What Was This Project?
As we further our studies into chemistry, our next project centered around water treatment and the chemistry involved with this. The task we were assigned was to design a product dealing with the treatment of water to be presented to the Novato Sunrise Rotary. My group (consisting of myself, Izagani Aquino, and Gigi Vasquez) made the choice to tackle the issue of non-flushable materials clogging municipal sewer system. The biggest problem causing substances are flushable wipes, which don't dissolve in water, yet claim to be safe for flushing. After doing extensive research and consulting the Novato and Alto Sanitary Districts, we devised our solution; that being to install bioreactors with the bacteria Ideonella Sakaiensis at city pumping stations to break down flushable wipes, while allowing bodily waste and water to continue through the sewer system. We created a pseudo-company in which to carry out our plan. This web-page includes our presentation, business plan, key concepts from the project, and my reflection.
Our Presentation:
Our Business Plan:
Concepts Used In This Project:
Enzymes- Proteins that act as a biological catalysts that speed up the rate at which reactions occur. They do this by decreasing the amount of necessary activation energy for that reaction to occur. In our project, we utilized the enzyme PETase to accelerate the breakdown of polyester.
Substrates- The reactants of an enzyme-induced reaction that bind to the enzyme. The polyester of the flushable wipes are the substrates in the PETase-induced reaction.
Active Site- An enzyme competent that bonds to substrates in order to kick start a chemical reaction.The active site of an enzyme is specifically shaped like that of substrates it bonds to. In the context of our project, the active site of PETase is where it bonds to polyester.
Enzyme Concentration- The abundance of enzymes within an area where a reaction is taking place. As the enzyme concentration increasing, so does the rate of reaction, until it hits the point of saturation. At the point of saturation, as there aren't enough substrates to make the reaction go any faster, the rate of reaction flat lines. In our hypothetical experiment, the enzyme concentration is what is being test.
Bioreactor- A type of tank that uses a chemical solution to dissolve substances. Bioreactors the means in which the flushable wipes are broken in our proposal.
Solution- A mixture of solutes and solvents in an eventual liquid form. The chemical solution inside of the bioreactor is the solution of our project.
Solute- A substance that is dissolved into a solvent. The remaining flushable wipe resin after the enzyme breaks down the polyester are the solutes of the bioreactor reaction.
Solvent- A substance that dissolves a solute. The flushable wipe resin gets dissolved by solvents once they reach the bioreactor.
Solubility- How well, under certain conditions, a solute dissolves in a solvent. To calculate solubility, the formula is (grams of solute/grams of solvent). In our project, solubility could have been used to measure how well the remaining resin of the flushable wipes will dissolve.
Polarity- The phenomenon of different regions of a molecule having different charge. Water is an example of this, with its positively charged hydrogen atoms and a negatively charged oxygen atom. While polarity wasn't directly involved in our project, its an important to understanding solubility.
PET Plastics- Plastics formed from the resin of polyester bonded together through chemical bonds. Like most plastics, they are non-polar and petrochemicals. The flushable wipes that our bioreactors break down are constituted of PET plastics.
Ideonella Sakaiensis- A bacteria that breaks down PET plastics, by way of the enzyme PETase, as a source of energy. The bacteria was discovered from a sample in 2016 found at a recycling center in Sakai, Japan. Ideonella Sakaiensis is the bacteria found in our bioreactor that breaks down flushable wipes.
Substrates- The reactants of an enzyme-induced reaction that bind to the enzyme. The polyester of the flushable wipes are the substrates in the PETase-induced reaction.
Active Site- An enzyme competent that bonds to substrates in order to kick start a chemical reaction.The active site of an enzyme is specifically shaped like that of substrates it bonds to. In the context of our project, the active site of PETase is where it bonds to polyester.
Enzyme Concentration- The abundance of enzymes within an area where a reaction is taking place. As the enzyme concentration increasing, so does the rate of reaction, until it hits the point of saturation. At the point of saturation, as there aren't enough substrates to make the reaction go any faster, the rate of reaction flat lines. In our hypothetical experiment, the enzyme concentration is what is being test.
Bioreactor- A type of tank that uses a chemical solution to dissolve substances. Bioreactors the means in which the flushable wipes are broken in our proposal.
Solution- A mixture of solutes and solvents in an eventual liquid form. The chemical solution inside of the bioreactor is the solution of our project.
Solute- A substance that is dissolved into a solvent. The remaining flushable wipe resin after the enzyme breaks down the polyester are the solutes of the bioreactor reaction.
Solvent- A substance that dissolves a solute. The flushable wipe resin gets dissolved by solvents once they reach the bioreactor.
Solubility- How well, under certain conditions, a solute dissolves in a solvent. To calculate solubility, the formula is (grams of solute/grams of solvent). In our project, solubility could have been used to measure how well the remaining resin of the flushable wipes will dissolve.
Polarity- The phenomenon of different regions of a molecule having different charge. Water is an example of this, with its positively charged hydrogen atoms and a negatively charged oxygen atom. While polarity wasn't directly involved in our project, its an important to understanding solubility.
PET Plastics- Plastics formed from the resin of polyester bonded together through chemical bonds. Like most plastics, they are non-polar and petrochemicals. The flushable wipes that our bioreactors break down are constituted of PET plastics.
Ideonella Sakaiensis- A bacteria that breaks down PET plastics, by way of the enzyme PETase, as a source of energy. The bacteria was discovered from a sample in 2016 found at a recycling center in Sakai, Japan. Ideonella Sakaiensis is the bacteria found in our bioreactor that breaks down flushable wipes.
Reflection:
Overall, both myself and my group are very satisfied with how this project turned out. One of the most successful aspects of our assignment was the flair we added to our presentation. Instead of simply presenting the science behind our project, we went a step beyond to make our presentation both formal and engaging. In order to achieve this, we dressed in formal attire, made up a pseudo-company to which our product would be sold under, and made a business plan handout for the judges. By doing this, we exemplified the "Communication" aspect of the NUSD 6 C's. Another facet we flourished with was our unique approach to the project's prompt. While most groups opted to make a water filter, we decided to target sewer systems. We made this choice by keeping in mind the judges for our presentation, who could relate to our sanitary related project. Our actions for this part of the project stresses "Critical Thinking," as we were able to think practically about what the best issue for us to solve would be.
For everything that we went well in our project, we still had our shortcomings. For one, our time management as a group could have been much better. We had a slow start to our project, with the bulk of the project being done in later half of project work days. While the final product turned out well, it could have been better if we had a more efficient start. This falls under "Conscientious Worker," and is an issue present in my last project. Seeing as this is a returning issue, I will double down on this for next semester's projects. Another failing of my group was how our presentation dragged a bit longer than it should have. With our presentation exceeding 20 minutes in length, we should have done a better job at being concise and to the point instead of meandering. This shows that there is still room for improvement for me in "Communication" component of the 6 C's. This will be another thing I will work to improve on for next semester.
For everything that we went well in our project, we still had our shortcomings. For one, our time management as a group could have been much better. We had a slow start to our project, with the bulk of the project being done in later half of project work days. While the final product turned out well, it could have been better if we had a more efficient start. This falls under "Conscientious Worker," and is an issue present in my last project. Seeing as this is a returning issue, I will double down on this for next semester's projects. Another failing of my group was how our presentation dragged a bit longer than it should have. With our presentation exceeding 20 minutes in length, we should have done a better job at being concise and to the point instead of meandering. This shows that there is still room for improvement for me in "Communication" component of the 6 C's. This will be another thing I will work to improve on for next semester.