Medical Waste Utilization is provided by Integrated Sterilizer & Shredder (ISS).
ISS is a compact medical hazardous waste solution. It is a steam sterilizer with an integrated shredder, designed for on-site conversion of biohazard waste in hospitals and clinics. This unit ensure safe and easy infectious waste (sharps, needles, dialyzers, syringes, etc.) disposal on-site, in 25 minutes, by performing both shredding and waste steam sterilization in a single vessel.
Operation:
Loading: when steam is ready and the jacket is heated, the vessel turns into loading position (45°). The waste is loaded into the vessel by emptying the waste collection bins into the top loading lid (door). After loading the lid is automatically closed and sealed, and the vessels turns back to treatment position. (0° ,Vertical)
Heating and grinding: (15 minutes): the motor of the crushing/grinding blades is turned on; the waste is broken into small fragments, and all material heats up rapidly by penetration of steam into the vessel till 136°C. The air in the vessel is pushed out by the steam through a bacteriologic filter (0,2µm).
Sterilization: holding temperature at 136°C for 7 minutes.
Exhaust and Dry: the steam, with condense of sterilize liquids, is released out from the bottom of the vessel through a heat-exchanger to the hospital drainage, and the vessel is sufficiently cooled by an external coil.
Unloading: a bin is placed below the vessel; the vessel is rotated and falls into the bin. Once emptied, the vessels is rotates back.
The entire process is automatic, including the opening and closing the door, turning and rotating of the vessel and the sequences of shredding and sterilization. The total cycle time takes approximately 30-40 minutes. The system requires 4-6 KW/h of electricity and 10-15 liters of water per batch.
1. WASTE COLLECTION AND SEGREGATION
The treatment in the ISS requires that different kinds of waste shall be worked upon separately. This requires responsibility of all involved employees at the hospital, so that the segregation of waste is done at the stage of waste generation. The Medical Waste may be broadly classified into four types:
- Metallic waste and metal sharps
- Glass waste and glass sharps
- Plastics
- Easily biodegradable waste like paper, cloth, cotton and pathological waste.
These different types of waste are to be collected separately in bins which may be distinguished, preferably with colors.
2. INTEGRATED STERILIZER & SHREDDER (ISS)
The ISS performs both size reduction and waste disinfection in a single vessel. The ISS is a cylindrical vessel Sterilizer with one opening for loading and unloading. The vessel is fitted with a motor-driven shaft, with powerful shredding/crushing blade arms which can rotate in two directions inside the vessel to reduce the size and volume of the waste. The vessel is pre-heated by an external coil (which functions as a steam jacket). The steam is internally produced by a steam generator. The blades operate for about 10-15 minutes, thus the waste in the vessel is not only fragmented but is also evenly sterilized by steam. After sterilization, the liquid components of the waste are steamed out of the vessel, re-condensed and drained to a municipal sewer. The remaining fragmented waste is dehydrated and unloaded into bins to be taken for disposal as solid waste or can be recycled.
3. DISPOSAL OF TREATED WASTE
After treated in the ISS, the waste is rendered fragmented, non toxic and largely solid and dry. It is now safe to dispose it at the regular municipal waste. The waste achieves a level of 8 log 10 disinfection. As the waste is dehydrated there is no risk of contaminated waste water. The recommended practice to dispose the waste is to recycle it.