A Novel Under-Sink Engineered Device to Detect Acidic Chemicals to Convert to Biodiesel

Overview

Many chemicals are present in cleaning, pharmaceutical and personal care products found in school settings, farming, manufacturing and industry businesses which can end up washed down the sink drain and into water bodies where they may impact the environment. This study engineered a novel sink drainage prototype using Arduino/UNO/R3 code for a pH probe/motorized ball valve to communicate when chemicals are poured down the drain, diverting 80% or more of the acidic fluid volumes into a holding tank ≥ 95% of the time. Using an acidic chemical like cooked vegetable oil (pH = 5.3), green chemistry was used to process it to biodiesel with an 85% or better quality test rating. Twenty trials of the basic/acidic mixtures were tested against the prototype coding function and four modifications made to the working prototype. The results of the final prototype tests suggest that on average the pH probe identified the pH of the liquids with more precise range than pH paper, the motorized ball valve was signaled to close/open 100% each time, and 81.66% of the acidic liquid volume was routed to a holding tank. The biodiesel averaged a 99.97% purity rating for methanol and an average of 0% precipitate fallout after 72 hours for biodiesel conversion testing. Today, the adequate supply of uncontaminated groundwater and water coming from wastewater going back into surface/ground water is crucial for the health of our NM families, but also for the growth of agriculture production and cutting-edge industry in New Mexico and across the globe.

Competition history

• JSHS 2023 Category not listed

Resources

• National JSHS abstract book ↗

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