Students create flood protection devices for motorbikes.

Tran Le Phuoc (Ho Chi Minh City University of Food Industry) invented a system to prevent water from entering the exhaust pipe and spark plug, separating water and air, allowing motorcycles to operate for more than 20 minutes when submerged.

When Phước (a student majoring in Electrical and Electronics Engineering) first arrived in Saigon to study, he often had to push his motorbike through heavy rain and flooded streets. Witnessing the struggles of many elderly people and women as they had to push their motorbikes through the flooded areas, Phước pondered how to solve this problem.

In early 2022, Phuoc began researching the operating principles of vehicles to design a flood protection system. He believed that spark plugs and exhaust pipes were the first two components affected by engine stalling. When water enters the vehicle, the spark plugs are the first to be affected because they fail to ignite. This leads to the engine stalling, allowing water to enter the exhaust pipe.

Tran Le Phuoc (left) introduces a flood prevention system integrated into motorbikes to fellow students at his school. Photo: Ha An

Phuoc researched and developed spark plug caps made of flexible rubber with a snug-fitting design to increase water resistance. The exhaust system was modified compared to conventional products. He designed it based on the principle of an inverted sealed box submerged in water. This prevents water from entering. Based on this principle, Phuoc created an exhaust system with three separate chambers, operating similarly to the inverted box principle, ensuring that the internal pressure is always greater than the external pressure. Water will not enter the exhaust system, or if it does, it will be very little; only when one chamber is full will water flow into another. The exhaust system does not have vent holes like traditional vehicles, but instead uses a removable screw to drain water, ensuring a watertight seal. According to Phuoc, this different exhaust design will not affect the vehicle's operation.

To improve flood resistance, he designed a water separation system in the form of a pipe placed in front of the car's fuel tank. When water overflows the fuel tank, the water and air separation system activates to separate the water from the outside air, preventing it from affecting the engine's operation. Once the water is separated, it flows through a compartment equipped with a sensor switch. "When there is water, a one-way pump pushes the water from inside to outside, preventing the water tank from becoming too full and being sucked back into the combustion chamber," Phuoc explained.

With this system, a motorcycle that is turned off can still restart when submerged in water. According to Phuoc, the system meets the requirements for vehicles submerged in apartment building basements or when people park their vehicles inside their homes and they are flooded. The product can help vehicles pass through flooded areas without stalling. In case the engine stalls, they can simply push the vehicle out of the flooded area and it will restart and run normally.

The author tested submerging a car engine in a water tank for over 20 minutes and it still started.

Electrical engineering students create flood protection device for motorbikes.

Testing Phước's car's flood protection system. Video : Provided by the interviewee.

Associate Professor Dr. Truong Quang Vinh, an electrical and electronics expert and Deputy Director of the International Training Office at Ho Chi Minh City University of Technology, highly praised the research product. He stated that the product demonstrates a refined motorcycle model with a water and exhaust gas separation system to prevent flooding. Testing in a water tank proved the product works well.

However, according to him, for the product to be practically applicable, it must be suitable for the user experience because adding a new system to the vehicle would increase its bulk, affect regulations regarding motorcycles, and pose a safety risk.

Associate Professor Vinh believes that a specialized agency is needed to evaluate the applicability of the solution to ensure it meets Vietnamese technical standards.

Ha An

Source link: https://vnexpress.net/sinh-vien-lam-thiet-bi-chong-ngap-cho-xe-may-4618517.html