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How does the ocean cleaner work?

Published in Ocean Cleanup Technology 2 mins read

The ocean cleaner utilizes a system that acts like a giant, floating bag to collect plastic debris.

Here's a breakdown of how it works:

Ocean Cleaning System Components

  • Wings: The system has large "wings" that guide plastic debris towards the center of the system.
  • Retention Zone: This central area acts like a massive bag where the plastic is collected. Think of it as a very large, floating net.
    • According to the reference, the Retention Zone functions as the actual bag that collects the plastic.
  • Collection Vessels: These are ships that are responsible for collecting the full retention zones.

The Collection Process

  1. Guiding the Debris: The system's "wings" actively channel floating plastic towards the retention zone.
  2. Collecting the Plastic: As the system moves through the water, the plastic accumulates inside the retention zone, filling it like a giant bag.
  3. Retrieval: Once the retention zone is full, the collection vessels remove it from the water.
  4. Emptying: The plastic is emptied from the retention zone onto the deck of the collection vessels.
  5. Deployment: The now-empty retention zone is then put back into the water to continue collecting more plastic.

Summary of the Process

Step Description
1. Guidance Wings guide plastic towards the center of the system.
2. Collection The Retention Zone collects plastic, acting as a large floating bag.
3. Retrieval Full Retention Zone is removed by collection vessels.
4. Emptying Plastic is emptied from the Retention Zone onto the deck of the vessels.
5. Redeployment The emptied Retention Zone is placed back to continue cleaning the ocean.

In essence, the system uses physical barriers (wings) to funnel plastic into a large collection area (the retention zone), which is then periodically emptied by support vessels. This process repeats, allowing for continuous ocean cleaning.

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