ChemCar Competition 2014
A team of RWTH students won this year’s ChemCar competition. Seven teams from all over Germany and a team from Lodz University of Technology took part in the contest; the aim was to build a model car propelled by chemical-biological reactions that can be precisely navigated through a test course.
The vehicles have to demonstrate a certain flexibility, as they also must carry a random weight through the test course.
The winning team “Hydrotor” consists of ten RWTH student in chemical engineering and automotive engineering courses of study. The students were supervised by Professor Matthias Wessling and research assistants John Linkhorst, Jan-Bernd Vennekötter, and Stefanie Kriescher.
The “Hydrotor” car makes use of a controlled catalytic reaction turning hydrogen peroxide into oxygen and water. The generated oxygen is led into a tank filled with water; through the resulting pressure the water is pushed through a rotor that propels the vehicle.
Caption: Student team preparing the HydRotor for a drive