Kota Kinabalu: Universiti Malaysia Sabah (UMS) has come up with a new innovation, a machine to clean rivers which can collect rubbish that floats in rivers, as well as sewage that causes pollution of the rivers.
UMS Innovation Management and Commercialisation Centre (PPIP) Director, Associate Professor Dr Jidon Adrian Janaun, who is a researcher at the centre and the inventor of the machine, said the production of the prototype, costing RM100,000, started in 2018 and was completed last February.
It is capable of collecting up to 90 per cent of the garbage floating in the river, he said, adding the machine, which is shaped like a rotating swing, had so far, been used by UMS only for research work.
He said a model of the machine could be installed for operation in the river with a little modification.
“At UMS, this machine is operated using electricity to show how it rotates to trap garbage floating in the river before the rubbish is channelled into a garbage collection bin installed at the machine.
Dr Jidon Adrian Janaun
“However, for river use, we need a new machine from the same model, but the material has to be lighter and there has to be a floating platform or jetty so that the machine will not be swept away should flood occurs,” he said.
Jidon Adrian said the machine for river use could be operated using solar energy and would rotate according to the speed of the flow of the river water to trap the floating garbage, such as plastic and bottles.
However, he said, the process of installing the machine at the river would be by the company that obtained the right to commercialise the machine.
UMS would only provide guidance in terms of design, advisory services on suitable components to the company, selection of durable materials as well as the use of low production costs, he added.
On the challenge in producing the prototype, Jidon Adrian said it was getting a workshop that could install the machine as it would require the use of suitable equipment.
He said the machine is also installed with a. sensor that will give a warning when the garbage collection bin has been filled up.
“The benefit of this machine is that it facilitates river cleaning work,” he said, adding that the project received the support of the Sabah Ministry of Science, Technology and Innovation (KSTI) which contributed RM30,000.
One of the students involved in making the machine, Alexander Emmanuel Segong, 23, from the Faculty of Chemical Engineering, said the machine is also installed with a device that is capable of “pulling” the floating rubbish in the river to it.
“The device will be afloat with a turbine under it that will rotate when in the water to attract the garbage to the cleaning machine,” he added.
