Last week at the Young Scientist showcase that we highlighted here, we had the pleasure of talking to some of the young minds to get to understand the ideas they had on display.
One of those that caught my eye was an ammonia elimination plant by students from Hon. Joh Njoroge Secondary School. The project was presented by Vincent Job and Ann Kavinya, bright future scientists who took us through the process of cleaning wastewater by use of activated charcoal which activates ammonium ions in the water. This results in bicarbonates which they then treat with citric acid to get water, and other reaction gases that are not safe for the environment since they cause effects like global warming. The team therefore diverts these gases into a lemon garden which completes the cycle because the trees can then be felled to produce charcoal which is the very first step of the process.
Other than enhancing environmental safety, the conversion of ammonia into less harmful compounds is crucial for health, since it is known to cause cancer and liver problems among other health challenges.
Large-scale use of this project would be waste disposal for small estates of 20 to 50 homes, sewage treatment plants, and even a natural resource like the Nairobi River which is severely contaminated. Small industries could also use such a system as part of their wastewater purification.
For the students, the project is still a learning curve since the water they have as a result is still not pure enough for consumption and there are some strands of bacteria, they have not been able to identify yet. This is understandable though, and the team is open to future research and actualization.
Young Scientists Kenya is a platform for young people to demonstrate their innovation and showcase their scientific talents. Since its inception in 2017, the program has so far involved 750 schools across the country and reached 250,000 students. Some of the schools the program has impacted are for differently abled students and in fact, some of the exhibitors in Tuesday’s event were from Salvation Army Joytown Secondary School for the physically challenged. The school was represented by Lee Mwangi and Briton Dave Otieno who presented a concept that involves installing micro-hydropower turbines within water pipelines to convert the kinetic energy of moving water into electric energy. Our youngsters have a lot of ideas up their sleeves and it is great to see platforms like YSK that are offering them a platform to kick off innovations that could very well be scaled in future and solve problems locally and even globally.