Preliminary+Design+-+Team+4



**Preliminary Design Synopsis** : Our machine is used to collect garbage from the Great Pacific Garbage Patch. It utilizes its long arms to pull in and collect garbage. In order to prevent marine life from being sucked into the machine, the machine releases a sound pulse to turn any marine life away from the it. This in turn leads the machine to only collect garbage, rather than a combination of both. The arms are used to collect garbage, and the plastic that is collected will be fed onto a conveyor belt, which transports it to a conversion chamber. Using a process called pyrolysis,  the decomposition of material at elevated temperatures in the absence of oxygen, the plastic is converted into petroleum fuel. Since plastic is created from petroleum, when it is converted back into petroleum, the plastic retains eighty percent of the original petroleum. The petroleum in turn is used to power the machine. All of the remaining garbage is sorted into a separate storage container to be disposed of at a co-gen plant. The storage unit is removable, and it can be loaded onto another ship or unloaded at a dock to be taken to the co-gen plant.