ARKZ

EXPLORING VENUS TOGETHER WITH ARKZ

High-Level Project Summary

We have developed an energy storage system that uses carbon dioxide and lithium nitride to create energy which is then stored. When the two elements are combined, it results in an exothermic reaction meaning that they create a large amount of heat which is then used to create energy. The gas turbine that is used to combine would be fully covered in material that is heat resistant and won't get affected by acidic rain allowing the energy stored to not get harmed. This is important as it solves the problem of being unable to store energy and the problem of rovers not being able to travel far and explore further land.

Link to Final Project

https://educationwaeduau-my.sharepoint.com/:p:/r/personal/raagavy_jagannathan_student_education_wa_edu_au/Documents/ARKZ%20(1)%20(1).pptx?d=w6e750c37803c459f852c222b7412c286&csf=1&web=1&e=iK7qJg

Link to Project "Demo"

https://educationwaeduau-my.sharepoint.com/:p:/r/personal/raagavy_jagannathan_student_education_wa_edu_au/Documents/ARKZ%20(1)%20(1).pptx?d=w6e750c37803c459f852c222b7412c286&csf=1&web=1&e=iK7qJg

Detailed Project Description

Our idea for a power storage system that will land on Venus and charge a rover, or a surface lander generates energy using carbon Dioxide, which will be collected from Venus’s atmosphere and Lithium nitride which will be brought to Venus by spacecraft. We will bring 500kg of Lithium Nitride. We have estimated that we need 450 kg of lithium Nitride for our project to carry out and charge the rover for it to last 60 earth days on Venus. Though our estimated amount is 450, we will bring an extra 50 kg of Lithium Nitride in a prepared case of conflict in our plan.

The Carbon Dioxide and Lithium Nitride will be put into a reaction vessel resulting in an exothermic reaction. The reaction vessel will then let out two things: heat and elemental waste. The heat will be used to generate the actual energy by getting put into a gas turbine. The reason the heat will be able to generate electricity is because of its very high temperature of 1000 degrees Celsius. The gas turbine when rubbed with metals will send out electrons, thus creating our energy/electricity.

The generation system and storage system will all be in one place. The energy will be stored in small, rechargeable batteries which will then be collected by the rovers to use. We will assume that the rover has inbuilt capabilities of being able to obtain the rechargeable batteries and putting the obtained batteries back. We will also assume that when the rover originally comes it will have energy to last for as long as it takes to reach the energy storage place. The entire architecture will be covered with a dome made out of Teflon-Tantalum Carbide Artificial material that is acid and heat resistant so that it can survive the temperature of Venus.

The rechargeable batteries will allow the material to last long and get reused which is sustainable to the environment and much cheaper, rather than making multiple single use batteries.

The dome will have a small hutch that will open when the rover goes near it as we will install a censor system. The hutch will open allowing the rover to enter. The interior design will mostly be made out of Teflon-Tantalum Carbide Artificial material to prevent the inside from getting damaged. The only structure inside the dome that will not be made out of Teflon-Tantalum Carbide Artificial material would be the generator itself. The generator though will be protected by and interior wall to increase safety.

The dome will be dropped by a spacecraft or rocket (depends) onto Venus. To prevent the dome and the things inside of it from damaging we will make a large parachute made out of 3M™ NEXTEL™ CERAMIC FABRICS. This fabric can perform at continuous temperatures of 13000 or higher meaning that the heat of Venus will not affect the parachute. the parachute will still be attached to the dome after land but since it is on the outside it will cause no harm and won't be a threat.

The dome and all the structures inside will be prefabricated. This is because humans can’t go out onto Venus and manufacture it themselves without dying. Rovers can’t manufacture in on Venus for they won’t be able to obtain enough energy pre hand to manufacture.

The dome can be placed anywhere on Venus, depending on where there is less acidic rain so that the parachute won't get damaged. We have no designated spot on Venus in which we will land our dome.

Space Agency Data

We used Nasa websites to understand more about our topic.

To get more detailed info about Venus:

https://www.nasa.gov/venus

To learn about how to find nitrogen:

https://mynasadata.larc.nasa.gov/interactive-models/nitrogen-cycle-game

To get a general knowledge about Venus:

https://spaceplace.nasa.gov/all-about-venus/en/

To understand the previous explorations on Venus

https://solarsystem.nasa.gov/planets/venus/exploration/?page=0&per_page=10&order=launch_date+desc%2Ctitle+asc&search=&tags=Venus&category=33#ancient-observers

Hackathon Journey

As this was our first hackathon ever, our overall opinion would be that it was fun. Our shared interest in science had helped us be able to work together better and understand each other's ideas. We got to extend our knowledge on Venus, it's atmosphere and mostly chemistry. We faced some difficult and hard challenges but with the support of our fellow team members and with the amazing help of one the mentor, Kevin, we managed to solve our problems and come up with brilliant ideas. We really enjoyed this process of exploring the internet and our thoughts to solve our chosen challenge together as a team. We changed our plan a lot as we kept on finding faults and areas for improvement, but that worked in our favor as with each change we received a far better product with a more reliable plan. In conclusion, our hackathon journey was very productive with a lot of ideas and brainstorming allowing us to come up with a stable plan that will be able to charge a rover on Venus that will last for 60 days if not more.

References

BIBLIOGRAPHY

Perth | Exploring Venus Together