RUNNING HEAD: PROJECT ZEPHYR 1

Project Zephyr

1 June 2017

Kelly Crocker, Vallabi Vallaban, Noah Wong

Acknowledgements

This project was supported by the Governors School at Innovation Park in partnership with

George Mason University. This research would not have been possible without the advice and

support of instructor, Dr. Ales Psaker, and Director, Dr. Jason Calhoun. Finally, the team would

like to express appreciation for the advice and insight provided by the students of the Junior

Physics Mentorship class as well as Mr. and Mrs. Crocker. Thank you!
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Abstract

Pollution is a reality of modern day life that negatively impacts the lives of over 200

million people around the world. This project was designed to draw conclusions about the

locations and concentrations of different pollutants in the atmosphere in and around urban areas

as compared to rural areas. It was hypothesized that the concentrations of carbon monoxide

would be significantly greater in urban areas as compared to rural areas. Data was obtained

through the testing of carbon monoxide levels with detectors commercially available for the

home and modified to give a numerical output in volumetric ppm. The readings from the sensors

were relayed to a Raspberry Pi and retrieved for analysis. The results of this experiment showed

clearly that urban environments had higher levels of carbon monoxide than rural environments;

thus, the hypothesis was supported. The ability to monitor air composition at a relatively low

cost is significant because it would allow manufacturing companies to ensure they remain within

the federal pollution limits implemented by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agencys Clean

Air Act. Routine testing would enable an analysis of data to determine the effectiveness of

various proposed pollution reduction techniques as well.

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Introduction to Project Zephyr

Project Zephyr is an initiative to provide inexpensive long term tools to household and

organizational consumers to raise pollution and environmental awareness. The main goal of

Project Zephyr was to prove not only that demographics impact the ppm of certain pollutants in

different areas, but to develop a sustainable and affordable way for the average American

consumer to discover this information about their environment. Throughout the world, two

hundred million people are affected significantly by pollution each year, and air pollution kills an

average of two million people annually (Pollution Facts). Carbon monoxide (CO), the focus of

this experiment, is common. Produced through the burning of fuels such as gasoline, carbon

monoxide is important because it is present in the atmosphere everywhere due to modern

transportation methods. Not only is carbon monoxide incredibly common, it is extremely deadly

because it takes the place of oxygen in the blood by binding to hemoglobin, thus depriving the

organs of oxygen (Pollution Facts). As such, the amount of carbon monoxide legally allowed in

the United States is only 35 ppm (American Clean). Although this experiment uncovered levels

significantly below this, the concern about carbon monoxide concentration in the air will

continue to grow as transportation using fuels such as gasoline becomes increasingly common as

the population grows and technology spreads and becomes more appealing.

Like most air pollution, carbon monoxide is present in the troposphere, the part of the

atmosphere closest to the earths surface that extends up about ten kilometers. For this reason,

the team planned to design and build a mode of aerial transportation for their data collection

system modified from a common battery powered carbon monoxide alarm commonly found in

homes (Battery Powered). The goal was to compare data captured above urban areas and

compare it to data from urban areas to see the extent to which carbon monoxide, and presumably
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other pollutants, shifted within the atmosphere to achieve homogeneity. However, issues

regarding the weight of the aerial vehicles and the payload itself forced the team to collect data

only from the ground. The team attempted to collect data in the air from both a blimp and a

drone. Sadly, the blimp was too heavy to fly and the payload was too heavy for the drone.

In the short term, the working data collection system would allow homeowners to

monitor the levels of carbon monoxide in and around their home while needing access only to a

computer monitor to analyze the data collected by the Raspberry Pi. Because the team found that

pollution levels were almost 150% higher in more populated areas, this system, if available in

aerial form, would provide a useful tool to manufacturers, gas stations, and commuter hubs as

they strive in the future to monitor the levels of pollution produced by their business. A further

application of this project would be to include a pollutant filter on the aerial vehicle in addition

to simply collecting data about pollution levels. This would allow for the cleanup of certain

pollutants in areas where they are concentrated without adding significantly to the pollution

levels. This system would also provide a tool for the government to monitor compliance with the

Clean Air Act.

The goal would be to produce an aerial vehicle that is has enough lift to contain a payload

of both a pollution sensor and its resultant filter system. To minimize the amount of pollution

that the vehicle itself is producing, solar power could be stored in batteries to permit the vehicle

to operate at night when there are fewer people to fly over (Kantor).
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Question

What effect does population density have on air pollution concentration?

Hypothesis

If the population density of a given area is high, then its atmosphere will have a larger

ppm of pollutants such as carbon monoxide, because of the higher volume of fossil fuel burned

on the ground per unit area.

Null Hypothesis

Pollution levels will not vary significantly with the population density due to atmospheric

dispersion tending towards homogeneity.

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Materials and Methods

Electronics and Programming:

The electronics aspect of the project consisted of designing the layout of the power

distributer, Raspberry Pi, solar panels, motors, and sensor (see Figure 1) The programming

aspect was creating a script in the Raspberry Pi to coordinate the motors and sensor in order to

have the blimp fly in the pre-designed autonomous flight pattern (see Figure 2). This flight

pattern was originally designed to last 20 minutes.

Figure 1: This circuit diagram shows the setup of all the electronic components originally on the

blimp. The parallel battery setup was put in place to maximize the potential available across the

charge controller and allow a certain redundancy in that if a single battery failed then the system

could continue to function.

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Figure 2: This diagram shows the original flight pattern. It was designed to last 20 minutes and

allow the data to be analyzed per its location within a grid.

Implementing the wiring involved both installation into the payload of the blimp as well

as the securing and soldering of wires into place across the surface of the blimp to attach the

solar panels, propulsion motors, and rudder motors.

The team attempted to test with the blimp and, despite the deformation that occurred as

the internal structure of the blimp collapsed, the combination of airtight Mylar and the pressure

from the helium brought the blimp back into shape. However, the blimp was too heavy to fly,

most likely due to the copious amounts of tape used to ensure it was airtight. After the blimp

became no longer viable, the team attempted to attach the data collection system to a drone.

Without the payload container, a portable charger needed to be used to power the system, but it

made the assembly too heavy for takeoff. Finally, the team decided to take ground readings, but

the program had to be altered to simply take data for a shorter, 2 minute period without the motor

control aspects.
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Frame Construction:

The frame of the blimp was constructed of foam insulation board cut according to

measurements calculated in tandem to a set volume. The final calculated set volume of our

dirigible was 2.85 cubic meters (see Figure 3). Upon completion, the foam frame accounted for

approximately 1 kg of the 3 kg allowed by the helium volume as payload.

Figure 3: The blimp frame, constructed from foam insulation board, measured 1.65m by 1.65m

by 2m.

Blimp Sealing:

To seal the blimp, an industrial grade Mylar was used to cover the foam structure. Each

panel was cut into the required trapezoid or triangle specified by the location. Due to human

error while assembling the foam frame, each segment was slightly different as not all the angles
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were the same. The Mylar was attached to the foam and surrounding Mylar pieces with an

aerosolized adhesive, and the seams were covered with aluminum tape to ensure an airtight seal.

Unfortunately, the extra weight added by the tape was significant and contributed to the blimp

being too heavy to fly.

Mechanics:

The two primary mechanical aspects of the blimp were the motors and the rudder. The

main concern for the motors was what speed they could move the blimp at, and this was

calculated using the following formula:

2
= =
2

Where F is the net force due to the motors motor, P is the power assigned to the motors, v is the

velocity at which the dirigible will travel, is the density of the fluid through which the blimp is

traveling i.e. air, CD is the blimps coefficient of drag approximated as 1% of the angle at which

the air is deflected across the face of the dirigible, and A is the blimps cross-sectional area in the

direction of motion. From this it was calculated that the blimps maximum velocity (i.e. when the

forces of air resistance and propulsion are at equilibrium) would be 1.6 m/s in the forward

direction.

The placement of the motors was the result of a need for propulsion, and steering. Two

motors were used to turn the rudder. The program loaded onto the Raspberry Pi autonomously

turned the rudder according to the 20 minute flight plan shown in Figure 2. Three other motors,

with attached propellers, were added to propel the blimp in a forward direction at the maximum

velocity.
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Figure 4: The rudder was designed to be turned by two motors situated on either side. The piece

shown above was the mobile section and was attached to a stationary section secured to the

blimp frame.
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Data and Analysis

Data collection consisted of four separate trials each conducted on the ground for the

duration of 2 minutes. This method was used because the blimp was too heavy to fly and the

payload of the sensor, Raspberry Pi, and portable battery proved too heavy for a common drone

to carry. However, this method of ground testing opened the door to many opportunities as

testing sites became more available. With FAA regulations no longer a concern, the team was

able to retrieve data at a variety of locations including a suburban housing development, a gas

station, and a construction site.

Figure 5: The above graph details the results of the first test that acted as a control to compare

other test results to.

The first testing location for data collection was at the Warrior Retreat at Bull Run in

Haymarket, Virginia, with this site being the rural control test. The data collected at this site

proved to be the lowest out of all 4 trials with a mean value of 0.551724138 ppm of the measured
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CO. This was expected because the site is situated on approximately 40 acres and has the

greatest distance between it and any major roadway out of all the testing locations.

Figure 6: Above are the results for the second test in a suburban setting that show the

concentration of carbon monoxide to be increasing as the testing takes place in more populated

areas.

The second trial was performed in suburban Piedmont in Haymarket, Virginia and is the

first trial done near any significant carbon emissions, although lower in CO levels than later trials

with a mean of 0.827586207 ppm measured. This location was significant because a large

percentage of the population lives in suburban settings, so this data is applicable to the lives of

many. Considering the low levels of carbon monoxide when compared to the legal limit of 35

ppm, suburban settlements seem to be relatively unaffected by the pollutants produced by nearby

urban areas.
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Figure 7: The third trial was significant in that it was performed at a site that was both a gas

station and a construction site, two locations of potentially high carbon monoxide concentrations.

The third trial was performed at the Sheetz gas station in Haymarket, Virginia. The

measurements show a significant increase corollary to the population density of the area as

predicted by the hypothesis. The mean value for this area was the highest of all trials at

5.413793103 ppm. This site was significant because it was an active construction site. This is

one possible reason that the mean concentration of carbon monoxide from this test is

approximately 0.3 ppm higher than the relatively similar site of trial four.
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Figure 8: Data from the fourth trial supports the conclusions drawn from trial 3; gas stations have

carbon monoxide levels more than 150% more than those of the rural control.

The fourth trial was performed at what was suspected to be another high CO emissions

location, the Giant gas station in Haymarket, Virginia. This trial, most probably due to the lower-

traffic time of day it was performed at, had a slightly lower mean value than the previous urban

location with 5.137931034 ppm. Still, this again shows significant increase when compared to

both the rural and suburban locations.

Across all the trials it is clear that locations with higher population densities, and

therefore more fossil fuel-based transportation and machinery, had higher carbon monoxide

levels than both suburban and rural locations. The third trial at Sheetz, with the highest average

concentration had approximately 163.007% more carbon monoxide present than in the control.

This trend was further supported by the fourth trial with an average 161.214% more than the

control. Furthermore, the suburban test site had a higher average concentration than the rural

area, yet significantly lower than both urban test sites. The suburban site yielded an average only
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39.991% more than the rural control. Both facts support the hypothesis that higher carbon

monoxide levels correlate with a higher population density due to increased usage of fossil fuel-

burning machines.
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