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dc.contributor.advisorAlexander H. Slocum.en_US
dc.contributor.authorGray, Luke Alexander.en_US
dc.contributor.otherMassachusetts Institute of Technology. Department of Mechanical Engineering.en_US
dc.date.accessioned2020-09-15T22:00:01Z
dc.date.available2020-09-15T22:00:01Z
dc.date.copyright2020en_US
dc.date.issued2020en_US
dc.identifier.urihttps://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/127483
dc.descriptionThesis: S.M., Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Department of Mechanical Engineering, May, 2020en_US
dc.descriptionCataloged from the official PDF of thesis.en_US
dc.descriptionIncludes bibliographical references.en_US
dc.description.abstractSargassum seaweed has been growing ever faster due to climate change and agricultural runoff and has become a terrible problem for the Caribbean. The floating algae has been inundating Caribbean coasts in unprecedented and increasing quantities for the past decade and there are no indication of abating. When the seaweed makes landfall, it dies, rots, dyes water dark brown, creates an eyesore, and emits a terrible smell ("rotten egg" smell of hydrogen sulfide). Moreover, sargassum negatively affects tourism (decreased by as much as 25%-50% in some locations), fishing (decreased harvests & damaged equipment), industry (clogs in power plant cooling intake & fumes/particulate corrosive to machinery), human health (hydrogen sulfide & heavy metals), standard-of-living (civilian coastline with no resources to address), coastal ecology (eutrophication), and the global climate (methanogenesis in landfill & anaerobic coastal water).en_US
dc.description.abstractResponses thus far have been bootstrapped (manual cleanup predominant) and technologies recycled from other industries --en_US
dc.description.abstractcontainment barriers, large conveyor systems, excavators, bulldozers. These measures haven been proven to be costly, insufficient, and unsustainable. This thesis presents the strategy of "sargassum ocean sequestration of carbon" (SOS Carbon) based on the discovery that sargassum pumped to a critical depth in the ocean ("pumping-to-depth"; identified as ~150-200m) is rendered negatively buoyant by the ambient hydrostatic pressure (air bladders that make the algae buoyant are compressed) and continues sinking to the ocean floor. Pumping-to-depth is a simple and energy-efficient (<<<10MJ/m3) process that could generate carbon offsets (if sargassum deposited sufficiently deep; estimated to be >0.25 tCO2/tonne wet sargassum including process emissions) and enabled the design of ideal systems for low-cost, effective, long-term sargassum management. Presented herein are designs for two physical sargassum collection/disposal systems, "in-situ" and "ex-situ".en_US
dc.description.abstractThis thesis documents initial investigation, early experimentation, systems analysis, concept selection, proof-of-concept tests, and the design/construction/testing of a full-scale "SOS Carbon Pilot" vessel.en_US
dc.description.statementofresponsibilityby Luke Alexander Gray.en_US
dc.format.extent206 pagesen_US
dc.language.isoengen_US
dc.publisherMassachusetts Institute of Technologyen_US
dc.rightsMIT theses may be protected by copyright. Please reuse MIT thesis content according to the MIT Libraries Permissions Policy, which is available through the URL provided.en_US
dc.rights.urihttp://dspace.mit.edu/handle/1721.1/7582en_US
dc.subjectMechanical Engineering.en_US
dc.titleSequestering floating biomass in the deep ocean : "Sargassum ocean sequestration of carbon" (SOS Carbon)en_US
dc.title.alternativeSOS Carbonen_US
dc.typeThesisen_US
dc.description.degreeS.M.en_US
dc.contributor.departmentMassachusetts Institute of Technology. Department of Mechanical Engineeringen_US
dc.identifier.oclc1193021588en_US
dc.description.collectionS.M. Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Department of Mechanical Engineeringen_US
dspace.imported2020-09-15T22:00:01Zen_US
mit.thesis.degreeMasteren_US
mit.thesis.departmentMechEen_US


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