Ingrid's Day 7 Sr.Project

Ingrid Wu's Day 7 Blog

May 15 2023

30 minutes test with KOH

In my previous tests, I utilized Ca(OH)2 as the catalyst in the carbon capture process. I set the time as 30 minutes to see the certain decrease of the CO2 level in a fixed period of time. In order to make comparison study between KOH and Ca(OH)2 study, I tested KOH performance with the amount of 5 grams, 10 grams, and 15 grams, accordingly, each for 30 minutes. 

However, the effect of KOH is better than I expected, so I shortened the test time for each trial to 15 minutes and got the following data. 

According to my observation the increase of the KOH concentration in 2L of water have an positive effect on the absorption rate of CO2. 10 grams of KOH in 15 minutes' trial can show a decrease of 997 ppm, while 15 grams of KOH in 15 minutes' trial shows a decrease of 1466 ppm. The sharp decrease despite other variables can be due to the increasing concentration. 

Also, every time, when I was cleaning the box with the used KOH solution, I can see the solution became less transparent and more opaque compared to the solution I just finished mixing. The slight white color of the solution could be the CO3 converted by the CO2. However, I do not have techniques to distinguish that by myself, so this could only be an hypothesis. 

I will redo the same test tomorrow to get a more accurate result of the test. 

Total Hours: 49h

Work Hour: 7h