CONCEPT GENERATION

The concept generation stage was one of the final sections of the project. During this process, seven concepts were created for extracting plastic from polluted rivers. At this point, a scoring matrix was created to rank the concepts in order to find the most suitable ones. Concepts 2 and 6 were found to be the most suitable to be implemented into a river system as discussed below.

CONCEPT 2

An "Ocean Clean-Up" Style boom with skirt can be placed inverted over the entirety of the river. When the plastic makes its way down the river, it would hit the skirt and the current would continue pushing it forward. The trash would therefore be guided to each side of the river into a plastic removal device.

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Note: possible to fill and empty the boom to sink the system to allow boats to pass.

CONCEPT 6

This system includes two "Ocean Clean-up" style booms attached to the bridge and side of the river. There is a gap in the centre to allow boats to pass, as this is usually the deepest part of a river and used as a shipping channel. The boom and skirt devices are angled so to guide the trash to the sides of the river for collection. The collection device could range from a multi-stage filter to extraction by conveyor belt. A "Bubble-Barrier" device could be implemented further upstream to direct plastic away from the central channel.