Experimental Study of the Effect of a Solid Wing Conveyor on Marine Debris Collection

Abstract

Marine debris is a global problem that has not been resolved. This has encouraged the emergence of marine debris cleaning technologies, one of which is a conveyor ship. However, how effective conveyors are in collecting waste has not been studied. In this paper, experimental research on conveyors as marine debris collectors is investigated. The capability of catamarans with or without solid wing conveyors to collect marine debris is explored. Three kinds of marine debris collection models are used: no-wing conveyor, a 12.5-cm-long wing conveyor, and an 18.75-cm-long wing conveyor. Artificial marine debris (AMD) is spread on the water surface in a static tank. Then, a marine debris collector model is pulled using threads tied to the ship's body. This is done several times starting from a low speed and progressing to a high speed. After the experiment, the effectiveness of marine debris collection from these three models is analysed. In addition, the cause of marine debris not being caught by the model is investigated. This work proposes a new approach to evaluate the effectiveness of conveyer wings in marine debris collection. Based on AMD movement pattern analysis, it is suggested to operate the device at a low speed because the collected AMD ratio is high and the lost AMD ratio is small.