Team Vista came in second for “Best Global Business Plan” in the 2008-2009 Global Challenge competition. They researched an emerging method for carbon sequestration called Zeolitic Imidazolate Frameworks (ZIFs). You can read about it and see illustrations in Aman's Cogito article. Aman and his teammates also developed a business plan for developing and disseminating the technology. They were on Cogito in September for a forum conversation in Special Events. Read on to see their conversation with their fellow Cogitorians.
Here's a roundup of the team:
Aman, a Cogito member, is a first-year chemical engineering student at Indraprastha University, New Delhi, India.
Ahana, a Cogito member, will be attending King's College London this fall. She'll be studying for her MSci in mathematics.
Santina, a Cogito member, is a senior at Illinois math and Science Academy.
Aditya is a senior at Spring Dales School
Alena is pursuing Aeronautics at Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University.
Q & A with Aman and Ahana for Team Vista
Aman: I think that in today's time people are able to solve problems if they are from a diversified background. I pursued ChemE in a similar quest, to get a good grasp upon the Engineering aspect, after which I plan to continue on a more applied science branch like oceanography or earth sciences. In my free time I love to read science journals, play soccer , chess. I am also an avid bird watcher and like to visit sancturies and natural forest.
Ahana:As Aman said, do ask anything you guys like! Science, nature, physics or math; I hope we have an amazing discussion!
Your article is excellent. I'm from Sri Lanka. I also did a research project with my two friends. It was about oil spills, and we found a material that removed a 0.1 mm thin oil layer -- banana reeds!. It removes 95% of the oil within 6 hours. After this research, we got to participate in the Intel ISEF in Reno this spring. What do you think about oil spills?
Aman: I think your finding is indeed very interesting. What exactly is banana reed, and have you been able to find out what exactly makes its property so special? Is it kind of an organic binding agent, so that the oil sticks to it? As far as I know, a typical sponge merely absorbs water and in the process oil comes in it too. I have heard of other types of reeds like Reed canary etc. but not this. Recently I read in the newspaper that there was an oil slick near Orissa, India. I don't know what oil was it actually but in spite of repeated attempts, they were not able to clear the mess. Oil spills are really bad for the marine life and I hope that your banana reeds find commercial use some day.
How did you each decide on your university course of study? And how is it going so far?
Aman: In my junior year, I was confident that I would take on theoretical physics for the simple fact that the universe intrigued me, and the concept of new mysterious particles was all so fascinating. Particles' colliding at near light speed in a gigantic accelerator does sound pretty cool! However, taking part in 'Global Challenge' back to back for 2 years, plus a series of events, my mind was completely focused on the problem of environment degradation, the changing climate, diminishing biodiversity. I suddenly found myself closer to nature and knew this was my path to take.
As I mentioned in my intro, problems are so interconnected that they are better solved by those people who have a diverse background. Engineering gives you a solid problem solving ability and also includes a lot about optimum utilization of resources. Once I finished my high school, I knew it was either environmental or chemical engineering, from both of them I could see roots leading to the kind of work I intended to do in future, but I choose the latter because chemistry has been of my best subjects.
College has been pretty good so far. Since the first year essentially involves almost the same course for all Engineering branches, we have yet not touched the more detailed part. Besides that the library is definitely there which can provide you load sof information any time. It has been barely a month and a half since I entered college, not many things to like or dislike, but the environment is good, and people are helpful.
Ahana: I was pretty sure I wanted to do math since I was 13. I graduated from high school this spring, and have begun a masters programme in mathematics here at King's College London.
How abundant are these zeolites that ZIFs are made from? How much does it cost to make, say, a liter of them? And what does that mean for their use?
Aman: Natural zeolites are pretty abundant in nature; most of the crust is composed of silicates. According to lab experiments a liter of ZIF 69 (the particular ZIF on which we focused) costs around $60. The cost is definitely high as with most new technologies but it will come down as the product commercializes, and new improved methods are available for their manufacture.
In our Global business plan we compared the adsorption capacity of ZIFs with the absorption capacity of amines which are cheap and used abundantly in cement plants, oil refineries etc. to capture acidic gases. We found ZIFs lead in factors like the rate of intake of CO2, corrosive power, thermal stability, preference of CO2, regeneration costs etc. compared to amine solvents.
I don't know much about carbon sequestration. Could you explain a bit about it, and how your ZIFs could fit?
Aman: There has been much debate about what to do after suppose we capture CO2 from say a fossil fuel power plant. A method known as CCS (Carbon Capture and Storage) is a commonly associated to it. Carbon sequestration is a technique for long-term storage of CO2. It has been found that there are many places where the CO2 can be buried:
- Deep saline formations
- Depleted oil and natural-gas fields
- Coal seams that cannot be mined.
- The CO2 can also be used to pump methane (an important primary fuel) out of oil sites where the gas is found at vast depths
There is still to lot to learn how these sites behave when CO2 is stored in them, and if there is any threat of a leakage. There are some demonstration projects running in Sweden like Vattenfall which are doing some great work.
In the complete process of CCS, the cost of carbon capture comprises of almost 50-60% of the total costs. ZIFs are synthetically modified ZIFs with high surface area and adsorption capacity. One liter of ZIF can store almost 83 liters of CO2! So they are actually very giant sponges.
Ahana: Zeolites are not expensive much at all because they're already used in the catalyst industry, and are basic alumino silicates. What we have discussed in our paper are structurally modified classes of these, that can be prepared in any lab that is sufficiently well equipped.
As for the cost, because the technology is so novel, it is difficult to give it a price tag, but I can confidently say that it is more advanced than what is being used currently for the purpose. ZIFs have a 1:82 liter adsorption rate with carbon dioxide.
Ahana, I see from your Cogito article that you've done research on different subjects - nanotech for catalytic converters, etc. Do you do any laboratory research, and do you plan on going into engineering and continuing in enerygy/environment related research?
I did some laboratory research along with Aman throughout our junior and senior years, at university labs in the physical sciences departments. Mostly, this was to test gold nanoparticles for the water purity properties, or to test wall emulsions for their reflectivities and so forth. Engineering has always been a very interesting option, but I chose math because it underlies all sciences.
Do you think that participating in Global Challenge will/did help you get into university?
Aman: Well, since admission to Indian universities is only through a written examination, extracurricular activities don't count. However, in other internships or summer programs that I joined, Global Challenge really helped me.
Ahana: The Global Challenge did indeed help me a lot in applying to college, not only for the resume, but for the research experience, as well as commitment. I would suggest you try and participate in the competition or anything like it, because it is incredibly academically motivating.
Do you keep in touch with people you know through Global Challenge?
Aman:Are you asking if I am still in contact with my Global Challenge team members? The answer is definitely yes!
Did the two of you notice any cultural differences between you and your teammates, and if so, do you think that it made it easier or harder to work together?
Aman: In the kind of work that we were doing, cultural differences really did not matter, as we say science knows no religion, no gender. We were a whole a bunch of enthusiastic youth who wanted to do science in general and increase our knowledge. But we did discuss our cultural background and religion sometimes because that was kind of fun and interesting and did help in times when we needed a break from the GC stuff.
I took a sustainability course at Johns Hopkins this summer and became moderately interested in the topic. I'll cut right to the chase, seeing as the discussion topic was carbon sequestration: How do you respond to the fact that carbon capture and storage would require an inordinate amount of space (if i remember correctly, some 12 cubic miles) per day to store all of the carbon that is produced. Is it still a feasible option? And, if we decide to use it and use deep-sea storage, what is to prevent a catastrophic leak from happening and destroying the biodiversity in that area, not to mention the surrounding area?
Aman: We tried our best to address this question in our business plan. Our main goal in working on ZIFs was not where the absorbed CO2 would be stored, but finding an effective CO2-absorbing agent. While doing the market analysis, we realized that CO2 sequestration was not a scientifically elaborated topic and a lot amount of work is still being done on it. Questions like those you have put up have been asked.
What would happen if all the CO2 suddenly leaked? How safe are high pressure CO2 carrying pipelines, and will people be willing to let them be installed near their region? And as I have said, more than theory they can only be answered through demonstration projects, and in fact many are in that phase. Another finding was a type of rock known as Peridotite which has which has certain CO2 storing capabilities. More findings like these can make CCS possible but I don't see them widespread in another 10-15 years.
I believe that right now, no technology is complete in all respects that it can really make a mega impact/a real alternate source of energy. Until then, small technologies and processes like solar, wind, biogas, CCS etc. have to be collectively used to yield some result.