WEEK 2

 

-Date: 29/4/21-

In Week 2, it was time for us to start conceiving ideas 💭💭 as we had already been informed of what was required of us in the long run - Creating a chemical product. 👷💪🔨🔧

As our tutorial lesson in week 4, Thursday 13/5/21 would be affected by a public holiday 🎉🥳- Hari Raya Puasa, Dr Noel used our ICPD practical slot on Tuesday to make up for the affected tutorial lesson in Week 4 - Thursday as our first practical would begin in Week 4, Tuesday. 

On Tuesday's lesson many of us felt really lethargic 💤😴 so Dr Noel tried his utmost best to spice up the lesson and liven the energy 💥 in the class. He showed us some TikToks and asked us to do morning stretches to get our blood flow running as we would require a lot of energy in order to generate as many ideas 💭💭 as possible. Moreover, he tried to give us a taster to idea generation by asking all groups to use a marker and imagine it to be many things. For example Jerome held the marker and told us "Look guys, its a knife!🔪😈 I use this to stab others." while Kai rong said the marker is an iron to iron clothes.👚 

1) IDEA GENERATION💭

After the ice-breakers, pre-lesson activities, Dr Noel explained to us what Idea Generation was. 

Basically, Idea Generation aims to generate large quantities of ideas which can then be filtered and cut down to the best and most practical to work on.

Throughout the tutorial lesson, Dr Noel kept repeating this one line : 

"Think of something that IRRITATES😑 you, something that could make your life easier🌈". 

Honestly, when he said that we were all quite taken aback because most of us are fortunate enough to lead privileged lives so what could possibly irritate us❓

Yet, we started to brainstorm together 👊 and came up with many ideas, organised below:

Thermal ♨ (conservation of energy applicable to individual)	-A cup that can make its own ice-🧊🧊 surrounding water vapour in air condenses and than the cup freezes it and makes ice -A plate/bowl that makes use of light/heat♨ energy to keep food warm because food 😋☕will go cold if left out too long -Reverse engineered hoodie that cools you down instead of keeping you warm because Singapore is hot ☀⛅no matter the amount of clothing you wear. Maybe promote air circulation and make use of ice/wind🧊 -Portable aircon - How to create an air conditioner that runs on sustainable energy ♻ or consumes lesser energy with good output⚡
Biomass/Food🌱	-Device in the neighbourhood that can convert fruit skins 🌽🍊, food waste, human waste to electricity/energy ⚡🏭for the house. - A container that can preserve food longer/ increase shelf life of any kind of food - Extracting nutrients from food waste - Create a device that can extract the most amount of fruit juice 🍹🍊 from fruits.
Solar🌞	- create a device to increase the efficiency of solar cells 🌞- typically because the purity of the material in solar cells is low as an alloy, energy output is low and expensive 💸 - Creating a device to effectively filter sediments in reservoirs to produce purer water for drinking 🌊/ a device to filter algae or sediments in ponds to allow better sunlight penetration🌞 - Wireless charging station for electric cars 🚗using renewable energy such as solar energy.  - Harvest and use solar energy to increase the speed at which clothes 👚 dry  - Create a device that absorbs UV light from fluorescent light to minimise UV radiation
Wind💨	-Installing smaller scale wind turbines on the rooftop of HDB flat 🏠 to generate electricity for household use.

After coming up with several ideas, we then started to rationalise the ideas we had as we asked 💬🧠ourselves :  " Is this idea feasible?", "Do we have the resources i.e. ($, knowledge, time, experience, equipment) to bring this idea to life?", "Are we even creating a chemical product?", "How will this chemical product be effective?”,  "Who is our target audience?", "What do we hope to achieve from this product i.e. what problem will it solve?". 

We asked Dr Noel for his opinions and advice on which ideas were acceptable - within our reach and which ideas we couldn't consider. 

The following table sums up the ideas that we rejected ╳ or had been rejected by Dr Noel and the reasons behind the rejection :

-A cup that can make its own ice- surrounding water vapour in air condenses and than the cup freezes it and makes ice -Reverse engineered hoodie that cools you down instead of keeping you warm because Singapore is hot no matter the amount of clothing you wear. Maybe promote air circulation and make use of ice/wind -Portable aircon - How to create an air conditioner that runs on sustainable energy or consumes lesser energy with good output -Device in the neighbourhood that can convert fruit skins, food waste, human waste to electricity/energy for the house. - A container that can preserve food longer/ increase shelf life of any kind of food - Extracting nutrients from food waste -Create a device that can extract the most amount of fruit juice from fruits. -create a device to increase the efficiency of solar cells - typically because the purity of the material in solar cells is low as an alloy, energy output is low and expensive  -Create a device that absorbs UV light from fluorescent light to minimise UV radiation -Installing smaller scale wind turbines on the rooftop of HDB flat to generate electricity for household use. -Creating a device to effectively filter sediments in reservoirs to produce purer water for drinking/ a device to filter algae or sediments in ponds to allow better sunlight penetration -Harvest and use solar energy to increase the speed at which clothes dry

We weren’t exactly sure what the point of the idea was or rather which chemical engineering processes would be applicable to create this idea as it sounded more like ‘magic’ than science We were afraid the idea would be counterproductive as the hoodie’s material would insulate or keep one warm since its made of fabric and the extent of cooling wouldn’t be as great, thus leading to the possibility of the idea failing.  Dr Noel told us we wouldnt have the resources to create a portable aircon thus this idea is out of our means.  Dr Noel told us we wouldnt have the resources to create this product and thus this idea is out of our means.  Dr Noel asked us what problem we were trying to solve through this product and he pointed out that this product’s target audience would be restaurant owners or targeting the Food and beverage industry more and so we shouldnt take on a major problem but rather focus on smaller solve-able issues.   Honestly none of us were really enthusiastic about this idea so we ruled this out.  We werent sure again what the outcome or desired objective of this idea was i.e who would benefit from this and we realised again this was a large scale problem. There already is a device - fruit juicer and we didnt know how else to possibly improve on this idea so we ruled it out.  Dr Noel told us these ideas are out of our reach and only a person like Elon Musk could bring them to life. This idea could be dangerous as it involves UV radiation moreover, it is out of our reach to create a product like this.  This idea already exists moreover, Singapore doesnt have adequate land space for this to happen. Also this is a large scale idea - wrong focus of target audience. None of us were enthusiastic about this idea so we decided to scrap it.  For harvesting solar energy we would require solar panels which is out of our reach.

As you can see above the bulk of our ideas was ELIMINATED! We felt extremely dejected and our brains were running low on juice. We were all very hungry and couldn’t wait to have lunch after the ICPD lesson. So we started discussing about food, food deliveries….

AHA!🌟

After brainstorming 🧠, we thought about the vast food deliveries 😋that are very common these days via apps like Foodpanda, Deliveroo, Grab Food etc. Especially during the circuit breaker period as reported by the Business Times: "Takeaway food rose by almost a fifth per week when lockdown measures were in place and there was a 73 percent surge in delivered meals, according to estimates from an online survey conducted by National University of Singapore alumni on 1,110 respondents."  Businesstimes.com.sg. 2020. [online] Available at: <https://www.businesstimes.com.sg/consumer/singapores-food-delivery-surge-during-lockdown-highlights-waste-problems> [Accessed 12 May 2021].

Based on our personal experiences as well as after researching and reading various surveys online e.g reported by yahoo!finance in 2018, Food service distributor US Foods which sought to gain insight into the food delivery landscape surveyed 1,518 adults who have used a delivery app at least once found that the top frustration among delivery app users was that food is not always delivered warm or fresh, a complaint cited by 17% of respondents. Finance.yahoo.com. 2018. Yahoo is now a part of Verizon Media. [online] Available at: <https://finance.yahoo.com/news/slow-delivery-cold-food-top-181347616.html> [Accessed 12 May 2021].

As we researched and analysed more about this area, we realised that there were more people who shared such sentiments like us who were irritated 😤 about food going cold when left out too long whether it was from food deliveries or in school or in offices. Moreover, if there isnt a microwave or oven readily available especially when we are not at home e.g in school🏫, offices etc we would have no choice but to eat food cold which would ruin the experience of savoring every bite!😋

Thus, after eliminating the bulk of our ideas, we decided to do the following topic: 

✅Context: Food will go cold if left out too long.

✅Problem statement: It is difficult to heat food outside our own homes. Eg, microwaves/ovens are not easily available outside.

✅Need: I need a way to heat up food on the go.

✅Chosen area/topic: A portable heater powered by renewable energy sources for the heating of food

After selecting the area  for what chemical product we want to design for this module , we learnt that we are also required to do literature reviews📃 for the chosen area.

2) What is a literature review?📝

It is a survey of literature such as books, articles, write-ups, and other sources that help you address the important issues, theories, and concepts relevant to your research area.

3) Why do we need to do a literature review? 

It is important as it examines sources relevant to your research area and aims to provide a critical evaluation and summary of them. It also helps to critically analyze the information gathered by identifying gaps in current knowledge for e.g. showing the limitations of theories and point of view. The main reasons as to why literature review is important is that

1. Allows for assessment of the current state of research on a topic 

2. Identification of experts on a particular topic 

3. Identification of key questions about a topic that need further research

4. Helps steer clear of plagiarism.

4) What makes good literature review? 

There are 5 main points that make a good literature review which are:

1. Source must be relevant and reliable

2. Must lay a strong foundation for the research topic

3. Narrow enough to eliminate irrelevant information

4. Wide enough to cover enough required on the subject

5. Strike a balance between sources supporting and opposing a particular aspect or argument.

5) Types of Resources available for writing our literature review

1. Internet Search Engines (Google, Youtube etc)
2. Books (physical and e-books)
3. Peer Reviewed Journals (accessible via SP library website)-> A MUST!!!
4. Educational Video Databases (accessible via SP library website)
5. Past Year FYP reports (accessible via SP library website)
6. Subject-matter experts 

-Our Literature Review📌-

	Resource Type Peer-    reviewed journals, Internet search engines, books, etc.	Title Article title, book title, etc.	Author (s)	Methodology Experimental, non-experimental, survey, interview, qualitative, etc.	Currency of Research State the year of publication	Main Research Question (s)	Major Finding (s)	Similarity State any similarity in major findings observed among resources	Identified Research Gap (if applicable)
1	Peer     -Reviewed Journals	Comprehensive        Analysis and Specifications of Energy Efficient Portable Heater (EEPH)	Akshita Ahuja, Sukriti Beri,    S. M. Khatawkar,     H. V. Mehtre	Qualitative	2018	-Using a semiconductor to reduce the power consumption for the portable heater	-Using a Peltier Device operated as a cooler will cause difference in temperature to build up -Efficiency of the heater can be increased by increasing the number of peltier plate module which will eventually help in increasing the temperature in less time -Device is able to keep food hot for 3-4 hours	-Solar power was used to power the battery for the device	N/A
2	Peer-Reviewed Journals	Variably insulating portable heater/cooler	Potter; Thomas F.	Qualitative	1998	-Provide effective compact vacuum insulation that can be enabled and disabled. -Provide compact vacuum insulation that has improved passive control devices for switching the insulation "on" and "off" in response to changes in temperature.	-An air outlet of the apparatus, responsive to a temperature sensitive control mechanism, maintains a consumer-selected temperature and thereby moderates the ambient temperature in the vicinity of the apparatus. -The shell exterior to the surrounding stainless steel vacuum enclosure preferably incorporates a thermally buffering plenum airspace and spacers to maintain the airspace. -A feedback control mechanism maintains the outlet air temperature at an optimal level, with control algorithms that integrate	-Solar power was used to power the battery for the device	N/A
3	Book	Portable solar cooker and water heater	Ali A. Badran, Ibrahim.A Yousef, Nourreddine K. Joudeh,     Rami Al Hamad,      Hani Halawa, Hamza K. Hassouneh	Experimental	2010	-Making a portable heater that was not only single use but for different purposes	-Device could boil 7kg of water at 20 degrees in 1h -The highest efficiency obtained for this mode was 77% and the slope of the efficiency curve was −10.63 W/m2 °C.	-Through power optimization, efficiency of te devices can be increased	-Portable heaters  were not readily available, and they are made for a single use -There is a problem of circulation between the absorber and the tank, however, that has to be solved either by increasing the diameter of the collector/absorber or increasing the tank height or both. But the first solution will affect the radiation reaching the collector efficiency which will reduce this efficiency. -
4	Book	Power optimization for defrosting heaters in household refrigerators to reduce energy consumption	Haijun Jeong, Sungjoon Byun,         Dong Rip Kim, Kwan-Soo Lee	Experimental	2021	-Enhancing the performance of defrosting heaters  -	-The heater power and defrosting time were reduced through power optimization, thereby increasing the defrosting efficiency up to 6.7%. -Defrosting efficiency was highest at the heater power ratio of around one unless the frost accumulation  m∗ is smaller than one.	-Through power optimization, efficiency of te devices can be increased	N/A
5	Peer-Reviewed Journal	A Microwave and Ohmic Combination Heater for Uniform Heating of Liquid–Particle Food Mixtures	Won Choi,    Loc T. Ngyuen,  Seung Hyun Lee,          Soojin Jun	Experimental	2011	-Using microwave and ohmic combination heating to improve uniformity of heating of foods	-Under ohmic heating, the liquid was heated faster by 18.9 °C after 250 s -Liquid–particle temperature difference was reduced as the combination heating proceeded, and came to be less than 2 °C at the end.	-Through power optimization, efficiency of te devices can be increased	-The prediction errors for sample temperatures ranged from 5.7% to 11.6%.
6	Blog	Coagulation to Caramelization: How Heat Affects Food	Alyssa Burns	Experimental	Nil	-Why food reacts the way it does when it’s heated up.	-Plant- and animal-based foods are made up of proteins. When heated, proteins break up and lose moisture making them change from a liquid/ semi-liquid to a solid (Coagulation) -When starches are heated, they absorb liquids around them, softening  starchy foods. Starches can also be used for thickening purposes. (Gelatinization) -Heated sugars (added/naturally-occuring) tend to turn brown and change flavor.. (Caramelization)	-Effects of food being heat up	Nil
7	Peer-Reviewed Journal	Examining for possible non-thermal effects during heating in a microwave oven	Asher Shazman, Shimon Mizrahi, Uri Cogan, Eya Shimoni	Experimental	2007	-Whether athermal effects are associated with microwave radiation, and to measure the extent of the phenomenon if it exists.	-No mutagenic effect of the absorbed high power microwave radiation, at least during the time range of this experiment.	-Effects of food being heat up	-The task of detecting athermal effects during thermal processes, and the ‘cleaning’ of the thermal contributions to the observed phenomena, may be extremely difficult.
8	Internet Search Engines	Why Do We Cook Our Food and What Happens When We Do?	Nil	Qualitative	2010	-Why is it needed for food to be cooked?	-Bacteria exist in raw foods and cooking kills the bacteria -Cooking brings out the nutrients in food allowing the body to digest the nutrients	-Benefits of heating food up	Nil
9	Blog	Hot Meals or Cold Meals, Which is Better for You?	Guest Author	Qualitative	2020	-Having a hot meal is good for you	-The human digestive system works better with foods and liquids that are at warmer temperatures as lesser effort is needed to digest the food. -Nutrients from hot food are more easily absorbed. This makes more nutrients available to the body.	-Benefits of heating food up	Nil

No.	Reference
1	Akshita Ahuja, Sukriti Beri, S. M. Khatawkar, H. V. Mehtre, 2018. Comprehensive Analysis and Specifications of Energy Efficient Portable Heater (EEPH). Available at: http://www.ijrar.com/upload_issue/ijrar_issue_792.pdf [Accessed 5 May 2021]
2	Potter; Thomas F. 1998.Variably insulating portable heater/cooler. Available at:  https://www.osti.gov/biblio/871862 [Accessed 5 May 2021]
3	Ali A. Badran, Ibrahim.A Yousef, Nourreddine K. Joudeh, Rami Al Hamad, Hani Halawa, Hamza K. Hassouneh, 2010. Portable solar cooker and water heater. Available at: https://www-sciencedirect-com.sp.idm.oclc.org/science/article/pii/S0196890409004750 [Accessed 5 May 2021]
4	Haijun Jeong, Sungjoon Byun, Dong Rip Kim, Kwan-Soo Lee, 2021. Power optimization for defrosting heaters in household refrigerators to reduce energy consumption. Available at: https://www-sciencedirect-com.sp.idm.oclc.org/science/article/pii/S0196890421003034 [Accessed 5 May 2021]
5	Won Choi, Loc T. Ngyuen, Seung Hyun Lee, Soojin Jun, 2011. A Microwave and Ohmic Combination Heater for Uniform Heating of Liquid–Particle Food Mixtures. Available at: https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1111/j.1750-3841.2011.02413.x?casa_token=CO2fQPODoSQAAAAA%3AIYuWvsu_j7iVXa8BXEogqDDyeg7inE42w9bokVMjeQz-VvD1PYiFrivjo7NnSPM03JDgjFk_PLe0CjqJ [Accessed 5 May 2021]
6	Alyssa Burns, n.d. Coagulation to Caramelization: How Heat Affects Food. Available at:  https://www.webstaurantstore.com/blog/1918/how-heat-affects-food-during-cooking.html#:~:text=When%20they're%20heated%2C%20the,process%20called%20coagulation%20in%20food. [Accessed 8 May 2021]
7	Asher Shazman, Shimon Mizrahi, Uri Cogan, Eya Shimoni, 2007. Examining for possible non-thermal effects during heating in a microwave oven. Available at: https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0308814606006704?casa_token=GW9IdeYR-SkAAAAA:ABQap0tZ3H8qRt2n4Qd5zCMXQBIa7adbAhse33jtL7GvvclmfS9UQ2o_Np0WL2glsvotQV6GYGkv [Accessed 8 May 2021]
8	2010. Why Do We Cook Our Food and What Happens When We Do? Available at:  https://www.eufic.org/en/food-safety/article/the-why-how-and-consequences-of-cooking-our-food [Accessed 8 May 2021]
9	Guest Author, 2020. Hot Meals or Cold Meals, Which is Better for You? Available at: https://www.luncheaze.com/hot-or-cold-meals-which-is-better-for-you/#:~:text=Hot%20Foods%20are%20Easier%20to%20Digest&text=The%20human%20digestive%20system%20works,down%20nutrients%20in%20the%20food. [Accessed 8 May 2021]