ChemCar
The students have the task of developing a concept for a model car and implementing it so that the vehicle can cover a distance as precisely as possible. The basic requirement is that the car is powered by a chemical reaction. The work is carried out in teams of 3-7 students over the course of a year, starting in the winter semester. The team has the task of organizing its own work. The group reports at least once a month on the results achieved and the planned work. The work ends with a final presentation of the car created as part of the Chemcar competition, an event organized by Processnet (an initiative of Dechema and VDI/GVC), where the car is tested for precision. The work will be evaluated by a jury consisting of company representatives. The team will also give a presentation at the Dortmund University Days.
2023
The ChemCar team (Simon Baier, Jyotimay Baishya, Henrik Bettin and Maximilian Kattner) from the BCI department achieved an excellent 3rd place in the ChemCar 2023 competition with their DOpportunity and won the competition's poster prize with the accompanying poster.
As usual, special emphasis was placed on an innovative concept. The ChemCar's stop reaction uses a neutralization reaction between sulphuric acid and barium hydroxide to control the absorption capacity of a superabsorber. A mechanical connection between the stirrer of the reaction vessel and the drive of the ChemCar stopped the ChemCar when the superabsorbent swelled. A galvanic cell consisting of a half-cell with a zinc anode and sodium hydroxide as electrolyte and a half-cell with a copper cathode and copper sulphate was used for the drive reaction.
The ChemCar team from the BCI faculty achieved an outstanding 3rd place in the 2021 ChemCar competition with their pHantastic Car.
This result is all the more remarkable as it is the first time in the history of the competition that a biocatalytic process has been used to power the vehicle.
The team (Frederike Heinen, Jana Klüppelberg, Thorsten Luttmann, Fabian Marischen, Thilo Nissalk, Arthur Schiller and Mark Zaunbrecher) used the enzyme catalase, which is used to drive two phase-shifted, parallel-connected piston motors via the decomposition of hydrogen peroxide.
The team also broke new ground in the stopping reaction and used a pH clock for the first time.
The jury awarded the highest number of points for the drive concept to Dortmund due to the innovation of the technology used.