[ESC101] Conceptual Design Submission From {W}{2195}

7/29/2019 [ESC101] Conceptual Design Submission From {W}{2195}

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Reduction of Household Chemical Wastage Conceptual Device Design

Central objective (as specified by original design brief):

From the objectives stated in the design brief, metrics and criteria were formulated to help develop solutions. The objectives from the brief that are focused on in this report are as follows:

To increase personal sustainability, design a product which encourages lower levels of toxicity in wastewater by reducing the amount of excess household chemical products used b

The product must conform to a sustainable business model The product reduces the amount of household chemicals used in the home The product must be usable by any person capable o f using the household product itself The product enhances usability of chemical products

We decided to focus on these objectives in o rder to develop user friendly solutions which would present itself in everyday life, as opposed to choosing a d esign which has background roles, making the

the devices impact. In addition, we did not choose to focus on all the objectives, as the omitted few were unrealistic and attempting to fulfill them could not be achieved without unfeasible solutions.

An example of this is seen in the noted objective:

The product should divert household chemicals from the wastewater stream

Diverting chemicals from the wastewater stream would be difficult and costly for non-solids, as it is the most widely implemented method of liquid disposal. Instead, we decided to focus on as

reducing chemical waste from widely conducted actions, which is also in accordance with the above-specified objectives (such as reducing the amount of household chemicals used)

Graphically:

Reducing chemical outflow Reduced chemicals wastage

Referring to the list of objectives we decided to focus on, we can redefine a more suitable criteria. Thus, reframing the original objectives, we obtain the following criteria:


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1. Products impact on Chemical waste reduction within a given time span2. User-friendliness of the product3. Ease of manipulation of the product4. The extent to which the product enh ances the intended use of the original cleaning products5. Marketability of the product to the general public

In order to better formulate how household chemical wastes can be reduced, we found it appropriate to classify different types of household chemical waste. Since the brief did not adequately spe

group of household chemicals to focus upon, we categorized the targeted chemicals into two categories:

Chemical products used for personal hygiene and household cleaning

We focused on these products because are they ar e implemented by the average individual on a daily basis. Based on these two ca tegories of hygiene-enhancing and household-cleaning chemi

conceptual designs for solutions were drafted: two for the hygiene category, and one which implements both.

products.

CLEANING CHEMICALS

We classified the category for cleaning chemicals to include any chemical compounds that are used for the c leaning and maintenance of materials, furniture and livi ng space and are then release

toilets, sinks and soils. Due to the broad nature of this classification is, and since it includes many different forms and types of chemicals, a validated assumption is that there are many different compou

as well as varying appropriate disposal methods for these chemicals. These groups of chemicals include, but are not limited to, detergent, dishwasher fluid, paint, disinfectants, and pesticides. It seems

find a general solution that reduces the release of all mentioned cleaning chemicals into the water supply.

Therefore, rather than directly reducing the waste of these chemicals, we extrapolated that it would be far mor e effective to model our conceptual so lution in a way that alerts consumers what c

releasing into the environment when they dispose cleaning products and promote awareness of the harmful effects of those chemicals.

PERSONAL HYGIENE

Assuming the average North American utilizes perso nal hygiene products daily, and using our experiences to extrapolate that consumers unintentionally w aste hygienic products by either using


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amount or failing to effectively use thus product before it is washed down the drain, a solution is required to better utilize maxima of the cleaning product. In other words, the human interaction with th

chemicals must be redesigned in a way as to optimize efficiency, while the result itself remains constant (e.g. being able to shower using less chemicals, while the quality of the shower remains same).

A hygiene product which is commonly lost or wasted during usage is toothpaste. Since toothpaste is relatively i nexpensive (the average tube of Colgate toothpaste is a round $5 [10]) the loss of a

toothpaste is probably not that important to the average consumer. In addition, it is very likely that when a tube of toothpaste is discarded, there is still a small amount of toothpaste left in the tube, w

the wasted squirts, accumulates to a large amount considering the daily usage from millions of consumers worldwide.

Therefore, our second solution was focused around reducing the amount of toothpaste wasted. Usually, a squirt that is to o large is applied on the toothbrush, which is then lost if the toothbrus

around too quickly or is flipped downwards. Design #1 implements a possible solution to this chemical waste problem.

Evaluation of the Original Design Brief

The design brief Reduction of Household Chemical Wastage will be evaluated on how well th e brief enables divergent conceptual design.

Divergent design and quality of the engineering framing:

The quality of engineering framing of this design brief is satisfactory as professional engineering language was used throughout the design brief. For example, in the fi rst paragraph, the source

waste and pollution were stated and cited. I n addition, most claims were made with qual ifiers. References were given at the end of the d esign brief and parenthetical statements were present in the firs

Appendix I listed the precise definitions of concepts used in the brief which clarified any possible misunderstanding of the language used. It is not clearly indicated which of the sources the statistics w

from.

Stakeholder identification, prioritization, and understanding:

The brief successfully identified and prioritized major and minor stakeholders. A figure was shown to illustrate the relationships between stakeholders and their relative priorities, and relative

also given with consumer being the most important and primary stakeholder.

Refinement and appropriateness of objectives:


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Good attempts were made in identifying the objectives of each stakeholder and higher-level objectives were also considered (e.g. for chemical manufacturers, a higher-level objective is to mai

image in the minds of consumers). Diagrams were presented, which not only showed the objectives of each stakeholder, but also the common objectives between some stakeholders. However, their nee

stated nor explained (e.g. governments needs whats the minimum standard that consumer products must meet?) More details to the objectives, if added, would refine this brief further.

Metrics:

The retail market for shampoo is approximat ely $7.6 billion[11]

. Assuming the average bottle of shampoo/body wash is 1 litre, and that during the use of the entire bottle at least 10 mL is wastduring application, or discarded with the bottle, this results in minimum waste of 76 million dollars ( 1% of the $7.6 billion industry) which only includes shampoo, not body wash or any other bathroom


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Design #1

The Integrated Toothpaste and Toothbrush

Primary focus: Optimizing the existing brushing mechanism in order to minimize unusedtoothpaste. In this context, unused toothpaste is defined as the volume of toothpaste still

remaining in gel dentrifice[1] form while disposed of, i.e. the surfactants remain intact and the

paste is not reduced to foam format.

Design Goals

According to EPA, the single largest co ntributor to environmental fluoride [2] contamination isunconstrained toothpaste disposal. Therefore, by optimizing the brushing mechanism, we

effectively minimize the amount of toothpaste directed into the environment within a

specified time period, thereby directly minimizing the fluoride excretion rate.

Focusing solely on the brushing mechanism, we identified one of the most prominentmethods of wasting toothpaste is when toothpaste is dropped into the basin, or when excess

amount of toothpaste is initially released into the toothbrush (and is therefore used even

though it is not required for thorough oral cleaning). Thus, a user-responsive mechanism

must be implemented, where the user decides in Realtime how much paste is discharged, at

the precise moment it is required.

Side view Front view

Wireframe Top vi

Wireframe side vie

Fig. 1) The integrated toothp


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The toothpaste is inserted into the Elas tic cylindrical shaft of the Toothbrush. The proposeddesign is that the toothbrush will be implemented by major toothpaste manufacturing

companies, and thus the limiting factor depends upon the diameter of the toothbrush shaft

itself. I.e. since the shaft diameter is directly proportional to the toothpaste diameter, if each

toothpaste manufacturer either:

Design Description

(refer to Figure 1)

o Reaches a consensus on a standard toothpaste tube prototypeo Manufactures the toothbrush based on their current tube diameter.

The toothpaste mouth, which uses a helic al screw plings model, will have a r eciprocal plingsystem on the toothbrush mouth itself (refer to diagram). The diameter of the reciprocal pling

(on the toothbrush) is determined by the manufacturer to match their toothpaste mouth

design.

o A series of parallel tubes (capillar y tubing) runs from the mouth of ththe end of the Brush palettes. This allows the following design accom

Minimal pressure needs to applied by the user to raise the paste from

mouth to the brush mouth, as the pressure difference in the capillary

viscous paste to slowly rise.

o When the user applies the threshold forc e, the paste needs to travel adistance from the capillaries to the mouth of the brush, which means

instantaneous paste release from the brush, which increases user satisf

threshold force is defined as to overcome the elastic force of the outer

translates into the squeezing mechanism of the paste tube.

The shaft of the tube will be a semi-flattened cylinder, making it easier to holda regular uniform cylinder)

The brush bristles are made from synthetic f ibres, preferably nylon (inert to mreactions in the absence of polymer catalysts)

The body of the toothbrush is made fr om MDPE plastic, which meets the recconstraints, as well as a relatively low elastic deformation force


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Design #2

The Shower tool

Primary focus: To minimize the amount of unused shampoo wasted during showering. In thecontext of this report, unused shampoo is defined as the volume of shampoo that remains in

its liquid format; i.e. the surface foaming remain intact, and the liquid is not reduced into

foam format.

Design Goals

According to CICADS[4], two of the primary NDMA environmental pollutants is householdshampoo and bodywash. Thus, by optimizing the showering mechanism (by minimizing the

amount of shampoo and bodywash wasted), we not only optimize showering efficiency, but

also minimizing the amount of NDMA excreted into the environment.

We identified the current showering process to be rela tively inefficient, with potential roomfor improvement. According to our survey, 94%[5] of EngSci student who use Bodywash use

their hands to apply the cleaning products. Not only is this a very static process (as opposed to

a dynamic showering process, where the liquid is applied to the individuals body portion

when needed), this also results in more chemical wasted then the bare minimum for a

complete shower. Our designed object minimizes shower product wastes by implementing a

user specified process to release the products when required (thereby only releasing the

shampoo/body wash when the user requires it).

To design the object to be aesthetic, feasible a nd implementable to a regular lifestyle.

Back view Side view Front view

Wireframe Top Wirefr

Fig. 2) The shower chemical reduction to


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The central infrastructure consists of an elast ic housing, in order to serve as a rigid, yettemporarily deformable structure. The deformation in question is due to the lateral pressure

applied by the user when excreting the shampoo/body wash from the internal containers.

Design Description

(refer to fig. 2)

The structure is internally divided into two equal portions. The upper portion serves tocontain the body wash, whilst the lower contains the shampoo.

o The two internal containers are internall y coated using with Plastisol [5] dipmechanism. This ensures that the surface of the container does not chemically bond

with the shampoo when exposed to elongated perio ds of idle time.

o The two internal containers are made from a Hookean material, with a lowerHookes modulus than the external infrastructure (increases ease of internal liquid

discharge when squeezed as energy from the first surface is sufficient enough to

deform the latter).o The internal containers are perforated such that the brush linings match up with the

perforations. This will be implemented via a extrusion based locking mechanism to

the external housing (i.e. a small single hemispherical plastic extrusion lines up with a

concave hemisphere intrusion on the infrastructure, ensuring there is only one correct

orientation when attaching the internal containers).

o The internal containers are aligned inside the struc ture.

The top container perforations line up with a Fabric-based body-washing bruperforations line up with a Nylon-based perforated hair-brush.

o The Fabric-based brush ensures optimal cleansing, whilst being contawith the human skin

The surface of the brush is curved in the form of a parabola,complementing the curved shape of human body parts

o The Nylon-based perforated brush, which most [6] hairbrushes implem The brush surface is evenly spaced (similar to a comb/hairbr

allows a thorough shampooing experience (as opposed to usi

to apply the shampoo, which is non-systematic and uneven)

The top of the infrastructure uses a flip l ock (with a small hemispherical extruintrusion; allows for easy refill of the body wash, which depletes relatively faste

shampoo)

o In order to access the shampoo, the top can be entirely dislodged. Thcontainer (for bodywash) is then removed, thus allowing access to thecontainer

When using the bodywash portion, the user holds th e portion directly adjacenbrush, and applies a steady compressive force to the surface of the external hou

the bodywash through the brush perforation. Thus, the user chooses when to r

liquid held inside, thereby minimizing unintentionally wasted product. A para

is used for the shampoo section.


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Design #3

The Outflow monitor

Primary focus: To raise awareness in the user about the direct impact of thechemicals released into the environment. The eventual goal of the product is to

mitigate the overall household chemical released by the user into the environment.

Design Goals

According to EPA, common household cleaning/hygiene products post a significant[7] Toxin threat. The majority of these identified toxins contain Carcinogens,

Corrosive agents and Irritants. The goal of this design is to implement a product that

provides realtime feedback to the user about the constituents of their daily outflow,

the quantity of toxin outflow, as well as the direct impact of the toxins released on

the environment and mankind.

Each individual device must have a broadcasted connection with a constantlyupdated information source, updating the device user on newly released effects of the

released chemicals.

To design the product in a way that it integrates itself into the average users lifesty lewithout added implementation.

Top view Si

Front view

Top wireframe S

Fig. 3)The outflow monitor


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Design Description

(refer to figure 3)

The device utilizes a four button scheme o The capsule shaped button turns the product on o r offo

The top-left button toggles sleep, whilst th e symmetrically placed button onthe right hand side toggles the wireless card

o The smallest button between the two larger buttons serv es to reset thedevice to factory calibration settings

The device is shipped with an Elastic Pol y Vinyl Chloride pipe, which attaches tothe houses main drainage system and accesses scan samples from the excretion

outflow. This sample is then redirected to the scanner.

o The scanner[8] utilizes a dihydrophobic membrane to only allow non-dihydrogenoxide compounds; i.e. not water, into the ECS sensor, which

then uses a reference electrode to identify the toxins based on electriccurrent flow (by comparing the ampere rating to a pre-determined list of

known values).

o The chemicals in the sample are then e xcreted through the hmembrane by applying electric voltage to create an artificial

gradient, thereby effectively cleaning itself by using an extern

energy.

oThese tests are triggered by an outflow of l iquid, and the pipan orientation such that the kinetic energy of the liquid is su

to cause it to travel through the scanner, and then redirect it

the original stream.

The scanner sends the collected d ata to the central server, which thenoutflow Monitors M.A.C address identifies the owner, and updates

information onto their account. The user is then updated with a daily

chemical effect report at a default time (or whenever the user specifies

The liquid crystal display[9] utilizes a simple Twisted Nematic orientadisplay the current status of the device. E.g. Idle, Scanning, UploServer, Shutting Down.


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JUSTIFICATION FOR CHOOSING DESIGN #2

The brush itself is a simple plastic container with

perforated holes and two added brushes. Assuming a bottle of

shampoo lasts a person on average a month, and that a bottle of

shampoo costs 5 dollars, then a person spends at least 60 dollars

per year on shampoo. Given that our product will replace othershower brushes (which can cost between 20-30 dollars), and is

compatible with both body wash and shampoo/conditioner, our

product will be more effective since it carries an eco-friendly

function in addition to the conventional use for shower brushes.

Out of the three conceptual designs, the shower shaft was

chosen to be our main design. The first design, which creates

awareness in consumers, is not feasible since it would be

complicated to create a machine that detects all chemicals

within each household product. Also , assuming the average

person showers and uses toothpaste daily, the amount of

shampoo combined with the amount of body wash used is

much more significant compared to the amount of toothpaste

used. Since both of these products are disposed through the

water system, it would be more effective to reduce the amount

of bath and shower products wasted than toothpaste wasted.

Based on our surveys, which was given to 996 people, 64.9% of people voted t

more shampoo and body wash than any other household chemical on a daily basis. 16.5

toothpaste was the most wasted product for them. Based on this survey, it is apparent th

waste of shower products will divert mor e chemicals away from the water system than w

waste of toothpaste. 43.2% of vot ers agreed that water pollution was the most concerni

chemical pollution. Therefore this product seems more favourable since it reduces the a

shampoo and body wash wasted, which results in less chemical pollution within the wat

For verification:

Survey site:www.surveymonkey.com

Login ID: Engine_v12 Password: engineer

Finally, we even asked voters what product would benefit their lifestyle the most, and 5

chose that an All in one shower brush for body washing and hair scrubbing was favou

two conceptual designs received the same amount of the remaining votes (22.2%).

Furthermore, looking through shower brushes on Amazon, it was noted that almost all similar designs and functions. On the other hand, there is a wide variety of toothbrushe

included functions from a spinning brush, to playing music through the brush while tur

Therefore it would seem that a new m odel of a brush that carries an innovative funct io

be more effective in the bath and shower market, rather than the toothbrush industry.
http://www.surveymonkey.com/http://www.surveymonkey.com/http://www.surveymonkey.com/http://www.surveymonkey.com/


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References

1) "Toothpaste - American Dental Association - ADA.org." Home - American Dental Association - ADA.org. Web. 16 Nov. 2011..

2) "NTEU 280 Fluoride."NTEU 280 Home Page - EPA Headquarters. Web. 16 Nov. 2011. .

3) "Toothpaste Tube-Toothpaste Tube Manufacturers, Suppliers and Exporters on Alibaba.com."Manufacturers, Suppliers, Exporters & ImporteWorld's Largest Online B2B Marketplace-Alibaba.com. Web. 16 Nov. 2011. .

4) "N-Nitrosodimethylamine (CICADS 38, 2002)."IPCS INCHEM. Web. 16 Nov. 2011..

5) LANXESS - Polymer Additives - EN. Web. 16 Nov. 2011.


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8) International Sensor Technology, Leading Manufacturer of Combustible Gas Detectors, Gas Leak Detectors, Natural Gas Detectors, Computerized GaSystems, Portable Gas Detectors, Toxic Gas Detection, Single- and Multi-gas Detectors. Web. 16 Nov. 2011.

.

9) "Liquid Crystals."Nobelprize.org. Web. 16 Nov. 2011. .10)"Crest Toothpaste - Oral Care - Compare Prices, Reviews and Buy at Nextag - Price - Review."Nextag - Compare Prices Before You Buy. We

2011. .

11)"Household Products Market Reports from Packaged Facts." Consumer Goods Market Research and Analysis from Packaged Facts. Web. 16 Nov.
http://www.intlsensor.com/pdf/electrochemical.pdfhttp://www.intlsensor.com/pdf/electrochemical.pdf

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[ESC101] Conceptual Design Submission From {W}{2195}