Using a chemical reaction to propel a model vehicle over a specified route and braking after exactly nine meters. That is the goal set by “ChemCar” – a car race of a very special kind. There is also particular emphasis on the environmental friendliness of the products used to create the chemical reaction. Innovation, realization, and presentation all contribute to the overall assessment. The 8th ChemCar competition took place recently in Bruchsal on the occasion of the annual meeting of the expert committee for process, apparatus and systems engineering. Students of the University of Bremen came first place and took away the prize of € 2,000.
The student team called BremChem made use of their orientation project in process engineering to develop the concept that won over the panel of ChemCar judges. Fabian Pille, Bennet Brüns and Sven Wittfoth are all students of engineering management in the Faculty of Production Engineering – Mechanical Engineering and Process Engineering. Their Idea: A motor functioning as a closed system. They created overpressure by mixing baking powder and vinegar in a closed tank containing two chambers: one filled with water, the other for the reaction. Via a membrane, the overpressure is transferred to the chamber with water. Opening a tap in the water chamber causes it to flow through a nozzle onto a paddlewheel that subsequently drives the vehicle. An impressive presentation of their project and the excellent “driving” performance were a convincing combination. Part of the competition was to bring the vehicle to a stop after exactly nine meters. The vehicle developed by the Bremen team came to a halt just 12 centimeters too far – that of the runners up overshot by more than a whole meter.
The students were aided by Sven Schopf, a research assistant in the area of mechanical process engineering led by Prof. Lutz Mädler. They also received valuable assistance from the people in the workshop run by the Faculty of Production Engineering.
If you would like to have more information about ChemCar, please contact:
University of Bremen
Faculty of Production Engineering (FB 4)
Institute of Materials Engineering (IWT)
Prof. Dr.-Ing. habil. Lutz Mädler
Phone: +49 421 218 512 00
e-mail: lmaedlerprotect me ?!iwt.uni-bremenprotect me ?!.de
and
Isabell Harder M. A. (Communications)
Phone: +49 421 218 511 88
e-mail harderprotect me ?!iwt-bremenprotect me ?!.de
