Wayne State University Chem-E-Car “Lil Wayne State” Citric Acid and Sodium Bicarbonate Pressure Reaction Process Flow Diagram Pictures of Vehicle About the Team Costs Calibration Curve Acknowledgements Design Our car runs off the decomposition of citric acid and sodium bicarbonate to produce carbon dioxide gas under pressure. Sodium bicarbonate solution is contained in a 1 L reaction vessel labelled as PV1 in our PFD. Citric acid is introduced into the vessel as a saturated solution which reacts in the tank to form carbon dioxide gas. Ball valve (V3) is opened which releases the gas into the power generation end of the vehicle. Prior to entering the pneumatic motor the gas is regulated at a set pressure of 60 psi which is the optimal pressure to run the motor. Chemical Reaction Citric Acid + Sodium Bicarbonate → water + carbon dioxide + sodium citrate H3C6H5O7(aq) + 3 NaHCO3(aq) → 3 H2O(l) + 3 CO2(g) + Na3C6H5O7(aq) Limiting reactant: Citric acid We used the circumference of our wheel and the gear ratio of our drive system to calculate how many revolutions of the motor would be required to propel the car 50 meters. We then used the specifications of our motor to calculate the volume of gas needed to produce that number of revolutions. Then, using the ideal gas law along with stoichiometry, we calculated the amount of reactants needed to produce the calculated volume of gas. Lil Wayne State is Wayne State University’s first attempt at a pressurized vehicle, and our second time competing at the regional conference competition. Our goal is to strive for excellence while maintaining safety. Team member: Alex Bokatzian, Kenneth Nash, Zach Slavov, Michael Marku, Edvin Murtovic, Stephanie Cox, Matt Lloyd, Matt Melucci, Jay Patel, Malik Johnson, Bilal Hussein We would like to thank the support of our advisors Dr. Howard Matthew and Dr. Jeffrey Potoff. We also want to thank the financial support of our donors: Wayne State University’s Department of Chemical Engineering and the EAGER Initiative at Wayne State University. TOTAL: $855.12 Body $53.84 Pressure System $417.62 Chemicals $67.05 Drive System $316.61 Safety & Environmental Impact The small amount of carbon dioxide released by our motor is not harmful to humans. Our byproducts, unreacted citric acid and unreacted sodium bicarbonate will remain in our reaction vessel and will be disposed of properly in chemical waste containers. In the reaction, the amount of sodium bicarbonate is held constant in the pressure vessel. The citric acid is used as the limiting reagent to control the distance traveled. The data collected for this calibration curve was collected at a constant flow rate into our Gast motor as well as volume of liquids into the pressure vessel.