Project Notebook (Full process and information here, I recommend looking at the “Further Analysis of the Olfactory System and Aromatherapy” and “Further Analysis of Steam Distillation” ) read the full notebook here
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Project Intro
The most effective and the best way to maintain proper hygiene and stay sanitary is to wash your hands. However, in everyday life, soap is not a viable option given certain circumstances such as being in the car, waiting in line for an ice cream cone, or after handling money. During the 2020 COVID-19 pandemic, hand sanitizer flew off the shelves almost as fast as toilet paper and masks. Because of this, manufacturers cheapened their formulas sacrificing smell and healing properties to make them quicker and cheaper. Even after all of this, it was still exceedingly difficult to acquire hand sanitizer from almost all common stores, resulting in people wanting to create their own formulas at home. This is good because it did encourage good hygiene practices in theory, but what many people did not know was that there has to be a certain percentage of alcohol to truly disinfect effectively. Additionally, many of these (and store bought) sanitizers were not healing in any ways. Hand sanitizers tend to dry out hands because they essentially strip away the natural oils in the skin. Many pure soaps do this as well. Lastly, especially in the emotionally and socially complicated years in quarantine, depression and stress levels skyrocketed but people didn’t have access to many resources to help them through hard times. There have been many studies suggesting that there is a strong link between smells and emotion as well as memory. By using aromatherapeutic scents such as orange and ginger in a refreshing blend, we can bring small doses of happiness and safety to the community.
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Ingredients
70% isopropyl alcohol: This disinfectant agent eliminates most of the germs. The CDC recommends a 60% or greater solution.
Aloe Vera gel (Makerspace made!): We cut fresh aloe vera leaves in the Makerspace and scraped out the gel. We strained it and purified it several times to remove the fibers. This creates a moisturizing and healing effect of the sanitizer. It also is the main cause of the pink-ish color of the sanitizer because the vitamins that are perishable ferment.
Xanthan gum: This is commonly used to thicken drinks or desserts but we are using it to achieve a gel-like consistency.
Glycerin: This is both to moisturize and thicken the handsanitizer.
Ginger Essential oil: It smells nice! Aromatherapy is a known way to relieve stress. In many studies, smells have also been linked to memory and the ability to recall events making it a tool used in dementia institutions.
Orange Essential oil (Maker space made!): Using steam distillation, we were able to separate the oils from the orange peels. This contains another natural disinfectant called limonene, which is also found in many other citrus fruits. This also has the classic citrus smell and also carries the benefits of aromatherapy.
More to come; Last edit May 15, 24
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Engineering and Design Process (Full order)
1: Define a problem, Especially during COVID, it was really hard to acquire hand sanitizer and rubbing alcohol but everyday people have fruits and plants around the house. Depression and stress were also factors that highly affected the quality of life. What is something can improve public health both mentally and physically. (A: Is this problem justifiable? Yes, this is a problem that has plagued our community and even after COVID, colds and flus still exist, along with mental challenges.)
2: Generate concepts, We can use steam distillation to create a disinfectant from everyday items found in the fridge. Linalool found in lemons and limonene found in oranges have antiseptic properties. The smells could also be healing. (B: Does this problem exist? While normal hand sanitizers do exist, many of them smell really bad and they remind people of hospitals which can be stressful. Another solution is to make color changing band aids that can make people happy while also being an essential in home first-aid kits. B: Yes they do, and at a very affordable price. There is a lot of choice in color and design too. Our last solution was an Islamic perfume called attar (ittar) which is a spiritual fragrance. The pleasant smells from steam distillation can relieve stress due to the benefits of aromatherapy while spiritually healing people. B: Yes, but attar is somewhat expensive at prices of $22 on the cheaper end. It is very beneficial to be able to deliver an easily made formula to many people who can even customize their scents.)
3: Develop a solution, We decided to develop a hand sanitizer. We began with creating the base so that we had a basic (scentless) sanitizer that followed CDC health recommendations regarding ratios and such. We also began to think about what kind of scent can tie in the cultures of our homes (because the smell of home makes us happy). (C: Is the solution valid? Yes, it is completely doable within our material, time budget, and skill constraints.)
4: Construct and test the prototype, The steam distillation was really really challenging. For some reason, it wasn’t working. We had diced the orange peels but most of the pith was still connected so we figured that it would be better to try again. The room smelled sweet and really great, like oranges though! (D: Is the prototype valid? No)
3: Develop a solution, We removed the pith and decided to use a smaller beaker (250 ml, not 500). We thought that this would improve the results because the dark orange skin was what had the most oil, so the first test simply wasn’t concentrated enough, and the bottle was so big it wasn’t heating properly. (C: Is the solution valid? Yes, t makes sense that to produce a yield, that we would need to increase concentration of the source.)
4: Construct and test the prototype, The distillation still wasn’t working. It still smelled really good and there was moisture at the bottom of the vacuum adapter but it wasn’t coming out as a liquid. (D: Is the prototype valid? No)
3: Develop a solution, Because we were able to smell the orange, it must’ve meant that it was still a gas even though it passed through the condenser. There must have been a way to cool down the inner pipe, so we did research on how to cool it when we found out that there was a way to run cool water in and out of an outer tube to properly condense the oils. (C: Is the solution valid? Yes, it makes sense that because it was coming out as a gas, it had a strong scent and needed to be condensed and cooled.)
4: Construct and test the prototype, The steam distillation worked! Tears were shed, six hours (3PM to 10PM) on a Friday night (because we are so cool) finally paid off. The process was slow but it worked. However, when we went to extract the oil that was successfully separated from the water, it was overwhelmingly water. (D: Is the prototype valid? Finally!)
5: Evaluate solution, In the future, we need to increase the concentration of orange peel so that for every “x” amount of water that is distilled, an amount of oil is also distilled but at a higher proportion to the amount as if there was, say, twenty times the amount of water to oil. This solution is also extremely impractical. In a business setting, it is very expensive for an astonishingly low yield of wanted product. It takes a lot of energy to eat the dissipation flask, cool the condenser water, and it takes a lot of labor to manually separate the two at the end. It takes a long time to distill and it does not yield very much. There are other solutions such as cold press which extracts the oil by crushing substances heatlessly and fermentation.
6: Present Solution, Maker Faire 2024! We plan on displaying the distillation apparatus to inspire interest and excitement for the design process away from a purely mechanical-engineering standpoint. We displayed the actual natural raw materials such as the oranges and the aloe to show the true source of the project was plants. Finally, we gave out 100 samples of our product to advertise ourselves as designers as well as the SELC PLTW program in which we represent, and finally the design process.
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References Davis. (2012, July). how to steam distill with steam distillation – Search Videos. YouTube; ChemSurvivor. https://www.bing.com/videos/riverview/relatedvideo?q=how+to+steam+distill+with+steam+distillation&&view=riverview&mmscn=mtsc&mid=995CE8E7DCD5BD3D3405995CE8E7DCD5BD3D3405&&aps=0&FORM=VMSOVR
Diy Terpene Hand Sanitizer | Peak Supply Co. (n.d.). Peak Supply Co. Retrieved May 1, 2024, from https://www.peaksupplyco.com/diy-terpene-hand-sanitizer
Igarashi, M., Ikei, H., Song, C., & Miyazaki, Y. (n.d.). Effects of olfactory stimulation with rose and orange oil on prefrontal cortex activity – PubMed. PubMed. Retrieved May 5, 2024, from https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/25453523/#:~:text=Olfactory%20stimulation%20by%20rose%20or,%22%20and%20%22natural%22%20feelings
Lindberg, S. (2020, July 6). How to Make Hand Sanitizer: A Step-by-Step Guide. Healthline; Healthline Media. https://www.healthline.com/health/how-to-make-hand-sanitizer
Osmanski, S. (2020, April 7). How to Make Hand Sanitizer With Fresh Aloe Plant. Green Matters; Green Matters. https://www.greenmatters.com/p/hand-sanitizer-fresh-aloe-plant
Sowndhararajan, K., Kim, S., & Vierstein, H. (n.d.). Influence of Fragrances on Human Psychophysiological Activity: With Special Reference to Human Electroencephalographic Response – PMC. PubMed Central (PMC). Retrieved May 1, 2024, from https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5198031/#:~:text=The%20sense%20of%20smell%20plays%20an%20important%20role,functions%2C%20which%20are%20measured%20by%20an%20electroencephalograph%20%28EEG%29.
Steam Distillation | How Does It Work?, Types & Advantages. (2019, October 31). Chemistry Dictionary. https://chemdictionary.org/steam-distillation/Thompson, A. (2018, March 22).
Extracting limonene from oranges | Experiment | RSC Education. RSC Education; RSC Education. https://edu.rsc.org/experiments/extracting-limonene-from-oranges/692.article