Blog Entry #7

✨My Chemical Product Journey ✨

    This blog is the last of the blog entries and a summation of the journey we took while developing our product design, from the process of ideation to creating our prototype. This journey was one that was incredibly arduous but nonetheless, I have thoroughly enjoyed it as I have managed to learn a lot about the thought processes that goes behind designing products. 😀

Preliminary Ideation

    At the beginning, we started off with brainstorming 🧠 the ideas we could potentially conceive by choosing our problem statement, which I would was quite a tough process as there were a multitude of problems that we could base our product off on. However, after some deliberating, we finally decided on creating a product that could mitigate the effects of climate change seeing as it is an imperative global issue that we are all dealing with. Our idea was to utilise plants since they were able to photosynthesize, which led us to look into aquarium aquaponics and filtration.

Problem statement/Pain point: 

    Our problem statement was that the issue of climate change is being further exacerbated with the increase in energy related carbon emissions. Since plants are one of the main factors that fight climate change, we decided to come up with a product that combines the concept of an aquarium drip filter and aquaponics which will achieve the objectives of both common problems in an aquarium (aquarium pH levels, expenses etc.) and fight climate change simultaneously. 

Literature Review:

    We then moved on to literature review where we conducted an analysis of the literature that we have gathered that was related to our topic. This was one of the more painstaking parts of the journey as there was so many sources to sieve through since a large majority of them were not relevant. The following are some points that we have summarised from our literature review involving peer reviewed journals and past year FYP reports:

• Aquatic plants play an important role in the removal of chemicals such as nitrogen and ammonia in aquarium water which is pivotal for aquarium life as pH can cause significant impacts on them.
• Aquatic plants such as seaweed can act as a biofilter which remove metal ions as well as use fish waste for nutrients.
• Space can be saved by planting plants on urban buildings rather than occupying land space.
• Plants are able to fight climate change by minimising negative impacts such as floods.

Scamper:

    Thereafter, we decided to come up with variations in our design using the SCAMPER method where we used 3 of the letters. (Substitute, Combine, Adapt, Modify, Put to another use, Eliminate, Reverse)

Feasibility Analysis:

    The Feasibility Analysis table was also used to determine whether our ideas would be appropriate, where we then decided that only 2 of our ideas were unsuitable since idea #2 is impractical as a minimal amount of sponge will be used and idea #5 is subjective to the taste of the customer.

Decision Matrix:

    Finally, we used COWS Matrix to shortlist one idea from our list. 

Summary of COWS Matrix:

After thorough consideration through the use of COWS matrix, we have decided to go with idea #4 as it has the highest overall score amongst the different ideas. It scored the highest for the most important criteria in creating our product which led us to believe that it will improve the attractiveness of the product so that it can be used more commonly by aquarium users. Other factors that would allow it to be more attractive is that it is also very simple to use as we feel that user comfortability is imperative.

Despite the cost of it being the highest amongst the three, that is the least of our concerns as we know that the materials that we are using are minimal and having a relatively huge budget of $2000, the cost is the least of our concerns. We value customer health as the most important criteria as we would want our product to be as safe to the user as possible while bringing as many incentives to them simultaneously. 

Hence, idea #4 will be our product.

Design Specifications:

  Our design specifications are as follows:

Operating Principles:

 1. Separation Process

• Ammonia and Nitrogen from the water would be absorbed by the aquatic plants as nutrients, which helps to purify the water and lower the pH to a suitable level for the fish.

2. Mass Transfer

• Fish waste 💩acts as a fertilizer for the aquatic plants and is transferred through the substrate.

Prototype Fabrication Process:

Our prototype consisted of 3 components: filter box, detachable filter tray, detachable cover

The filter box above was done by creating a simple box and punching holes through to emulate an aquarium drip filter box

The detachable filter tray was done by cutting 6 holes 🕳️ on a piece of carboard and then placing 4 triangles at the corners such that it can be attached to the filter box.

The detachable cover was made by first creating a box shape and cutting 6 holes 🕳️ at the bottom. 2 long pieces of cardboard were then added to the bottom to act as a barrier.

How the Product Works:

The product works by first assembling the components together in an order.

1. The filter tray is attached to the filter box.
2. The cover is then placed on top of the previously combined filter box and filter tray.
   
   
   
   The picture above can be used as reference.

   Thereafter, plants can then be placed in the filter tray similar to aquaponics and organic plants can then be grown and consumed once they have matured. The user puts the product at the top of their aquarium, connected to their piping that pumps water into the product akin to that of a regular drip filter box such that the water can be filtered by the plants. The cover has a barrier which protects the organic plants from the aquarium water containing fish waste, thus making it safe to consume.

✨Final Hero Shot of the Prototype✨

This is the result after all 3 components have been assembled together