Microplastics water treatment innovation impresses in James Dyson Award scheme
A team of University of Southampton Malaysia students have drawn national acclaim for a novel engineering approach to stop microplastic pollution reaching our oceans.
Mechanical Engineering students Frederick Wong Kui Siung, Bryan Chow Kai Jie and Shawn Navarednam have been named as a National Runner Up in the 2020 James Dyson Award with OFlow, a biofiltering system for water treatment plants.
The team propose using a non-pathogenic bacteria to form a protective biofilm layer that binds to microplastics when integrated into current treatment stages.
The semi-autonomous system would remove smaller-sized microplastics from wastewater and prevent the harmful pollution being discharged into the environment.
Team OFlow overcame the additional obstacles in place by being in the middle of a global pandemic. Having travelled back to Malaysia the students were unable access to the University’s laboratories, computers required to run simulations and only had online access to academic staff to provide feedback. Despite this they developed the concept over multiple hours of Skype sessions.
A scaled-down version of OFlow has been 3D printed to better understand the effects of fluid velocity, bacteria concentration, bacteria type and nutrient concentration on microplastic removal efficiency, with experiments conducted at the University aimed towards improving the technology for eventual commercial implementation.
The students have invented the technology on top of their split campus degree programmes, where Years 1 and 2 are completed at the University of Southampton Malaysia and Years 3 and 4 at the UK campus.
Read the full story on the University of Southampton Malaysia news page.