pressure produced from the piston is moved to the balloon and it
rotate the crankshaft with the piston and the process goes on which produce
Name :Hose . Name :balloon . kinetic energy.
Name :wooden pieces. Name :alcohol
Price :23 . Price :1 .
Source :paint shop Source :market
Price :10 .
Source :carpenter .
Price :12 .
Source :pharmacy
Results
After we have tested our prototype, we have found that as we turned on the flame,
. it heated the alcohol and by time the piston moved up slowly and rotate the
crankshaft then returned then moved up and by this movement it produces kinetic
energy which we wanted to get from waste heat which is heating alcohol.
Also, we have measured the RPM of it by using RPM sensor and we have found
Name :Metal pieces . Name :Aluminum sheet. that it produced 443 RPM. And the following table show the relation between
Name :Aluminum can.
Price :3 . Price :3. RPM and time .
Price :10 . Time 12 24 36 48 60
Source :black smith. Source :Aluminum store
Source :restaurant. RPM 70 150 230 325 443
Total cost: 62 EGP Table 1
Analysis
We chose the design and dimensions of our prototype that suit the
requirements we have set to achieve the best results with good efficiency,
low cost and not to affect negatively on the environment. We chose the
dimension of the container that contain ethanol to be 10.5 cm to make the
area small and so the pressure increases as there is an inversely relation
between area and pressure (P=F/A). We chose ethanol instead of water for
these reasons:
- The specific heat of alcohol(ethanol)
(C2H5OH (l)) = 2.46 J/g*c., the latent
heat of vaporization of alcohol =550 j/g,
the boiling point of alcohol :78C and
comfortable temperature range indoor 25°C.
The amount of heat energy we use
to boil the alcohol: Q=mc∆T =
100*2.46*(78-25)
=13 Kg. Q=ml=100*550=55Kj in figure.5:
So, the total amount of heat energy that Graph (1)
we use is 68Kj.And it is small amount RPM-Time Graph
compared with water which need is 31426Kj.
We also chose the container to be a metal
with high melting point to stand with the
heat under it. Ethanol has a low boiling point
Compared with water. The high melting point
of the container and the low boiling point of
the ethanol helped us to boil the ethanol and
turn it to steam and keep the container save
without melting the base of the container near
to the heat. We fixed two metal cylinders and Figure 5
between them to fix them and prevent them
Specific heat capacity
movement and avoid steam leakage to keep the
and latent heat
use all the steam and make the pressure bigger
as the force acting increases. We closed the container by a wooden circle to
prevent leakage of steam and made a small hole equal to the diameter of a
tube that is connected to a small piston. The piston we made if from a
balloon to make it flexible and we used the bottle cap as its diameter is equal
to the diameter of the tube. We made by this a big piston and a small one to
get benefit from all the steam and make it easier to move the crankshaft
connected to the two bars. We generated by this mechanism kinetic energy
that can be used to solve the grand challenge. We listed the results and used
them to calculate and get some data which is:
Angular velocity of the crankshaft (ω) is about 443±1 RPM = 46.3 rad/s (±1)
as (average from the test plan result)
Linear velocity of the crankshaft (v) = ω*r = 46.3 0.0006 (±0.0001) =
0.02778m/sec.
Angular momentum of the crankshaft(L) =mass * velocity * radius = 0.015
kg *0.02315 m/sec * 0.0006m =0.00000025 kg. m^2/s.
Moment of inertia (I) = Angular momentum/ω =0.00000025/46.3=5.4 *
10^(-9) Kg/m^2.
The output kinetic energy: - K.E =0.5* I*w^2 =0.5 * 5.4 * 10^(-9)*〖46.3〗^2
≈6 ×10^(-6) joule .
We can put a generator at the end of the crankshaft to generate electricity if
we need to produce electric energy. The prototype can be used to as an
electric source or a kinetic energy as it is. This prototype can solve the grand
challenges as it can be used as an alternative source of energy and might be
used in industrial bases, and it helps in getting rid of wastes as we burn the
wastes to get waste heat.
Learning Transfer
PH.1.08 We decrease the area of the cylinder to increase the pressure I
the piston as pressure = force /area.
ES .1.08 We identify the minerals and materials that we can use to build
a machine or turbines that will help us in using the alternative
energy and converting it to electricity or any other useful
energy.
ES .1.09 we know sources of energy (renewable and nonrenewable) and
types of energy so then we decide to generate electricity.
CH.1.09 we identify the material we can use according to their physical
properties.
MA.1.07 We can use the quadratic functions and equations to represent
the relation between the alternative source and the amount of
the energy. So, we can predict the amount of energy that we
will get according to some given.
ME.1.06 we can use the mechanics laws to calculate the angles between
the parts of the crankshaft to get the biggest energy with the
biggest resultant force.
Conclusion
As we have finished our prototype and list our results after testing it, we
have found that our prototype produced 443 RPM from useless material
which is considered wasted heat and, we could benefit from this kinetic
energy if we applied scale factor on it during daily life and by adding more
than one engine, we would be able to produce more kinetic energy,
therefore by this method we have solved probably the challenges that faces
us during our life.
Recommendation
After finishing the prototype and testing we had a few ideas that could
make it better.
First, you should use materials that would make less friction with the
aluminum can.
Second, it would be better to use more aluminum containers and piston on
the same crankshaft to increase the rotation of it and the energy production
will also increase.
Third, we recommend using the wasted heat from industries to power this
project because they are useless, and it is much better to benefit from them.
Forth, we recommend using materials that has high melting points
Fifth, it would be better to use a liquid that has low boiling point
Literature Cited
1. FAO. Polluting our soils is polluting our future. Food and Agriculture
Organization of the United Nations. (2018). Retrieved March 8, 2022 from
https://www.fao.org/fao-stories/article/en/c/1126974/HOPKINS,
2. Hopkins, N. S., & MEHANNA, S. R. (2003). Living with Pollution in
Egypt. https://link.springer.com/content/pdf/10.1023/A:1022935424598.pdf
3. Jouhara, H., Khordehgah, N., Almahmoud, S., Delpech, B., Chauhan, A.,
& Tassou, S. A. (2018). Waste Heat Recovery Technologies and
Applications, 6. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.tsep.2018.04.017
4. World Wildlife Fund. (2022). Effects of climate change. Retrieved
March 9, 2022, from https://www.worldwildlife.org/threats/effects-of-climate-
change
5. Zafar, S. (2019). Middle East, Recycling. Retrieved February 28, 2022,
from www.ecomena.org/garbage-cairo/
Acknowledgement
Firstly, We thank Allah for the success that we have been blessed with
Second, we thank our teachers that helped us in accomplishing the project and
they are:
Mrs. Doaa Tahoun Mr. Mahmoud El-said
Mr. Abdullah Mahdi
And special thanks to our principal Mr. Mahmoud Helmy
They have inspired us and supported us in all ways possible.
Information
For further information please contact us:
Abdelrahman Ahmed:Abdelrahman.2521005@stemelsadat.moe.edu.eg
Mazen Ashraf: Mazen.2521009@stemelsadat.moe.edu.eg
Mostafa El-baz: Mostafa.2521015@stemelsadat.moe.edu.eg
Youssef Omar: Youssef.2521047@stemelsadat.moe.edu.eg
Alaa Nasser: Alaa.2521029@stemelsadat.moe.edu.eg