Date added: 2025-02-24
Plastic waste tracking – water engineering for clean rivers
The project, run by the researchers from Gdańsk and Warsaw (Gdańsk University of Technology, the Institute of Geophysics and the Institute of Hydro-Engineering of the Polish Academy of Sciences) aims to determine the trace of plastic bottles and other plastic waste in small rivers and streams with vegetation along the banks. The objective of the research is to retrace the route and propose solutions to reduce the spread of plastic waste in inland waters and its release to the seas and oceans.
– As part of the project, a mathematical model will be developed at Gdańsk University of Technology to allow numerical simulations of plastic transport under different water flow conditions. Such knowledge will help to monitor waters for this type of pollution in a faster and cheaper way and to prevent its spread – says Tomasz Kolerski, DSc, associate professor at Gdańsk Tech, the Faculty of Civil and Environmental Engineering, the project manager.
At Gdańsk University of Technology, research is conducted, among others, in the Hydraulics Laboratory at the Eco-Innovation Centre.
– A comprehensive approach to addressing the spread and accumulation of plastic in rivers will be developed through a combination of modeling, full-scale experiments and monitoring. This will ensure a real impact of our research results on the observed process of plastic transport, and thus improve the health of the rivers – says Łukasz Przyborowski, PhD from the Institute of Geophysics at the Polish Academy of Sciences, the leader of the project.
The project named “Study of the mechanism of macroplastic litter transport in a stream with vegetation” received funding from the National Science Center within the framework of the SONATA 19 program in the amount of PLN 590 000, of which over PLN 256 000 was appropriated for Gdańsk Tech.
Hydraulics Laboratory – the only such infrastructure in the region
Piotr Zima, DSc, associate professor at Gdańsk Tech, the Head of the Hydraulics Laboratory at the Eco-Innovation Center at Gdańsk Tech:
Water in the laboratory is supplied to three channels in a closed circuit. It contains a 150 m3 water tank, 6 submersible pumps, a collector that allows to distribute water to any position and its return to the water tank through appropriate settings of valves, and a special water treatment system (ozonation). It is possible to simulate various water flows, currents, waves in the laboratory. A total of nearly 20 interchangeable stations can be arranged here, allowing to conduct research in flow or wave conditions (wave generator). The research conducted in the laboratory concerns areas such as water management, hydraulics and hydraulic engineering. The laboratory is also adapted to conducting classes with students.