Proposed solution Team Gaia

 2 Proposed solution


Currently the main problem with the Interceptor Trashfence was its failure due to sheer amounts of trash pushing against the fence, causing it to topple. The solution to this problem is to constantly remove the trash as it is being collected, by adding a conveyor system design to the Trashfence, which will redirect the trash into a separate collection bin. Here are 5 proposed upgrades which the team came up with to help with this problem (refer to appendix A on how it works and a rough sketch).



2.1 Conveyor belt system


The conveyor belt system is similar to its current design. However, 2 rotating motors will be placed on land at the ends, then a flexible fence will be installed that rotates along with it constantly, as seen in figure 5. By implementing this design, the trash will be collected the same way as before, however the rotating mechanism will carry the trapped rubbish along with it to the ends. At the ends, there will be a filter to separate the rubbish from the Trashfence and it is then dropped into huge waste bins that will be placed there. The conveyor belt system will run continuously resulting in the trash being removed constantly from the river into the waste bins. This will prevent the structure from failing due to large amounts of trash and will require no workforce to go into the river to constantly gather the trash collected by the Trashfence. 



Figure 5

Conveyor system



Note. A picture showing an example of a conveyor system similar to the proposed solution. From wire mesh belt conveyor, by IndustrialKinetics, 2014. Youtube

(https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K38IyJmHX2c&ab_channel=IndustrialKinetics).

Copyright 2023 Google.



2.2 Scraping rubbish off from fence to bin


As the trash is being trapped on the fence and brought to the sides to be collected into huge waste bins, a comb plate can be installed fixed into place at the end to scrape the rubbish off the fence into the waste bins. As seen from figure 6, similar to the ends of an escalator, when the fence with the attached rubbish reaches the end, a custom designed steel, reinforced comb plate will be used to scrape off the rubbish into the waste bins. This will clear the fence from rubbish as it rotates for the next round to trap another pile of trash. This process repeats until the waste bins are filled.


Figure 6

Comb plates

Note. An image showing a similar design for the proposed solution for the ends of the Interceptor trashfence. From Why do escalators have grooves in them,by Quora, 2014.Quora (https://www.quora.com/Why-do-escalators-have-grooves-in-them). 


2.3 Sensor in waste bins


In order to integrate independence in the Trashfence system, we are proposing an incorporation of your main Interceptor - Original sensor system for the waste bins into the waste bins of our TFConveyor. According to The Ocean Cleanup (n.d), once the Interceptor Original waste bins are filled, there are automatic sensors which will notify local operators to empty the waste bins. We are considering this same system to be incorporated into the Trashfence waste bin as it will lessen the need for manual labour as it is technically able to operate autonomously. It would be a more cost-efficient process of adding this system into the Trashfence waste bins than to find a third-party resource.


2.4 Multiple fence for smaller sized rubbish


Currently small sized rubbish is able to pass through the fence, according to Wake (2022), the Interceptor is not yet 100% effective as certain plastic fragments can still pass through gaps in the fence. Using the multi fence approach, several Interceptor fences can be placed along the river to collect the waste that the previous fence ahead of it failed to do. The holes across each fence along the river will be decreasing in size starting with the fence having the largest hole and ending with the fence having the smallest hole. This method will not only spread out the trash along several fences which decreases the strain on the fences, but smaller sized trash will also be collected resulting in the majority of the trash being removed from the river before it reaches the ocean.


2.5 Self-sustainable energy (Hydro/Solar)


As the Trashfence will be placed in the middle of a river with no trees blocking it, solar panels can be added onto or around the fence so that the fence can collect and run on solar power, making the trash fence sustainable and long running, and help reduce the cost of using electricity.  By using the flow of the river, it can also be used to power up the conveyor system.

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