Ionization and Galvanic Cells in the Environmental Engineering Field

 Date: 9/24/2023

Assessment: 

I am in the ISM program and the field I chose was environmental engineering. The objective of this assessment is to find a preferred subfield within the environmental engineering genre. This assessment is going to one of the possible sub-fields which is the use of water to create electricity. This specific way to make electricity is called ionization, it uses galvanic cells which transfer negative ions from one metal to another when submerged in water. These negative ions can be harnessed to create electricity. One important thing to know is that for this paper, galvanic and voltaic cells will be classified as the same. One other important fact to note is that through the process of ionization, the metals involved corrode, and the electricity running through the metals causes them to break down. This corruption can shorten the life expectancy of the product and also cause byproduct build-up.

One of my possible sub-field goals is to industrialize this ionization method to create electricity with minimal byproducts. Waterlight has proven that this is possible at a small scale but I plan to take this idea and alter it to work at an industrial scale.

The article covers how Watertight, I company that harnesses ionization for electricity,  can be used to bring light to places that lack electricity. They also mention how it uses magnesium and copper in a voltaic cell to create electricity with urine or seawater. Magnesium and copper seem to be the best options for ionization because of the reduced corrosion and minimal byproducts.

One very important point that this article makes is that the Waterlight  “can provide around 5,600 hours of energy, which equates to two to three years of use depending on how often it is needed.”  This point is the breakthrough that galvanic cells need. Corrosion was the main problem with galvanic cells because of the limited life of a cell. Water light's patented design has exponentially increased the life of these cells making it finally viable for electrical production. Because of this, galvanic cells might finally be viable to be used in the industrial field. 

Also, another point that could have been a problem was the idea that galvanic cells do not produce enough electricity to have the positives outweigh the negatives. In the article, this is debunked by the fact that “The portable device … needs to be filled with 500 milliliters of seawater – or urine in emergencies – to emit up to 45 days of light.

Acting as a mini power generator, the device can also be used to charge a mobile phone or another small device via its integrated USB port.” This destroys any other argument against this device. This fantastic device is small, just needs 500 milliliters of water, and can produce enough electricity to charge a phone! Because of the proof that galvanic cell ionization can work at a small scale and is very efficient for its size, it shows that an upscaled industrialized version is possible. This magazine is a real-world example of galvanic cells and ionization through magnesium and copper being monetized. For my passion project in the environmental field, I can scale up this small project and create a much larger, industrial version for energy production. With this technology, I could power the whole Texas coast with a few industrial factories.