Practical 10
Week 14
Teammates Present: Nelly, Jovan and Trumann
Written By Trumann
This session, there were attempts to make the crude prototype leakproof. Initially a pipe was connected directly to the cap and then glued on with sealant glue. The problem with this was that the glue would come loose should the pipe be moved excessively. To counter that issue, a rubber bung with a hole for the pipe was used instead. A new sealant glue that was suggested by the TO was used and proved to be easier to apply than the flex glue and goop glue the team used previously. The potential of this new glue will be observed over the course of the following sessions. The air-tightness test was done and it was still leaking air. After some trial and error, it was found that the leak points were at the sides of the cap. After extensive use, it seems like the cap does not fit on the plastic container as snugly as before. Tape was used to secure the cap onto the plastic container and the air-tightness test was run again, which it passed.
Crude prototype with new cap
Experimental set up
Thus, the electrolysis experiments could continue again. The 2 KOH with chitosan dissolved prepared the previous session was used and kept afterwards for further research into how time affects the chitosan and KOH mixture. The results obtained were puzzling as the team expected the gas produced to be at a higher amount as compared to electrolysis of KOH. Instead, the rate of gas production was slightly slower. A retest of the KOH solution will be done with the improved prototype to ensure that the previous results collected are valid. Further research will also be done on whether the chitosan has to be fully dissolved before mixing it in the electrolyte.
