Harvard University, Graduate School of Design & School of Engineering and Applied, Sciences
Nano Macro Micro, Fall 2021
Instructors: Jonathan Grinham, Joanna Aizenberg, James Weaver
Collaborators: Mohib Jafri, Muqing Bai, Kevin Gao
Project presented at the 14th International Conference on Climate Change
Carbon capture and storage technology have long been utilized on an industrial scale. To provide the individual agency in addressing climate change, carbon capture technology is speculated for use on a personal scale. Taking inspiration from the pioneer of the first-invented computer, we named the device “Mark-I” to evoke the possibilities of incorporating carbon-capturing technology into our daily routines within a design space at a personal scale.
Mark-I employs mineral carbonation with olivine (MgSiO4) as the carbon-capturing technology to sequester and track carbon dioxide produced in a home environment. The device incorporated a researched-and-designed mechanism that accelerates the mineral carbonation process, actively creating data visualizations and instructions to guide and communicate with users.
The design considers the afterlife of olivine filters. It proposes to occupy the existing recycling infrastructures to maximize the use of olivine based on its material capacity. The design of the material afterlife also includes an awarding system based on the blockchain system. It generates carbon coins in exchange for every batch of successfully reused carbon filters of olivine that is full from sequestering carbon dioxide as raw material for new industrial productions.
system vision: personal carbon capture device
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DESIGN
design iterations: non-domestic scale
design iterations: domestic scale
form prototyping
ux app design iteration
levels of CO2 captured by mark-i is synced to phone app, enabling tracking and reminders for filter replacement
layout diagram
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DEVELOPMENT
CO2 sensor setup
CO2 in & out sensor calibration and data acquisition testing
Scanning Electron Microscope (SEM) imaging & elemental analysis were conducted on various olivine samples to confirm (Mg2+, Fe2+)2SiO4) composition. Images courtesy of James Weaver.
determining most optimum olivine granularity
1/16" was chosen due to high surface area contact and precision as tested through a single tube reactor
single-pass CO2 capture
double-pass CO2 capture increases capture rate by 4 times
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carbon impact analysis using Granta CES 2021
stay tuned for more!