The Manta: Ocean Cleaning Yacht that Feeds on Plastic Waste for Fuel

A french ocean adventurer and a team of engineers have designed the Manta yacht, which works by using plastic waste as fuel. The leader of this project, Yvan Bourgnon has years of experience in racing sailing boats. To his dismay, he noticed a steady rise in floating garbage encounters in the ocean and he wanted to eradicate this waste.

This inspired him to start the SeaCleaners project and build a team to construct the Manta, a 56-meter catamaran powered by a set of advanced sail technology and electric motors. The Manta is currently under development. Bourgnon and his team aim to have a workable prototype by the end of 2021.

The conveyor belt takes in the garbage that is as tiny as 10 millimeters, while three trawl nets that trap plastics from the depth of 1 meter.

Also Read: These Novel Initiatives are Saving Our Oceans from Plastic Plague

The trash is fed into the processing machine where crew members sort it manually according to the type via local waste management. Organic metals then are discarded into the sea.

Manta yacht works by using plastic waste as fuel | Image: Sea Cleaners

The plastic waste is segregated and transformed into pellets before feeding it into an incinerator that melts the plastic, producing gas that propels the turbine.

The gas helps generate power for the boat’s system. The resulting electricity is combined with that from solar cells and wind turbines, allowing it to capture 3 tons of waste per hour without the need to refuel.

The Manta project is one of the recent initiatives to clear plastic garbage from the oceans. The team behind Manta aims to make catamaran 70 percent self-sufficient through the use of single-use plastic, along with solar cells and wind energy.

Via: Intelligent Living