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Design Proposal
There is an abundance of Styrofoam in our landfills and in the wild, that degrades into microplastics that work their way into the ecosystem. Its lightweight, insulative nature combined with a low manufacturing prices has made Styrofoam clamshells ubiquitous in landfills, and unfortunately in the form of litter as well. Styrofoam is nonrecyclable and takes 500 years to break down.
Designing a closed-loop system for these kinds of plastics must be done, and looking at sequestration is one solution architecture may have a lead in. Alternative insulative materials such as insulative batting made from recycled textiles already have use cases in the construction market, and if we as a society are to put a serious dent in the plastics that go into landfills and oceans, we need to consider every material.
Styrene and Polystyrene make up food-grade clamshells and rigid foam insulation (respectively,) and the chemical relationship means both have insulative qualities, the latter generally extruded (the more thick the sheet of insulation, the higher the r-value.) Therefore, there is a case for stacking multiple sheets of clamshell food containers and seeing how well they insulate. Trash is one of the least expensive materials other than air, and sanitizing the pieces can be relatively simple.
Research Question- Does styrene’s insulative capacity make construction insulation a viable recycling strategy?
Hypothesis- Because of the chemical properties of styrene (Styrofoam) and rigid insulation, food-grade styrene will perform competitively to rigid foam insulation and demonstrate a use case other than landfills for the waste material.
show sketches/diagrams (presentation quality) of your physical artifact.
Designing a closed-loop system for these kinds of plastics must be done, and looking at sequestration is one solution architecture may have a lead in. Alternative insulative materials such as insulative batting made from recycled textiles already have use cases in the construction market, and if we as a society are to put a serious dent in the plastics that go into landfills and oceans, we need to consider every material.
Styrene and Polystyrene make up food-grade clamshells and rigid foam insulation (respectively,) and the chemical relationship means both have insulative qualities, the latter generally extruded (the more thick the sheet of insulation, the higher the r-value.) Therefore, there is a case for stacking multiple sheets of clamshell food containers and seeing how well they insulate. Trash is one of the least expensive materials other than air, and sanitizing the pieces can be relatively simple.
Research Question- Does styrene’s insulative capacity make construction insulation a viable recycling strategy?
Hypothesis- Because of the chemical properties of styrene (Styrofoam) and rigid insulation, food-grade styrene will perform competitively to rigid foam insulation and demonstrate a use case other than landfills for the waste material.
show sketches/diagrams (presentation quality) of your physical artifact.
Mockup
A two-chamber testing box insulated with rigid insulation foam will house testing equipment: temperature and humidity sensor on one end, a small heat lamp on the other. In between the chambers the tested insulation material will be installed during experiments. The temperature and humidity testing equipment will read a baseline, exterior data will be recorded prior to starting, and the test material will be installed in-between the test chambers. The heat lamp will supply a consistent wattage, and the increase of temperature in the opposite chamber will be recorded for a designated duration. Differences between different insulations based on temperature will be compared, and referenced against rigid foam insulation. Humidity is also measured by the DHT-11 and will be recorded, but is not an isolated point of interest in this experiment.
Testing materials will included: Control group of rigid foam insulation structural panel, styrene woven structural insulated panel (SIP), cut square styrene SIP, shredded styrene SIP. See schedule below for staging of experimentation.
Testing materials will included: Control group of rigid foam insulation structural panel, styrene woven structural insulated panel (SIP), cut square styrene SIP, shredded styrene SIP. See schedule below for staging of experimentation.
Materials
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Plywood: $12
Insulation Foam: $13 Heat Lamp: $5 Particle Board: $15 Total: $30 |
Sensors: Already have
Styrofoam Clamshells: Collected |
Schedule
