Diesel vehicles are a well-liked selection for these trying to purchase a used automobile in Asia, Europe, and elsewhere. In any case, diesel vehicles price much less to keep up, burn much less gas, and have an extended engine life. Though the pollutant emissions of a diesel engine are lower than these of a gasoline one, it nonetheless emits carcinogens, nitrous oxides, and soot. Older fashions don’t even have the emission-control options that newer ones do.
To cut back emissions, diesel autos use filters that catch exhaust particles and different contaminants. The filters can price hundreds of {dollars} to switch, nevertheless, as a result of they’re made with valuable metals.
Seeking to make alternative filters extra environmentally pleasant and reasonably priced, a workforce of engineering college students from the Bangladesh College of Engineering and Know-how, in Dhaka, designed a carbon-based model with bamboo. The Inexperienced Warriors concept received the US $300 prize for finest impression within the IEEE Girls in Engineering Massive Concept Pitch competitors. The competition’s purpose is to encourage feminine engineering college students and researchers to develop into extra entrepreneurial as a technique to increase the variety of technical startups led by girls.
“We discovered that previous diesel vehicles are a big contributor to CO₂ emissions, and we wished to do one thing about that,” workforce chief Tasmiah Afrin mentioned in an e mail interview.
“Our groundbreaking activated-carbon-based filter represents a big leap ahead in environmental and financial effectivity,” {the electrical} engineering scholar added. “The filters can quickly and successfully seize carbon-based gases from automobile emissions, contributing to speedy enhancements in air high quality and lowered carbon emissions.”
A carbon-based particulate filter
Diesel engines produce extra polluting particulate matter than gasoline engines. As a result of the particles are so small, they will cross simply by a catalytic converter, which is designed to scale back a automobile’s poisonous emissions. Diesel particulate filters subsequently are put in within the exhaust system, usually on the exit of the catalytic converter. The preferred sort forces the exhaust by a ceramic honeycomb construction coated with a skinny layer containing a valuable metallic similar to platinum, palladium, or rhodium.
“Our venture,” Afrin says, “is predicated on a modified air filter for incoming air into the catalytic converter.”
The Inexperienced Warriors’ prototype filter is constructed from bamboo and makes use of carbon granules to additional scale back emissions.
Activated carbon granules in an absorption chamber and metallic mesh kind the filters, Afrin says. Gases cross by both double or a number of chambers. Their prototype is extra aerodynamic and light-weight than present designs used for carbon filters, Afrin says.
“These filters supply a exceptional 5 to 7 % price effectivity enchancment in comparison with present filters, making them a cheaper resolution for carbon seize in automobile exhaust programs,” she says. “Not solely are they cost-efficient, however in addition they boast a powerful absorption velocity. This implies the filters can quickly and successfully seize carbon-based greenhouse gases from automobile emissions, contribute to speedy enhancements in air high quality and scale back carbon emissions.”
She says she believes the workforce’s diesel particulate filter would price lower than a present filter, which due to its precious-metal content material can price just a few thousand U.S. {dollars}.
A system for changing filters
The filters are only one a part of the workforce’s imaginative and prescient for lowering auto emissions. The scholars’ pitch additionally included a transport-management system they’d construct referred to as CarGreenTech and its accompanying smartphone app. Utilizing the app, house owners of older diesel vehicles might buy the alternative filter or prepare for one to be put in. Another choice can be for CarGreenTech to purchase the older automobile, outfit it with a brand new filter, and resell the automobile. The purpose is to increase the life of those older autos, Afrin says.
“CarGreenTech is a platform to make present autos extra climate-positive—which supplies an all-in-one resolution,” Afrin says. “It captures carbon from the diesel engine exhaust by using layered lively carbon filters, upcycling older automobile components by a automobile shopping for/promoting/upgrading business-to-business and business-to-consumer resolution.” A motivator for student-led startups
The workforce additionally consists of Ishman Tasnim, Fahmida Sultana Naznin, and Nusrat Subah Shakhawat. Tasnim is learning industrial and manufacturing engineering, and Naznin is pursuing a level in pc science and engineering. Shakhawat lately graduated from the college with a level in electrical engineering.
The workforce’s mentor was IEEE Member Toufiqur Rahman Shuvo, a lecturer on the college.
The scholars are all members of the IEEE scholar department on the Bangladesh College of Engineering and Know-how.
“IEEE WIE has an amazing impression on giving motivation to scholar startups like us,” Afrin says. “Getting into the IEEE WIE pitch competitors was certainly one of our greatest choices. We had been vastly motivated by the judges and getting an award for our work.”
The IEEE WIE competitors was sponsored by the IEEE Life Members Committee and Sensible WTI, a supplier of IoT/synthetic water administration options. The corporate helps initiatives that goal to contribute to a greener, extra sustainable future.
