Infant Jesus Academy

Marikina City

A.Y.2017-2018

INVESTIGATORY PROJECT
SALTWATER FOR ENERGY

Submitted by:

Karl Malaki

Ralph Matthew Lagayan

Arra Faye Repotente

Adara Cabansag

Submitted to :

Sir Malapajo Mabiog

9-STJOHN
 Chapter 1

Introduction:

The Earth is made up of 71% of water. That is why we actually have enough water for
survival.Water,as a part of necessity for living things to survive, It is not only for drinking but it
has a lot of uses as well. One of the types of water here on earth is saltwater .About 97.5% of
saltwater are covering the earth’s surface. It has already a lot of uses but it can also produce energy
which the group will find out.One example could be the production of energy.Salt molecules,a
component of a salt water are actually made up of sodium ions and chlorine ions,and since an ion
has electrical charge,this is actually a good conductor of electricity. Thus saltwater can actually be
another source for us to produce electricity, although there are still a lot of things to improve about
it

Background of the Study:

Since saltwater are made up of sodium ions and chlorine ions that can produce electricity due to
ions that are atoms that contains electrical charge. The water molecules will pull the sodium and
chlorine ions apart so they are freely floating. Thus, this is how ions carry electricity through water.

Statement of the product:

 Will the product be safe?

 Will the product be stable?
 Will the product be able to produce electricity?

SIGNIFICANCE OF THE STUDY

If the study worked this can be benefited by the people who would have electricity shortage by
simply using salt and water in order for them to produce electricity.

HYPOTHESIS

1. Saltwater may be used to produce electricity

2.Saltwater may not be used to produce electricity

MATERIALS

The materials needed for this project will be the following:

 Jar/recycled Bottle
 Salt
 Water
 Aluminum/zinc
 Copper
 Rubberband
 Lightbulb

SCOPE AND LIMITATIONS

The estimated time range of making the saltwater solution may come about 1-2mins since the there
would be a lot of test runs during this part. The saltwater may produce electricity if we make the
solution properly. We will also focus on the conductivity of the saltwater by separating the test
into three setups.

Limitations

The study is hard to produce because it might not work because of the test runs. It is also,the project
itself cannot create much power. This will result to a weaker light source .The study is also limited
because the project that the group will be making are fragile and can be damaged if not handled
carefully.

RRL (Review of Related Literature)

According to Joey D. Ocon, Ph.D. if the saltwater is not the one producing the electrons, then,
which is it? The metal anodes, which are sometimes mentioned in SALt’s interviews and
unfortunately sometimes not, is the powerhouse of the lamp. When the circuit is closed by putting
the saltwater, electrons are generated by the oxidation of the metals. The metals to use should be
a highly oxidizable metals, such as lithium, magnesium, aluminum, and zinc. Lithium, of course,
is much more difficult to handle in humid conditions and especially in water, and this limits to
most metal-air batteries being powered by the last three metals.

During operation of the lamp, the metal anode is continuously dissolved into the electrolyte until
such time when the battery dies and the lamp needs a fresh supply of the metal anodes. As the
elemental metal generates the electrons during oxidation, it’s transformed from a metallic form
into an ionic form with a positive charge. One could easily recover the metal from the solution by
running a current but this requires much higher energy than generated during battery discharge.

The challenge for SALt is how to manage the supply chain for the metal anodes because they
would have to import the metals from abroad, ask someone to make it here in the Philippines, or
to just refine it themselves, and then to distribute it to their lamp owners in the far-flung locations.

It should be mentioned that the metal electrode gets corroded when in contact with the saltwater,
thus eating away the metal and generating hydrogen gas. If the corrosion rate is high, the lamp
owner would have to dispose the saltwater electrolyte frequently or else see the metal continuously
dissolving into the electrolyte even without using the lamp. It’s difficult to avoid this because pure
metals are not really thermodynamically stable relative to their oxidized forms, and this is why it’s
rare to find natural metal ores with high pure metal content.

While the metal electrode has its challenges, the real challenge lies in the catalyst to use as the air
electrode. In the cathode, the electrons generated in the metal anode are taken in and used to reduce
oxygen from air. This reaction is equally important because the speeds of the two reactions must
be at par with each other. Unfortunately, the reduction of oxygen occurs very slowly and this
requires the help of a catalyst to speed it up.

To get the best power performance from the battery and in turn brighter light from the lamp, an
excellent catalyst must be used. Platinum is the best catalyst for doing the job but it is extremely
expensive. Most likely, SALt's lamp is using a less expensive metal as catalyst in the cathode, such
as manganese or cobalt. This would further add to the cost of the whole system and would have to
be replaced in a few years due to degradation issues. Scaling the production of the cathode, which
would have to be pasted to a conducting backbone such as nickel foam to allow the oxygen in air
to enter, is another serious challenge.

Air electrodes are the most researched component of the metal-air battery due to the big savings
when you can replace expensive platinum as the catalyst. In fact, most patents awarded on this
subject are on the synthesis and production of the air electrodes. As I have shared with Engr.
Mijeno during our short conversation last March, their R&D would have look at this crucial
component of their lamp.

Metal-air batteries with saltwater electrolyte have been around for quite sometime now. You can
even buy toys, which run on this technology in any toy store. As I have understood it, the novelty
in their device is in the use of a “joule thief” to increase the voltage of their battery. When using a
zinc anode, the cell voltage is only around 1.6 volts, which could hardly power any application
including LED lamps. You could avoid using this extra circuitry by combining the cells in series
and parallel connections.

Can their technology be patented? Possibly, but in the current form it is highly unlikely. For an
invention to be patentable, it must exhibit 3 things: novelty, an inventive step, and commercial
value. The latter is easy to prove here, but the first two are difficult. Without patent protection,
anyone can just copy their design and make their own device. If they decide to commercialize the
technology as they are doing now, they might encroach into previously awarded patents on the use
of this technology or its components and face lawsuits.

Of course, they can seek for an “industrial design” protection for the case of the battery and lamp
but that would only protect the design and not the technology. But for the sake of the people who
might benefit from their product, let us hope that the patents for their lamp and battery belong to
the public domain, where everyone can use them freely.

As I see it, metal-air batteries for lighting will only make sense for emergency and back-up
applications and not as the main energy source for everyday lighting. Knowing the challenges this
technology is facing for lighting in remote areas, going solar or having a cranking device with a
rechargeable battery that can power an LED lamp might be a more sustainable alternative and
might be easier to crack.

TIME TABLE

Task Target date Teachers target

Submission of problem title June 28 2018 June 25-29 2018
Writing IP proposal June 30 2018 July 2-9 2018
Submission of IP proposal July 3 2018 July 2-9 2018
Investigatory period July 8 2018 July 9 2018
Submission chapter 3 July 16 2018 September 17-18 2018

CHAPTER 2

METHODOLOGY

Materials:

•Jar/recycled Bottle

•Salt

•Water

•Aluminum/zinc

•Copper

•Rubberband

•Lightbulb

CHAPTER 3
Procedures:

1.Add water to a container

2.Pour salt to the container with water

3. put aluminium with rubber band in the separated jar together with the copper

4.attach the wires to the aluminium

5.pour saltwater to the jar

CHAPTER 4

CHAPTER 5

SUMMARY

According to the researcher’s making salt water lamp can be made by using salt.It can help us by
reducing the use of electricity, With this project it can help everybody due to it’s easy procedures.
It is also eco-friendly that’s why it is recommended to be used and made. As studied by the
researchers, the project can’t cost you a lot of money because you can easily find the materials at
your home and also, salt water lamp is convincing to use especially to those people who really
need lights.

CONCLUSION

The researchers conclude that the experiment wasn't successful, the first attempt in the experiment
is working, though it needed a little bit of adjustment, the second attempt was a failure because of
lack in power, the third attempt was a failure, though the bulb did light up, it wasn't able to give a
lot of energy the bulb needed.

RECOMMENDATION

The researchers recommend this experiment to people that want to save more energy rather than
wasting money for expensive energy bills. It also helps in situations where you can use this
experiment when there is a power outage or when a power pole appears to be in malfunction. The
experiment can teach us the proper use of conserving energy rather than having to not conserve
energy, which everyone would need in a daily basis.