OSU ChE Students Compete at 2008 National Chemical Reaction Powered Car Contest

Hydrogen Peroxide and pureed beef liver fueled OSU’s "Juke Box Hero" at the 2008 National AIChE chemical reaction powered car competition. There were 33 cars in the finals, and our team placed in the middle.

Steve Castlebury, Josh Hamit, and Brandy Hill, were the juniors on the car team that won the local competition in the spring, then at the regional competition in Lincoln, Nebraska, received a berth to the national contest for this fall.  Now as seniors Brandy, Josh, and Steve ran their car at the national competition in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.

Josh, Brandy, and Steve prep the car at Nationals.  Steve is ready to push to “Go” valve.

Each year, teams of OSU ChE juniors and sophomores build a shoe-box sized “car” that is powered by a chemical reaction.  The competition requires the car to carry a payload and stop closest to the finish line.  Rather than a speed race, the competition challenges students to precisely control a chemical reaction that performs a particular function, within safety, environmental, and cost practices.

Brandy reports, “We had to transport 250 milliliters of water 60 feet in under two minutes.  Cornell University placed first at an amazing 0 inches on their first run.”

Seven OSU Teams have qualified for National competition in the past 7 years.

Students must apply their knowledge of chemical reactions, fluid dynamics, and thermodynamics in the car design; and through a poster session present and explain their choices relative to car performance as well as aspects safety, environmental impact, and reliability.  At the OSU local competition, engineers and scientists from Chevron Phillips Chemical Company judge the student poster presentations and ability to answer questions about their car design and analysis. 

Chevron Phillips Chemical Co. also provided the funds to support the activities, buy parts for the cars, provide dinner, buy the team shirts, and provide travel support for our teams to participate in regional and national competition (wearing the team shirts that clearly indicate the OSU teams). 

Their car, “Juke Box Hero”, used pureed beef liver to catalyze the decomposition of hydrogen peroxide to oxygen gas.  Pressure from the gas pushed a piston attached to a geared “rack” that drove the wheels.  At our local competition, their car had a lot of initial power, and with insufficient weight on the front wheels, it would do a “wheelie”.   Students modified the car for improved precision.       

We are especially grateful to the six years of continual support from Chevron Phillips Chemical Co.  Their financial gift supports all aspects of the competition, and the personal participation by their employees provides strong affirmation to the students that the curriculum topics, “co-petition”, safety and environment, teamwork, quality of presentation, and comprehensive student development are important enough to warrant high-level corporate interest.

Special thanks to Dr. Sundar Madihally who coordinated the year-long event at OSU, and to Dr. Karen High who willingly integrated the activity into her junior-level reaction kinetics class.

Thirty-three teams competed at Nationals.  Here is the prep room.