Metals Industry Research and Development Center(MIRDC)

October 4, 2022 Dear JR Caberte, Greetings! Thank you for your request dated Sep 22, 2022 05:04:21 AM under Executive Order No. 2 (s. 2016) on Freedom of Information in the Executive Branch. Your Request You asked for Water Hyacinth Harvester Data. 1) The Water hyacinth harvester’s performance regarding efficiency 2) Volume/weight/amount of water hyacinth harvested per hour 3) It’s fuel consumption 4) Maintenance and overall cost of the water hyacinth harvester Response to Request Your FOI request is approved. Please see below the information you requested. 1) The Water hyacinth harvester’s performance regarding efficiency With only fuel and harvesting capacity to be taken into consideration, the Harvester 2 consumes approximately 40 liters diesel fuel for approximately 48 tons of collected water, assuming a full 8 hours operation. The fuel consumption of the barges has to be considered also. Its consumption will depend on the number of barges required. The number of barges required will depend on the distance of the collection site to the discharge site and the transit and unloading speed of the barges. 2) Volume/weight/amount of water hyacinth harvested per hour The Harvester 2 has a travel speed of approximately 1 knot or 1.8 km/h. It has a storage capacity for approximately 1 ton of water hyacinth. The storage can be filled up with water hyacinth in less than 10 minutes, while unloading at full capacity is less than 2 minutes. The ideal setup is that the Harvester has to be partnered with a multiple high capacity barge to which the collected water hyacinth can be unloaded. In this way, the Harvester can spent most of its time collecting water hyacinth and unloading them to the barge. The barge then will be the one to travel to shore or unloading site to discharge the collected water hyacinth weeds. While one barge is traveling to shore or unloading site, another will take up its position to receive the collected weeds from the Harvester. In such setup where there are enough barges to receive the collected water hyacinth, one Harvester can gather up to 6 tons of water hyacinth every hour. We have no data yet on the area density of the water hyacinth. 3) It’s fuel consumption The Harvester 2 was powered by a 4.5L diesel engine producing 103kW of power. Its fuel consumption is approximately 40 liters for 8 hours operation. 4) Maintenance and overall cost of the water hyacinth harvester The Harvester has not yet been tested to check which of its components require periodic maintenance and replacement. The Harvester 2 has a cost of Php 3.5M in 2013. Customer Feedback We would love to hear your feedback so we can improve our services. Kindly fill out the MIRDC Customer Feedback Form from this link: https://forms.gle/7EBYH6gfaqn367zu6 Your right to request a review If you are unhappy with this response to your FOI request, you may ask us to carry out an internal review of the response by writing to the Department Central Appeals and Review Committee, Department of Science and Technology, General Santos Avenue, Bicutan, Taguig City. Your review request should explain why you are dissatisfied with this response and should be made within (15) calendar days from the date when you received this letter. The Committee will complete the review and tell you the result within thirty (30) calendar days from the date when we receive your review request. If you are not satisfied with the result of the review, you then have the right to appeal to the Office of the President under Administrative Order No. 22 (s. 2011). Thank you. Respectfully, Abigail M. Casas FOI Receiving Officer