12/22/09

Being in high school isn't about to stop two Fort Hays State University students from conducting an experiment to bring carbon-cleaning equipment from power plants into the back yard.

The experiment, conducted by Kansas Academy of Math and Science students Ben Davis, Wichita, and Tyler Clark, St. John, uses sodium hydroxide, or lye, and a filter system to force a chemical reaction that turns a greenhouse gas into a common kitchen cooking ingredient.

"We got the idea from Professor David Keith at the University of Calgary," said Clark. "He originally designed an industrial carbon dioxide filter for industrial processes."

The students, however, set their sights on the consumer market.

"Ideally, if we can get this perfected, it could go into homes and businesses everywhere," said Davis. "If we can get it efficient enough, then enough people could use it, making a big difference."

"A pump pumps the sodium hydroxide through a filter, and as the air moves through the filter, the carbon dioxide combines with the sodium hydroxide and makes the powder," said Davis. "Then you just pull out the filter and shake it out."

The sodium hydroxide solution is made with 30 percent lye and 70 percent de-ionized water, both over-the-counter products.

"You have to be careful when you mix it because it's an exothermic reaction," said Clark. "You have to mix slowly." "Exothermic" means it generates heat.

"Sodium hydroxide is fairly caustic so we are looking at other chemicals that could be used," said Clark. "There are multiple options on the chemical side, so we have a few tricks up our sleeves."

The device needs electricity to power the pump, but Clark and Davis are investigating alternatives to that.

"We're hoping to minimize the use of energy with the use of a solar panel," said Clark.

"Hopefully that balances out the net CO2 emissions," said Davis.

The device removes between 17 and 30 parts per million of CO2 from the air every day.

"This is in addition to reducing emissions," said Davis. "It's not a 100-percent fix, but it helps."

The experiment started out as a project for a climate change class at FHSU.

"We got to choose a project that was centered on climate change," said Davis.

"For the class, it's more of a writing project," said Clark. "It's teaching us how to write a scientific proposal."

The project quickly went further than just a proposal, however.

"We thought the idea was really neat," said Davis. "We wanted to see if we could experiment and tinker with it and take it somewhere."

The experiment is still in the pre-testing stage however, but Davis and Clark are eager to take it further.

"We will have to just take it as it comes and decide where we are going," said Davis. "It could turn out to be completely unfeasible, or if the results show us we can take it further, we might consider building more units and running more tests."

"If we get a final unit all put together and all the kinks ironed out, getting a patent would probably be the first step," said Clark.

The students are part of the Kansas Academy of Math and Science, which allows high school juniors and seniors to attend school on FHSU's campus. The students don't think they would be doing the project if it weren't for the KAMS program.

"We wouldn't have had the class to spark the idea and the equipment to run the tests," said Davis.

"The university is very supportive," said Clark.

"So far everyone has loved it," said Davis.