The globe is standing on the verge since the corona’s airborne propagation pace has sickened more than 6234650 confirmed cases and abducted about 369000 deaths worldwide till now. Previous studies have revealed that closed environments may facilitate the secondary transmission of the COV as it could remain in the air for up to 3 hours post aerosolization. Airborne particles are much smaller than droplets so they can linger in the air for longer. Wind currents can also carry them long distances, estimated 7-8 meters.
In addition to mobility restrictions, the World Health Organization has prescribed maintaining wearing surgical masks. Face masks are a symbol of the pandemic era – a visual metaphor for the microscopic virus that may be lurking around any corner. That's why, the protection efficacy of facemasks and respirators has been developed. But do they really terminate the spread? Indeed, the currently utilized masks don't seal against the face and don't include non-woven polypropylene layers that are moisture resistant. As well, about 70% of the outside air moves through the mask, and about 30% travel around the sides. Even N95 masks filter out 95% of particles which are still insufficient to eliminate the outbreak. Leakage issues besides inefficiency seem to complicate the challenge, being unreliable to use these masks and paving the way for a more straightforward thinking to improve these weaknesses. And here Fata Morgana Mask turn appears, alleviating the plague collapsing society!
Fata Morgana mask contains a micro fan in its front side in order to draw in air to purify its contaminations by four sterilizing layers: non-woven fabric, HEPA filter, activated carbon layer, and a nano filter layer. Through Bluetooth, the user can control the fan's speed according to his breathing pattern. As well, water is used to be photo-catalytically split into oxygen (for breathing) and hydrogen (a power source to operate the fan), being inspired by Nasa's space shuttles that run by a fuel cell, combining oxygen and hydrogen for electricity generation.
Fata Morgana mask's impacts tend to be revolutionary as it filters about 99.261% of input air, as calculated in the analysis of a previous research paper conducted by the team before, and effectively traps viruses and particles of the range 0.1 microns in contrary to traditional masks of pore sizes 0.3 microns. Moreover, it stands up to four weeks with the same purification efficiency. This improvement itself can prevent the infection of more than 10,000 per day. Furthermore, it would dramatically increase social cohesion, reducing distances between bonds that have loosened by virtue to the virus, as people can interact safely indoors and outdoors while being guaranteed they won't be infected.
Corona + traditional air purifying = viral air+ Unsafety (1)
Corona + Smart mask = clear air + Safety (2)
So, can (2) bridge the shattered (1)? With our smart mask, it is absolutely yes, and coronavirus would be just a fata morgana mirage. It can be visualized but can never be captured!
Our inspiration:
Our school has a dorm so we spend a lot of time together through working on group projects, participating in competitions, or just talking with each other in one room. Covid-19 has pushed us away from seeing each other, affected our movements, habits, and even breathes. Even if there are numerous ways to communicate through social media, face to face communication is way better. Also, in our country, there will be offline exams which require direct contact between students and teachers. These reasons were the wind that direct us to think of Fata Morgana Mask, aiming to develop a solution the world can use to combat the calamity.
Approaching development:
Tens of millions of monarch butterflies migrate up to 3,000 miles from the Northeastern US and Canada down to their wintering grounds in Central Mexico to escape the frosts of winter. Yet, its lifespan is only two weeks. They reproduce in the way so it is the fourth generation that actually reaches Mexico. The project isn’t started from scratch but past ancestor’s work is complemented by our development.
Using 4 layers which are sterilization filter, activated carbon, HEPA filter and the non-woven layer will make air purification much more effective as the probability of the virus particle to reach the respiratory system of the user is very low being estimated as 0.002%. This happens because the mask can filter the nanoparticles contaminating air. Moreover, it can be used for four weeks.
Space agency data:
The data helped in knowing much information about the air and the ways of its purification which provided us with general information about the challenge and helped in choosing our filtration methodology. Moreover, this helped in knowing which components are in the air and which of them will be removed by the layers of our mask.
In addition, the idea was inspired by Nasa's space shuttles that run by a fuel cell, combining oxygen and hydrogen for electricity generation as does a battery, but differs only in that the fuel is continuously supplied in the form of hydrogen and oxygen gas, with water as a byproduct. So, we reversed the process by splitting water to the raw materials of the fuel. So, we used water for this purpose, extra oxygen, and a fuel source.
Tools:
Mask main components (hardware): The mask is composed of 4 filter layers: (sterilization filter - activated carbon - HEPA filter - non-woven layer), electric micro-fan on Nano-layer, connections with phone's Bluetooth, and a USB cable.
software tools: Sketch-up (3D modeling), Adobe Premier pro for (video editing), Adobe photoshop for (designs), and Wix (website template).
Problems and achievements:
Exclusions are letdowns that turn out to be steppingstones to later infallibility. More than 1000 trials were expended before igniting the world with the luminous bulb. Problems are continually confronted acting as a stepping stone for further success. In the light of the corona crisis, It was hard to present our mask visually in the quarantine as it isn't accessible to go out and buy materials so we started learning 3D modeling and in a short interval of time, a simple model of our mask was designed. Also, there was a nonstop contact with the experts online to ask about filter layers besides writing a research paper concerning the idea and the concept of controlling disease proliferation. Another problem due to the time shortness, it was hard to make our own website but our goal was, eventually, achieved via making digital marketing for the mask, providing basic information about the virus, and giving people tips to avoid infection.
The expose to the perceptions of air purification has far-reaching implications for all life aspects to recolor life after being faded by the virus and rescue populations from dropping in the death chasm. The flocked data throughout our research has demonstrated the rate of our project infallibility and warrant that it has accomplished all motifs of success. Our solution is believed to be playing a critical role in combatting both air pollution robbing people's health and solitude stripping our powers.
With regards to the statistical achievements of the mask, its efficiency has far reached 99.261, with filtering microscopic particles of 0.1-micron size, transcending over traditional masks and even N95 that filters sizes of 0.3 microns only. Besides, it withstands for complete four weeks without any need to change it and with no health risks or retardation in its efficiency. Let alone it is recyclable and affordable so it won't be hindering to apply it on a large scale and buy it.
https://drive.google.com/file/d/12dioTogvJIGC20Y5Fcb3wWSydm3Ehh_o/view?usp=sharing
https://www.who.int/docs/default-source/coronaviruse/situation-reports/20200413-sitrep-84-covid-19.pdf?sfvrsn=44f511ab_2
https://www.nasa.gov/pdf/146558main_RecyclingEDA(final)%204_10_06.pdf
https://climatekids.nasa.gov/air-pollution/
https://earthdata.nasa.gov/earth-observation-data/near-real-time/hazards-and-disasters/air-quality