Air Pollution Science Fair Projects and Experiments Abstract

Steps:

We zeroed down to the room used by the transportation in-charge of our school just adjacent to the swimming pool. On 3rd of July 2007, at around 9:30 a.m., we got a cooler fitted in that room. Switching on the cooler was not really very effective as the humidity level was very high.

In the summer vacations, we had read about a few chemicals that could absorb moisture from the air and keep it cool. The following chemicals were then procured fro the experiments to be performed:
* ALUMINIUM SULPHATE
* ALUMINIUM QXIDE(ALUMINA)
* Activated Charcoal
* Silica Gel
* Bentonite Clay (montmorellinonite or fuller’s earth) (Na.Ca) 0.33, (Al, Mg)
2Si4O10(OH)2(H2O)n
* Aluminium Phyllosilicate

We did away with ALUMINIUM SULPHATE because from the Internet, we found that in 2005, the U.S. Food and Administration no longer recognized it as a wetness reducer. It is also corrosive. And ALUMINA is hazardous.

Finally we found that Bentonite Clay was the most effective of all. Now we come to a conclusion that there were two (2) ways to increase the efficiency of the desert cooler even during humid conditions: ? To increase the rate of evaporation ? To use an air filter such that the air being thrown by the cooler into the room would lead to thermal comfort.

PREPARATION OF THE AIR FILTER

A paste of Bentonite Clay is applied on a sieve and is suitably placed in front of the cooler fan. Cool air from inside the cooler when passes through the sieve, is cooled further and the cooling effect increases. It is a two (2) stage process:

* In the first stage, warm and humid air strikes the pads of coolers and is pre cooled. Then the air passes through the water soaked pads and becomes cool but humid. So the air thrown out by the cooler has very high moisture content, which is in the uncomfortable zone. In the months of July and August, there is already a lot of humidity and this causes extreme discomfort.

* In the second stage, this cooled air passes through the the sieve containing bentonite clay which is hygroscopic in nature, absorbs water content from the air and brings the relative humidity to a comfort level.

Results:

We applied an air filter in front of the fan of the e-cooler which had the covering of bentonite clay over it. This layer absorbs moisture and helps to control humidity.

The metal body of the cooler was replaced by the body made by bamboo. This structure is much eco friendly than the other one as the metal consumption is very high in developing nations. This structure is also very convenient for the people in rural areas as bamboo is easily available over there. Moreover, bentonite clay is easily available. All they need to buy is a fan with a pump.

We compared the cooling effect by desert cooler without and with mesh. The data of the comparison is given below:

July2nd - 38oC, 94%

Without mesh Temperature oC Relative humidity % 37.4 93 36 92 34.8 95 33.2 94 31.7 96 With mesh Temperature oC Relative Humidity % 37.7 91 36.3 88 34.8 83 31.5 79 29.9 74 14th July- 34oC, 95% Without mesh Temperature oC Relative Humidity % 33.6 95 33 93 32.2 91 31.3 92 30.5 90 With mesh Temperature oC Relative Humidity % 33.4 93 32.1 90 31.6 85 30.2 81 29.8 76 21st July- 36oC, 92% Without mesh Temperature oC Relative Humidity % 35.4 90 34.8 91 33.9 89 32.3 88 31 89 With mesh Temperature oC Relative Humidity % 35.6 91 34.4 88 33 83 32.1 79 30.2 74 4th August- 30oC, 97% Without mesh Temperature oC Relative Humidity % 29.8 97 29.1 96 28.2 94 27 93 26.3 94 With mesh Temperature oC Relative Humidity % 29.6 95 28.2 92 27.5 87 26 83 24.8 77 10th August- 38oC, 90% Without Mesh Temperature oC Relative Humidity % 37.6 91 37.2 89 36.5 88 35.2 88 34.4 86 With mesh Temperature oC Relative Humidity % 37.8 87 37 84 35.7 80 34.3 75 32.1 72 17th August- 35oC, 93% Without mesh Temperature oC Relative Humidity % 34.3 93 33.8 90 33 92 32.3 91 30.7 89 With mesh Temperature oC Relative Humidity % 34.2 90 33.1 87 31.4 81 30 77 28.9 73 7th September- 32oC, 87% Without mesh Temperature oC Relative Humidity % 31.3 89 30.9 87 30 86 29.2 88 28.8 87 With mesh Temperature oC Relative Humidity % 31.1 86 30 81 28.8 79 27.4 75 26 71 18th September- 28oC, 83% Without mesh Temperature oC Relative Humidity % 27.6 81 27 83 26.5 82 25.9 81 25.4 80 With mesh Temperature oC Relative Humidity % 27.5 82 26.8 79 26.1 75 25.5 71 24.9 69 25th September-27oC, 80% Without mesh Temperature oC Relative Humidity % 26.8 78 26.3 80 25.9 82 25.5 82 25 81 With mesh

You too can win first prize by doing excellent science fair projects like this one.