Buoys and Bacteria for Microplastic-Free Oceans

Microplastics are abundant and polluting our oceans. In recent years, a solution to this problem has presented itself: bacteria. Specifically, <i>Ideonella sakaiensis</i> and azotobacter work together to break down plastics over time. Some challenges in the research include keeping the bacteria to the proper 86 degrees and how to gauge when to close off the machine. It has been determined that it takes six weeks for the bacteria to break down plastics, thus our machine will run on six-week intervals. Ideonella and Azotobacter have proven to have no adverse effect on marine or human life.<br/>Our goal is to create a buoy that will float in the ocean, collect the water, and break down the plastics. In order to keep the bacteria to the correct temperature, we plan to test the use of insulation and heating pads. We will need to periodically change them out, as well as checking the bacteria frequently to ensure its quality. That provides another challenge: keeping the insulation from getting wet. To combat this problem, we plan to install PVC or smurf piping to lead the water directly to the filter. This filter will catch the plastics and separate them from the outgoing water. We hope to develop a system of locks and sensors that will slide into place once we determine the buoy is full. After the six-week degradation period, we will have to manually open the machine and re-release it, replacing bacteria or heating pads as necessary.<br/>Presented here will be the conceptual design and skematics for our scale prototype.