Chemical engineering team wins Chem-E car contest

Published April 17, 2019

A team of Long Beach State students and "The Tank," a small vehicle powered by the energy generated by a chemical reaction, won a recent chemical engineering competition -- but it wasn't easy.

The Chem-E-Car Competition, sanctioned by the American Institute of Chemical Engineers (AIChE),  demands student teams "demonstrate the ability to control a chemical reaction" by designing small cars that can haul a load of water for an assigned distance.

During Long Beach State's first attempt, however, The Tank refused to operate. But the team had another shot, so after some tinkering and troubleshooting, the chemically-powered vehicle sped off to avictory

Long Beach State earned the win at AIChE’s Western Regional Conference, which convened at USC earlier this month.

Members of Long Beach State’s contingent called themselves “Team Tank” and came to the regional Chem-E-Car Competition with vehicles designed to travel 15 to 30 meters with a fuel supply of up to 500 milliliters of liquid. On the day of the event, the teams were given two hours to prepare their vehicles to complete a specific task - travel 17.2 meters with a fuel load of 163 milliliters. Team Tank’s vehicle stopped within 2.24 meters of its 17.2-meter predetermined limit, earning a spot in the international competition in Orlando in November.

“We knew we were close,” Team Tank co-captain Anthony Reyes said.

The Tank was powered with an aluminum air battery made with steel mesh, aluminum foil, activated carbon and potassium hydroxide. An iodine clock reaction stops the car. When a solution darkens from clear to opaque, an LED light dims, cutting off the signal to the car’s motor at a predetermined time.

Rather than using a traditional chassis, Team Tank opted to 3D print the vehicle’s components. The products used in the chemical reactions—ascorbic acid, potassium iodide, hydrogen peroxide and starch—are all commercially available and safe to handle.

The Tank team had only 45 minutes to figure out why the vehicle didn’t operate on the first run, so they went through their processes methodically, making sure there wouldn’t be rolling during its second run.

“It was definitely a good feeling,” Reyes said. “We got it to run and got close to the mark.”

Before the team heads to Orlando to compete at the international level, Reyes said they will have to do additional “tweaking and troubleshooting”.

Evelyn Muro, who participated in the Chem-E Car competition last year, was co-captain of the team this year. She said she was impressed with the resolve of Team Tank.

 “Our team tackled every issue we faced and managed to solve it without ever giving up. It was amazing to see that our hard work and dedication really paid off,” she said.

The team was advised by Chemical Engineering assistant professor Ted Yu, who has expertise in electrochemistry and batteries, and Chemical Engineering Advisory Board member Mack Knobbe, an oilfields chemical operations director with SIGNa Chemistry. Chemical engineering lecturer Michael Hom assisted with logistics.

“This is a great achievement,” Yu said. “It’s not just this year’s team, but the teams for the last 10 years left a lasting legacy for every following year.”

Fellow team members all chemical engineering majors, include Diana Portillo, David Luong, Julio Zuniga, Sean Blydt-Hansen, Calvin Ho, Siwanet Ratanasiripornchai, Randolph De Leon and Brenda De La Torre.

 “This is strong encouragement for the whole department,” said Roger Lo, chair of the Chemical Engineering Department.