Team 1l: The Boom Presentation Video
https://mediaspace.carleton.ca/media/Presentation+of+FindingsA+Team+1/1_4it0xlt2

Overview

According to National Geographic, as of February 2019, there were an estimated 5.25 trillion pieces of plastic floating in the oceans [2]. This negatively impacts marine life and the ocean ecosystem. The Free-Floating Boom is a system created by The Ocean Cleanup to remove plastic from the ocean [3]. It travels around the ocean and traps plastic against its screen, where the plastic remains until humans come to remove the plastic. The plastic is then recycled or turned into fuel. The Free-Floating Boom is an innovative method that can remove plastic pollution from the ocean and clean the environment, mitigating the effects humans have had on the planet.

The Screen: Bryn Reynolds

The screen is the part of the Free-Floating Boom that gathers and catches the plastic waste [1]. As the device travels through the ocean, the screen pushes up against plastic of varying size, where it remains trapped until removed by a boat. The screen spans a depth of three metres (3m) below the surface because this was the depth found to maximize the accumulation of plastic [2]. The density of the plastic material determines if the plastic floats, which occurs if the plastic is less dense than water. As well, each piece of plastic experiences a buoyant force pushing upwards to keep the object afloat, which means some plastic floats up to three metres below the water surface due to variation in density, shape, and size of the plastic [3]. Marine life is not negatively impacted because a downward force allows animals to swim safely under the screen and the accumulated plastic [2].

References

[1] The Ocean Cleanup, “System 001,” The Ocean Cleanup. [Website] Available: https://theoceancleanup.com/milestones/system001/ [Accessed Oct. 20, 2020]

[2] B. Slat, “The final design of the world’s first cleanup system,” The Ocean Cleanup. [Website]. Available: https://theoceancleanup.com/updates/the-final-design-of-the-worlds-first-cleanup-system/#:~:text=Suspended%20below%20the%20floater %20 pipe,no%20 screen%20section%20at%20all. [Accessed Oct. 20, 2020].

[3] M. Kooi et al., “The effect of particle properties on the depth profile of buoyant plastics in the ocean,” Sci Rep 6, 33882, Oct. 2016. [Online]. Available: https://www.nature.com/articles/srep33882 [Accessed Oct. 19, 2020].

Movement of the Boom: Atharva Kasture

The Free-Floating Boom by The Ocean Cleanup is a device made to collect the plastic accumulated on the ocean surfaces. One of the main components of the project is the configuration of the Free-Floating Boom.

To understand the working behind this U-shaped configuration and why it is essential to the project, it is necessary to understand surface oceanic forces.

Surface oceanic forces consists of the wave forces and the ocean currents which play a role in the movement of the boom and the plastic around the ocean.

The U shape configuration is the most efficient configuration for waste gathering, as this configuration allows maximum utilisation of the energy produced by the surface oceanic forces. Since all the work is done by the surface oceanic forces, no external energy (such as a ship to bring all the plastic waste near the floater) is required.

The Boom is free-floating just like the plastic, so it automatically drifts to the area of high concentration of plastic. This is the result of ocean currents as the Boom and plastic go with the flow of the current.

Parachute Sea Anchor: Jacob Hovey

The parachute sea anchor is a piece of equipment that is attached to the Free-Floating Boom in order to slow its velocity so that it can trap plastic more consistently in the net [1]. It is a parachute that is attached behind the Boom, and drags underwater in order to pull against the wind, waves and current pushing the Boom forward [2]. Thus, it holds the system back and causes it to move more slowly than it would on its own. Without the parachute, the Boom would float at the same speed as the plastic and would be ineffective at cleaning the ocean, as very little of the plastic would float into the net on its own [3]. That is why the parachute is an important aspect of the Boom. 

References

[1] “System Design Upgrades Completed, to be Relaunched in June,” The Ocean Cleanup, 24-May-2019. [Online]. Available: https://theoceancleanup.com/updates/system-design-upgrades-completed-to-be-relaunched-in-june/. [Accessed: 24-Nov-2020].

[2] ABC News, “Floating boom designed to remove plastic from the oceans finally working in the Pacific,” ABC News, 04-Oct-2019. [Online]. Available: https://www.abc.net.au/news/2019-10-04/ocean-cleanup-device-collects-plastic-for-first-time/11575556. [Accessed: 24-Nov-2020]. 

[3] “System 001,” The Ocean Cleanup, 28-Nov-2019. [Online]. Available: https://theoceancleanup.com/milestones/system001/. [Accessed: 24-Nov-2020].

Repurposing the Plastic: Keertikumar Kubareea

The plastic waste is collected from the ocean and is transported to land. The waste is sorted out and the plastics that can be recycled are turned into new commercial products and sold to consumers [1]. Other plastics are not suitable for recycling. The latter are subjected to high temperatures and are melted to a mixture of liquids and bio-gases by a process called pyrolysis [2]. Fractional distillation is applied on an industrial level to separate the different liquid components from each other [3]. The fractional distillation of the mixture of liquids involves heating the mixture in a large-scale fractionating column [3]. The liquid component with the lowest boiling point is turned into gas first and the gas flows away from the liquid mixture [3]. The gas enters the fractionating column which ensures that the gas is not contaminated with particles from other liquid components other than the one that evaporated [4]. Fractional distillation separates the liquid product of pyrolysis into its several components which possess characteristics similar to fuel sources such as gasoline [5]. 

References

[1] “FROM POLLUTION TO PRODUCT” [Online] Available: https://products.theoceancleanup.com/ [Accessed: Oct. 18, 2020]

[2]  “Pyrolysis of plastic waste and the result” [Online] Available: https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fenrg.2019.00027/full [Accessed: Oct. 18, 2020]

[3] Fractional Distillation [Online] Available: https://www.google.com/url?sa=i&url=https%3A%2F%2Fen.wikipedia.org%2Fwiki%2FFractional_distillation&psig=AOvVaw34QdkzJyE17xKH8cLrraSh&ust=1603390184136000&source=images&cd=vfe&ved=0CA0QjhxqFwoTCMjY1oSkxuwCFQAAAAAdAAAAABAD [Accessed: Oct.18, 2020]

[4] How the fractionating column works [Online] Available: http://www.srsengineering.com/our-products/distillation-columns/how-columns-work/  [Accessed: Oct.18, 2020]

[5] ] Experiment and study on fractional distillation of plastic-based pyrolytic oil [Online PDF] Available: online pdf [Accessed: October 21, 2020]

References: Overview and Figures

[1] The Ocean Cleanup, “System 001/B – Parachute configuration, summer 2019,” The Ocean Cleanup, 2019. [Online]. Available: https://theoceancleanup.com/media-gallery/#&gid=5&pid=2 [Accessed Oct. 24, 2020].

[2] National Geographic Society, “Ocean Trash: 5.25 Trillion Pieces and Counting, but Big Questions Remain,” National Geographic Society, 14-Jan-2019. [Online]. Available: https://www.nationalgeographic.org/article/ocean-trash-525-trillion-pieces-and-counting-big-questions-remain/. [Accessed: 18-Nov-2020].

[3] The Ocean Cleanup, “System 001,” The Ocean Cleanup. [Website] Available: https://theoceancleanup.com/milestones/system001/ [Accessed Oct. 20, 2020]

[4] The Ocean Cleanup, “Plastic Accumulation, System 001/B,” The Ocean Cleanup, October 2019. [Online]. Available: https://assets.theoceancleanup.com/app/uploads/2019/10/ TheOceanCleanup_ October2nd_Press_Briefing_System001B-19.jpg  [Accessed: Sept. 16, 2020].

[5] The Ocean Cleanup [Website]. Available: https://theoceancleanup.com/oceans/  [Accessed Oct. 20, 2020]

[6] ABC News, “Floating boom designed to remove plastic from the oceans finally working in the Pacific,” ABC News, 04-Oct-2019. [Online]. Available: https://www.abc.net.au/news/2019-10-04/ocean-cleanup-device-collects-plastic-for-first-time/11575556. [Accessed: 24-Nov-2020].

[7] Sorting plastics with Raman Spectroscopy [Online] Available: https://www.gov-online.go.jp/eng/publicity/book/hlj/html/201209/201209_07.html [Accessed on November 24 2020]