Content uploaded by Jort Hammer
Author content
All content in this area was uploaded by Jort Hammer on Oct 17, 2016
Content may be subject to copyright.
A preview of the PDF is not available
Feasibility Study - The Ocean Cleanup
Abstract
The research described in this feasibility report indicates
that The Ocean Cleanup Array is a feasible and
viable method to remove large amounts of plastic pollution
from a major accumulation zone known as the
Great Pacific Garbage Patch. Computer simulations have
shown that floating barriers are suitable to capture and
concentrate floating plastic debris. Combined with ocean
current models to determine how much plastic would
encounter the structure, a cleanup efficiency of 42% of
all plastic within the North Pacific gyre can be achieved
in ten years using a 100 km Array. In collaboration with
offshore experts, it has been determined that this Array
can be made and installed using current materials and
technologies. The estimated costs are €317 million in total,
or €31.7 million per year when depreciated over ten
years, which translates to €4.53 per kilogram of collected
ocean debris.
... Even if the proposed technology targets larger plastic items, there may be negative impacts on plankton. For example, the Ocean Cleanup's feasibility study predicted that the majority of zooplankton hitting the skirts made to guide the plastics into the collection device are likely to be killed despite not being removed from the water (Slat et al., 2014). Assuming the same operational parameters as used to estimate macroplastics CPUE (see Table 2), plankton tow data suggest potential encounter rates of 0.8-40 billion zooplankton hourly (Jacobsen et al., 2018;Yang et al., 2017). ...
... Tow and current speed will also affect the efficacy of plastics collection, and optimising plastic CPUE may be in conflict with reducing by-catch. The skirts of a passively drifting boom array have been estimated to float horizontally and fail to guide plastics towards the collection unit at current speeds of only 0.5 knots (Slat et al., 2014). In addition to operational parameters, gear design itself may reduce by-catch. ...
... Clean-up technologies should therefore be constructed and deployed in a way that minimises this, and the developmental process must be accompanied by thorough Environmental Impact Assessments (EIAs), yet such assessments appear to be rare. Of the 12 technologies reviewed (Table 1), a feasibility study (Slat et al., 2014) and later a limited EIA was disclosed only for the Ocean Cleanup's floating array (CSA, 2018) (both widely criticised (Martini, 2014;Helm, 2019)) and a preliminary desktop EIA for the PGS bubble curtain tow (Falk-Andersson et al., 2018). An EIA was also conducted for the Ocean Cleanup Interceptor, but has not been made publicly available (pers. ...
Plastic pollution compromises ocean health, with large amounts of plastics continuing to enter marine and coastal environments. Various mitigative engineering solutions are being developed and implemented in response to this threat. While recognising the positive impacts of clean-ups, we highlight two perspectives given little attention to date, which are vital to evaluating the cost-benefit ratio of clean-ups: firstly, clean-up efficiency where density and accessibility of litter are key, and secondly, potential negative externalities that implementation of clean-up technologies may have. These principles, catch per unit effort and the impact on non-target species, are well known from fisheries management. We argue they should also be applied in evaluating marine litter removal schemes.
... Debris booms arise as a solution to contain or deflect the undesired objects from reaching the turbines. They are generally applied on ice holding (Abdelnour, 2001;Morse, 2001), litter containment (Slat, 2014;Brambini et al., 2017), oil spill (Lo, 1996), or general river debris (Wahl, 1992). Santo Antônio dam is subject to a very demanding scenario: high flow rates that can reach up to 60 000 m 3 /s, with some regions with velocities higher than 3 m/s, combined with large quantities of logs transported in the river results in log-accumulation zones. ...
... The method presented in this work can be extended to other floating barriers composed of several modules wherein the length of the line is considerably greater than its height. The booms used in commercial applications, as presented in Abdelnour (2001), Morse (2001), Slat (2014), Brambini et al. (2017), Lo (1996) and Wahl (1992) can benefit from this method in the design process, using a numerical model to test the boom in extreme operating conditions. ...
Log booms are modular and floating structures that partially cross the hydroelectric power plant reservoir to retain and deflect floating objects in the river that can damage and clog the turbine and reduce energy availability. In rivers with a high volume of logs or vegetation, the correct design of these structures is essential to ensure the operability of the hydroelectric power plant. In order to aid in the design of log booms, this paper proposes a method to predict the hydrodynamics forces and movement of log boom lines using CFD tools. Due to the high computational cost of simulating the entire line, simulations are conducted only on a single log boom module using boundary conditions that simulate the interference effects from its adjacent ones, considering different velocity magnitudes and direction combinations. The individual module results are composed to obtain the expected forces on the log boom line. A towing tank experiment with a model-scale model of a segment of the log boom line is conducted to verify the reliability of the numerical model results, comparing the module movement (heave and pitch) and line extremity tension forces. The agreement between numerical and experimental approaches shows that the proposed method can be used to predict the tension in the log boom line and evaluate other conditions, log boom geometries, or line shapes.
... Global plastic pollution has received extensive attention, which in turn initiated important dialogue and spurred innovation toward remedial action to solve the pollution problem. Diverse solutions have been proposed, including a circular economy [60], source reduction via waste management infrastructure [61], and large-scale ocean cleanup [62]. Despite this, even with the implementation of cutting-edge technologies, a tremendous amount of plastic is continuing to enter the environment [63]. ...
Plastic pollution and its potential risks have been raising public concerns as a global environmental issue. Global plastic waste may double by 2030, posing a significant challenge to the remediation of environmental plastics. In addition to finding alternative products and managing plastic emission sources, effective removal technologies are crucial to mitigate the negative impact of plastic pollution. However, current remediation strategies, including physical, chemical, and biological measures, are unable to compete with the surging amounts of plastics entering the environment. This perspective lays out recent advances to propel both research and action. In this process, phytoaccumulation, phytostabilization, and phytofiltration can be applied to reduce the concentration of nanoplastics and submicron plastics in terrestrial, aquatic, and atmospheric environments, as well as to prevent the transport of microplastics from sources to sinks. Meanwhile, advocating for a more promising future still requires significant efforts in screening hyperaccumulators, coupling multiple measures, and recycling stabilized plastics from plants. Phytoremediation can be an excellent strategy to alleviate global micro/nanoplastic pollution because of the cost-effectiveness and environmental sustainability of green technologies.
... Physical removal solutions have been proposed to address ghost fishing in the marine environment. The economic feasibility of smallscale cleanup projects has been demonstrated by the Ocean Cleanup Project (Slat, 2014). Norway is actively working towards retrieving ALDFG from the ocean and beaches through collection and removal plastic material from the coastline, water column, and seabed throughout the year (Jacob, 2016;Falk-Andersson et al., 2019;Norwegian Directorate of Fisheries, 2023a). ...
Abandoned, lost and discarded fishing gear (ALDFG), significantly impacts marine ecosystems and biodiversity by incidental capture known as ghost fishing. Such impacts were quantified during the Norwegian Directorate of Fisheries' annual ALDFG cleanup operation in September 2023 by examining the characteristics of retrieved ALDFG and recording the taxonomically sorted catch abundance and biomass. A total of 307 specimens equaling 382 kg of biomass were caught in the recovered gillnets and king crab pots. Gillnets exhibited a 27.3 % greater catch abundance and 50.3 % higher biomass per ALDFG unit mass compared to king crab pots. Margalef, Menhinick, Simpson, Shannon, and Pielou diversity indices showed a more pronounced impact on species richness and biodiversity associated with recovered gillnets. This study introduces an approach to assess the impact of ghost fishing on ecosystems and biodiversity through ALDFG retrieval operations, instrumental in developing estimates of the total ghost fishing capture by ALDFG.
ResearchGate has not been able to resolve any references for this publication.