E 51: The long road to a Sargassum barrier with Rolando Chavez Penaherrera

Rolando Chavez Penaherrera is the Latin American General manager for the Enviro-Clean segments of DESMI and Head of DESMI SEAWEED Division.DESMI is Danish manufacturer of pumps, pumping systems, environmental cleaning equipment and related products and services, Founded in 1834 and headquartered in Denmark, DESMI provides pumping solutions to end-markets including marine and offshore, industrial, utility, and defense and fuel. The company also provides environmental solutions for oil spill response, seaweed collection and cleaning waterways. Next to managing oil spills they also started in 2014 designing products for Sargassum management.   

Listen to the episode to learn about:   

1:31 : Presentation of Rolando  

2:20 : Localization of the office 

2:46 : What is sargassum to Rolando 

4:26 : How Desmi decided to make a barrier of sargassum 

10:07 : How do the barriers work 

12:24 : Type of anchors used for the boom 

14:24 : Wave resistance of the boom 

17:04 : How to remove the boom and the time needed for it 

20:17 : Transfer systems used to remove sargassum from the water 

24:36 : How to avoid bycatch  

26:35 : Who are the customers buying the barriers 

28:09 : Three years of testing needed before using the boom for cleaning public beaches : proven technology  

29:10 : Future projects related to sargassum : how to always improve removal capacity 

38:08 : Environmental approval  

35:10 : Debriefs  

Learn more about Rolando:   

DESMI website 

Rolando´s linkedIn 

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