Three Ashford pupils believe they have spotted a potentially lucrative gap in the tech-related market.

The boys from Homewood School and Sixth Form Centre have submitted a project looking at the process of fluidisation in fuel tanks for school science competition the Bright Spark Awards.

Project participant William Herbert explains: “Fluidisation is the equilibrium between the forces of gravity and the upward force of air. This causes particles to act as a liquid.

“This concept has been rather commonly used in grain silos and powder painting. However, it could be used to assist in cleaning out car engines. Sediment is often stuck to the bottom of the tank and can be very difficult to remove.

“This is where fluidisation comes in. We are pumping compressed air via small holes covered by flaps at the bottom of the tank.

“The sediment will then become fluidised and will behave like a liquid, making it simple to remove and clean the tank.”

Fellow project team member Ben Lewis added: “We generally believe that fluidisation is the future and can save plenty of money for businesses and communities.”

The Bright Spark Awards encourage teams of pupils to use cross-curricular skills in Stem (science, technical, engineering and maths) subjects.

The prizes include £500 for the overall winners, as well as money-can’t-buy experience days with leading Stem businesses.

Schools have until noon on Friday June 14 to register details of projects for the awards, which are open to primary and secondary schools across Kent and the south-east.

Shortlisted teams will present their work at a Dragons’ Den-style awards ceremony at the Sandwich premises of Bright Spark judge Discovery Park.

Besides Discovery Park, the other judges are BAE Systems, Atkins Global, Megger, the ITL Group, EduKit, Highways England, Pfizer, Kent Renewable Energy and Golding Vision.

To register projects and find out more about the competition, visit kmcharityteam.co.uk/brightspark.

And watch a video about the fluidisation project here: