Tomsk State University: Aeroschup will clean the sea bottom of Port of Riga
TSU biologists in partnership with PurOceans company, created in Europe with TSU participation, will conduct field trials of Aeroschup technology. This innovative approach created at TSU will clean oil and petroleum products from bottom sediments. Demonstrating what Aeroshup is capable of will promote the product on the global market.
“We intentionally chose Riga,” explains Danil Vorobiev, head of the TSU Biological Institute. “It is a good starting point for innovations because of Commercialization Reactor – a Latvian venture company that knows how to raise a successful startup. On the other hand, Riga is a major European port, and its administration is very open to innovations. We plan to demonstrate Aeroshup capabilities in solving the issue relevant for most of the major ports – purification of sea bottom sediments from oil and petroleum products.”
He notes that this problem is caused by hydrocarbon fuels transferred by the sea routes. Emergency situations during loading and shipment often create oil spills. Usually, half of it can be liquidated from the surface, but the other half sinks to the bottom. Additionally, many ports of the former Soviet Union inherited oil and petroleum products in the bottom sediments from the 20th century.
Port of Riga will become a testing site for modules designed for ports. Scientists say that the location has a lot in common with still-water bodies like lakes, where Aeroschup has been used many times.
“The flow of the water in ports is not very fast because they are located in coves and bays,” says Danil Vorobiev. “They are usually not that deep, which makes our job a lot easier. We will work in the Port of Riga for two weeks together with PurOceans Technology, that promotes Aeroshup on the global market. After purifying bottom sediments our scientists and external experts will conduct a series of tests to assess the quality of work. Then our colleagues from PurOceans Technology will go through the necessary procedures to get a green light to promote this technology on the international market.”
There are several potential clients, from Liepaja, Malmo, Copenhagen, and several ports from Germany, Norway, and Portugal, who are interested in Aeroschup technology.
Aeroshup has already earned a positive response in Russia. Currently, it is the only technology of purifying bottom sediments that received positive reviews from the Federal Service for Supervision of Natural Resources of the Russian Federation and is permitted to be used across the country.