Team 4C: Air pollution control Presentation Video https://mediaspace.carleton.ca/media/Team4_PresentationofFindings/1_8thbgqkd

Overview

 Figure 1 depicts an electrochemical sensor that is used for automotive exhaust gas [1]. It depicts gas entering through its membrane to the sensing electrode surrounded by an electrolyte, which is where the electrochemical reaction would occur. In a typical reaction, the electrons would travel through the electrolyte to the counter electrode, creating a current that will travel through the counter and reference electrode. This current is measured and converted to engineering units. Since gas expands and contracts according to temperature, this number may be changed based on readings from the temperature sensor.

Electrochemical sensors are used to detect toxic gas [2]. A common example of an electrochemical sensor is a carbon monoxide detector. They work by detecting the electrons that are gained and lost in oxidation and reduction reactions. Oxidation and reduction refer to chemical reactions that give and remove oxygen from another substance. In the case of an electrochemical sensor, these reactions occur between the toxic gas the sensor is detecting and a working electrode that sits in a liquid electrolyte [2.5]. In a typical reaction, the toxic gas will find its way into the sensor through a membrane. Once the gas reaches the electrode, an electrochemical reaction will occur. This will cause a flow of electrons through a working electrode to a counter electrode, passing through an external circuit on the way. This creates a current that is relative to the concentration of the gas that passed through the membrane. The current is amplified while passing through the external circuit, and the sensor scales the output to represent the concentration of the gas as an engineering unit, in PPM (parts per million).

Photonic Sensors: Tahir

A photonic chip sensor uses spectroscopy in order to measure the amount of methane being released into the air by industrial processes [4]. The sensor uses a small tunable infrared laser to probe for methane in the atmosphere [5]. The energy from the stream of infrared light gets absorbed by the electrons of methane gas atoms [3]. Aside from molecular vibrations, this results in an absorption spectrum to be produced after the analog signal is converted with an analog-to-digital converter. Molecular bonds have specific absorption spectrums based on the amount of energy levels which their atoms encompass. Therefore, the visual data is used to identify and measure the level of methane gas in the air.  Methane gas traps 70 times more heat than carbon-dioxide in a 20 year period [6]. The emissions in Canada primarily come from mining and oil and gas production. As methane is a major proponent of climate change, the data collected will be crucial in predicting impending environmental issues, as well as encourage climate activism.

Analog-Digital Converters: Elisha

Analog to Digital signal converters are used to convert analog signals to digital signals so that they can be transported and stored by the Internet of Things (IoT). Analog signals can represent audio, temperature, pressure, gases, etc. In this project, the analog signals represent the gas levels from the electrochemical and photonic sensors. Analog signals take the form of a sinusoidal waveform shown in Figure 3 above [8]. These signals are then converted by splitting it into multiple sections of equal lengths by the method of Sampling (see Figure 3). The values of each section are then averaged by Quantizing (see Figure 3) and converted to their binary number counterparts through Encoding. Binary numbers are a combination of 1’s and 0’s that makes it easy for computers to read and store the incoming data. The binary numbers are the digital signals that are outputted by the converter. The digital signal is then transported to the Internet of Things to be stored and analyzed which will then be used to find out a way to lessen the air pollution from factories. Air pollution has many risks to a person’s health, which includes an increased risk of heart diseases, strokes, and lung cancer [9]. In Canada, there was an estimated amount of 14,600 premature deaths cause by air pollution in 2015. Gathering the data of the pollutants can help with finding ways to improve the air quality and increase the health of the general population.

Internet of Things: Pranav

The Internet of Things (IoT) is a multi-level control system that connects the electrochemical and photonic sensors to the cloud via the internet [10]. It acts as a backbone to any system that requires information to be collected, passed, sorted and analyzed. The purpose of the IoT network is to allow the secure movement of data from one point to another [11]. Data from the sensors is sorted using aggregation, a technique that involves separating data into multiple clusters which increases the speed that it can be sorted. IoT gateways are the components of IoT that do aggregation[12]. Once the IoT gateway gains access to the data passed onto it by the Analog-Digital Converter, it uses a computer program to perform aggregation. This computer program is built by a programmer who has knowledge of how to manipulate data using a program. Finally, the sorted data is sent to a cloud server where all types of pollution levels can be monitored to find a way to reduce pollution [12].

Electric Traction Motors - Hemil

An electric traction motor is a component of an electric vehicle. It is the main part in electric vehicles that helps to higher the share of the electric power in propelling the wheels in a forward motion. Electric traction motors do not overheat as they contain the coolant jackets as their internal hollow structures [14]. Heat transfer takes place in electric traction motors due to the conductive cooling systems. A coolant jacket involves a water coolant which is a mixture of water and antifreeze [15]. The role of the water coolant is to circulate through the electric vehicle’s engine and maintain the overall temperature of the engine by getting rid of the unwanted heat [16]. At the end of the cooling cycle, the liquid coolant would travel back into the electric traction motor where it gets replaced with hot gas [16]. The cooling process repeats after the heat is released from the internal engine of the electric vehicles. It is said that the electric traction motor can stop functioning if the cooling system stops working. So, electric traction motors and cooling systems are both useful resources in electric vehicles. The process of conduction takes place in the electric vehicles due to the fact that there is a difference in temperature in the system of the electric traction motor resulting in the heat flow [17]. The electric motor tends to provide improved energy efficiency leading to less harmful emissions being released by the electric vehicles. Therefore, it can be said that electric traction motors are more environmentally friendly than the gasoline engines [18].  

References

[1] Cretescu, D. Lutic, and L. R. Manea, “Electrochemical Sensors for Monitoring of Indoor and Outdoor Air Pollution,” IntechOpen, 31-May-2017. [Online]. Available: https://www.intechopen.com/books/electrochemical-sensors-technology/electrochemical-sensors-for-monitoring-of-indoor-and-outdoor-air-pollution. [Accessed: 21-Sep-2020].

[2]Libretexts, “Definitions of Oxidation and Reduction,” Chemistry LibreTexts, 15-Aug-2020. [Online]. Available: https://chem.libretexts.org/Bookshelves/Analytical_Chemistry/Supplemental_Modules_(Analytical_Chemistry)/Electrochemistry/Redox_Chemistry/Definitions_of_Oxidation_and_Reduction. [Accessed: 20-Sep-2020].

[2.5] “How Do Electrochemical Sensors Work,” How Do Electrochemical Sensors Work? - Analytical Technology, Inc. / 1-800-959-0299. [Online]. Available: https://www.analyticaltechnology.com/analyticaltechnology/gas-water-monitors/blog.aspx?ID=1327&Title=How Do Electrochemical Sensors Work#:~:text=Electrochemical sensors are used for,flow through said external circuit. [Accessed: 20-Sep-2020].

 [3] R. Yoshimura, M. Kohtoku, K. Fujii, T. Sakamoto and Y. Sakai, "Highly Sensitive Laser Based Trace-gas Sensor Technology and Its Application to Stable Isotope Ratio Analysis", NTT Technical Review, vol. 12, no. 4, p. 2, 2014. Available: https://www.ntt-review.jp/archive/ntttechnical.php?contents=ntr201404fa7.html. [Accessed 25-Nov-2020].

[4] L. Tombez, E. Zhang, J. Orcutt, S. Kamlapurkar and W. Green, "Methane absorption spectroscopy on a silicon photonic chip", Optica, vol. 4, no. 11, p. 1322, 2017. Available: https://www.osapublishing.org/optica/abstract.cfm?uri=optica-4-11-1322. [Accessed September 19, 2020].

 [5] Xiong, C, “Silicon Photonics Packaging for Optical Interconnects and Integrated Sensors,” ISPEC Technical Digest, pg. 6, Dec. 2018. [Online]. Available: https://www.researchgate.net/publication/332862046_The_8th_International_Symposium _on_Photonics_and_Electronics_Convergence_-Advanced_Nanophotonics_and_Silicon_Device_Systems- _Technical_Digest/figures?lo=1. [Accessed 25-Nov-2020].

[6] Government of Canada. “About methane emissions,” November 26, 2020. [Online]                Available:https://www.canada.ca/en/environment-climate-change/services/climate-change/global-methane-initiative/about-methane-emissions.html. [Accessed: 26 November, 2020]

[7] Sunny Classroom. “PCM - Analog to digital conversion,” Youtube, November 16, 2018 [Video File]. Available:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HlGJ6xxbz8s. [Accessed: September 21, 2020].

[8] Elbert, Bruce R.. (2008). Introduction to Satellite Communication (3rd Edition) - 5.1.2 Analog-to-Digital Conversion. Artech House. Retrieved from

https://app.knovel.com/hotlink/pdf/id:kt011LZZH1/introduction-satellite/analog-digital-conversion

[9] Health Impacts of Air Pollution in Canada: Estimates of morbidity and premature mortality outcomes. Government of Canada/Gouvernement du Canada: Health Canada/Canada Santé, 2019.

[10] Open Automation Software, What is an IoT Gateway? (2020, October 06). [Date Accessed 28 October 2020] Retrieved from https://openautomationsoftware.com/open-automation-systems-blog/what-is-an-iot-gateway/

[11]  T. Riedel, N. Fantana, A. Genaid, D. Yordanov, H. R. Schmidtke and M. Beigl, "Using web service gateways and code generation for sustainable IoT system development," 2010 Internet of Things (IOT), Tokyo, 2010, pp. 1-8, doi: 10.1109/IOT.2010.5678449.  https://ieeexplore-ieee-org.proxy.library.carleton.ca/document/5678449 https://app.knovel.com/hotlink/pdf/id:kt011LZZH1/introduction-satellite/analog-digital-conversion

 [12] VanderPlas, J. (2016, December). Aggregation and Grouping. [Date Accessed: October 12, 2020] from https://jakevdp.github.io/PythonDataScienceHandbook/03.08-aggregation-and-grouping.html

[13] "ELECTRIC CAR | Car Construction", Car Construction, 2020. [Website]. Available: https://www.newkidscar.com/electric-car-construction. [Accessed: Sep. 23, 2020].

[14] "Why electric vehicles require cooling systems", Mes-insights.com, 2020. [Website]. Available: https://www.mes-insights.com/why-electric-vehicles-require-cooling-systems-a-942771/. [Accessed: Nov 5, 2020].

[15] "Automobile - Cooling system", Encyclopedia Britannica, 2020. [Website]. Available: https://www.britannica.com/technology/automobile/Cooling-system. [Accessed: Nov 10, 2020].

[16] A. News and J. McIntosh, "How It Works: Engine cooling", Driving, 2020. [Website]. Available: https://driving.ca/auto-news/news/how-it-works-engine-cooling#:~:text=The%20engine%20contains%20internal%20hollow,radiator%2C%20where%20it%20cools%20down.&text=The%20radiator%20cools%20the%20hot,in%20through%20the%20vehicle's%20grille. [Accessed: Nov 10, 2020].

[17] "What’s the Difference Between Conduction, Convection, and Radiation?", Machine Design, 2020. [Website]. Available: https://www.machinedesign.com/learning-resources/whats-the-difference-between/document/21834474/whats-the-difference-between-conduction-convection-and-radiation. [Accessed: Nov 10, 2020].

[18] "Reducing Pollution with Electric Vehicles", Energy.gov, 2020. [Website]. Available: https://www.energy.gov/eere/electricvehicles/reducing-pollution-electric-vehicles#:~:text=Direct%20emissions%20include%20smog%2Dforming,air%20quality%20in%20urban%20areas. [Accessed: Oct 1, 2020].