Team:HK GTC/Future Perspective

Future Perspective

Applied Modelling

The algae tank will have a pump that pulls seawater and algae into the sludge chamber. The algae tank has a stirring paddle, an aerator, lights, and heating. The conditions of the algae tank are 27 degrees celsius, 1 atm, and a pH of 8, which is optimal for algae growth. We will use algae strain R.salina, as it is able to have an extremely high speed of aggregation and brittle aggregate so the microplastic can be easily extracted back out of the clump. The algae tank is modular so parts can be switched out for different algae strains and volumes. A conveyor rail system can be used to change different tanks to deal with larger flow rates and treatment capacities, and the recovering cultures can be stored in a warehouse. The sludge chamber uses a mild centrifugal force to sediment the clumped algae to the grooved sides and the lack of light and nutrients will stress the algae to produce the polysaccharides. We expect that a g-force of 1.95 is enough to separate the suspending liquid and the microplastic. Then, the sludge is compressed to remove excess water and is put through a water screw to disturb it to make it crumble and release the microplastic. An adjustable weir is used to control the sludge flow. A filter with immobilized enzymes that degrade polysaccharides can be used to remove the thin film of polysaccharides formed from the aggregation process. Then, a carefully pressurized stream of water and centrifugal force will separate the smaller microplastic from the larger algae, using a process of elutriation classification. The shroud and buffer assembly allow recollection of algae for reuse in the algae culture tanks, which reduce the maintenance cost of the system. Then, 40 degrees celsius water is pressurized and forces the microplastic through filters with immobilized mutated PETase with increasingly small pore size, so when they come out, they are either completely degraded or at a negligible size, without a loss of PETase effectiveness. Filters with enzymes should also be used for complete biodegradation of chemicals into carbon dioxide and water. A pressure regulator is present to allow for pressure release of carbon dioxide in the system.