The Chemical Engineering Car Team is a team of students that design and run a car powered and controlled entirely by chemical reactions.
For competition, there are many requirements that must be met. First and most important, the car must be started and stopped by a chemical reaction. Secondly, it must be able to carry a container ranging from 0 to 500mL of water. Last but not least, the car must be able to travel a specified distance, between 50 and 100 feet.
The distance and amount of water are not given to the teams until one hour before the competition. Teams use a variety of methods to accomplish their vehicle, from acid-base reactions and hydrogen fuel cells to air-die grinders. The possibilities of approaches to run a car are endless. The Grubby Mobile uses a combination of an organic clock timer and a hydrogen fuel cell to run and stop itself. The fuel cell converts hydrogen to electricity that can operate the motor. The organic clock timer is a reaction called the “Blue Bottle” reaction. We use a photocell to detect the blue solution color change to clear, and this breaks the circuit.
AIChE Chem-E-Car Competition Website
