JP2003102826A - Germicidal treatment tank and medical waste treatment system using the same - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a germicidal treatment tank that can be improved in throughput by enabling the tank to heat medical wastes housed in the tank in a short time, and to provide a medical waste treatment system using the tank. SOLUTION: The germicidal treatment tank 3 is constituted so that steam may be fed into the tank 3 through a plurality of steam feeding ports 37 made through the cylindrical wall 31 of the tank 3 and, at the same time, the inside of the tank 3 may be pressurized in the early stages of heating the medical wastes housed in the tank 3. The medical waste treatment system is constituted of the tank 3, a crusher 1, a pre-treatment storage tank 2, a post-treatment storage tank 4, and a volume reducing machine 5. The medical wastes thrown in the tank 3 are subjected to pressurizing and heating treatment by which the wastes are heated while the wastes are pressurized by feeding steam into the tank 3 and, successively, to pressure reducing and dehydrating treatment by which the wastes are dehydrated while the pressure in the tank 3 is reduced by means of a pressure reducing device 7 communicatively connected to the tank 3.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a sterilization treatment tank for sterilizing medical waste and a medical waste treatment system using the sterilization treatment tank, and particularly to a sterilization treatment in the medical waste treatment system. The volume reduction processing can be performed in a complex manner.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Medical wastes discharged from medical institutions may be wastes of medical equipments such as syringes and scalpels discharged with medical procedures, and infectious diseases such as HIV and hepatitis virus. There are medical materials such as gauze and bandages to which blood and body fluid are attached, and these medical wastes are defined by law as infectious wastes.

In order to eliminate the risk of infection, these infectious wastes are heat-treated at a high temperature such as incineration, and then landfilled in a managed landfill site where there is no risk of contaminating groundwater. It is stipulated to be disposed of.

[0004]

However, infectious wastes include metal wastes such as injection needles, gauze and bandages, fiber wastes such as paper diapers, and plastics such as drip solution containers and blood containers. There are products made of a wide variety of materials such as system waste, and there are various shapes and forms from small items such as injection needles to large items such as disposable diapers. In addition, it was difficult to surely perform heat treatment so as to satisfy the heat treatment conditions.

Therefore, since the heating condition is satisfied by providing a large margin in the heat treatment, the treatment time becomes long, and a large-scale disposal is impossible unless the disposal facility is enlarged. It was Therefore, there are problems such as securing an installation place of the disposal facility and soaring construction cost / maintenance cost of the disposal facility, and as a result, there is a problem that the treatment cost soars.

On the other hand, a heat treatment facility for each product is required in order to separate and process each product, and the management items for each product are different, which makes the work as a whole complicated. However, there is a problem that the processing cost rises after all. Moreover, because of the soaring costs associated with the sorting work and the risk of infection during the sorting work, it was not practical to carry out the sorting.

In view of the above situation, the present inventor has conducted research and development to provide a system capable of treating medical waste, which is infectious waste, at low cost, and has completed the present invention. It is a thing.

[0008]

In order to solve the above-mentioned problems, in the sterilization tank of the present invention for sterilizing medical waste by containing and heating the crushed medical waste. The sterilization tank is constituted by a cylindrical wall provided with a heating means, a front end wall and a rear end wall that form a closed space by closing the front and rear ends of the cylindrical wall, and the front end wall and the rear end wall. Each end wall is provided with a bearing part, and a coaxial stirring part rotatably mounts a rotating stirring shaft that penetrates the inside of the sterilization tank, and stirring blades arranged on the rotating stirring shaft stir medical waste. In addition, the cylindrical wall is provided with a plurality of steam vents so that steam can be sent into the sterilization tank, and steam is supplied from the steam vent during the initial heating of the medical waste stored in the sterilization tank. To heat medical waste and pressurize the sterilization tank. It was.

Further, the heating means provided on the cylindrical wall is a peripheral surface steam heating section for heating the cylindrical wall with steam, and steam divided from the steam sent to the peripheral surface steam heating section is diverted. Air was supplied from the steam supply port into the sterilization treatment tank.

Further, in the medical waste treatment system of the present invention, the sterilization treatment tank described above, a crusher for crushing the medical waste fed to the sterilization treatment tank, and a medical treatment crushed by the crusher. In the pre-treatment storage tank that temporarily stores the waste and sends it to the sterilization treatment tank, the post-treatment storage tank that temporarily stores the medical waste that has been sterilized in the sterilization treatment tank, and the post-treatment storage tank It is composed of a volume reduction machine for reducing the volume of stored medical waste.

Particularly, in the initial heating in which medical waste put in the sterilization treatment tank is heated while being pressurized by sending steam into the sterilization treatment tank, the atmospheric pressure in the sterilization treatment tank is increased to the treatment pressure. After pressing and heating the temperature in the sterilization treatment tank to the treatment temperature, pressurization heat treatment is performed to sterilize the medical waste by maintaining the treatment pressure and the treatment temperature for a predetermined time, and then in the sterilization treatment tank. A decompression dehydration process is performed to dry medical waste by heating the inside of the sterilization tank while decompressing it with a decompressor connected in communication.In addition, in the pressure heat treatment, the pressure in the sterilization tank is kept at atmospheric pressure. However, it is also characterized in that the pressure in the sterilization tank is lowered to -0.065MPa or less with respect to the atmospheric pressure in the vacuum dehydration treatment. It is. Here, the atmospheric pressure is a normal atmospheric pressure and is about 0.1 MPa.

[0012]

BEST MODE FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION In the sterilization treatment tank of the present invention, medical waste is heated by a cylindrical wall provided with heating means, and a front end wall and a rear end wall that close the front and rear ends of the cylindrical wall. In addition to forming a closed space for sterilization, the front end wall and the rear end wall are each provided with a bearing part, and a coaxial stirring part rotatably mounts a rotary stirring shaft penetrating the inside of the sterilization tank, It is configured so that the sterilization process can be performed while stirring the medical waste with the stirring blades provided.

Further, the cylindrical wall is provided with a plurality of steam supply ports so that the steam generated in the steam generator can be supplied into the sterilization treatment tank, and the medical waste contained in the sterilization treatment tank is discharged. At the time of initial heating, the steam is sent from the steam supply port to rapidly heat the medical waste, and the inside of the sterilization tank can be pressurized.

By supplying steam into the sterilization treatment tank, the medical waste can be directly heated, so that the heating efficiency can be improved and the medical waste can be heated up to the required processing temperature in a short time. The temperature can be raised to start the sterilization process. Further, by pressurizing the inside of the sterilization treatment tank up to the processing pressure, it is possible to suppress the liquefaction of the vapor sent into the sterilization treatment tank and increase the temperature raising efficiency of medical waste due to the thermal energy of the vapor. .

Further, the medical waste can be steamed by sending steam into the sterilization tank, and a thin moisture layer can be formed on the surface of the medical waste, so that the heating efficiency can be improved. Not only that, but by acting to decompose the oil and organic matter contained in medical waste when the water vaporizes in the drying process described below,
It is possible to accelerate the decomposition of oil and organic substances. Furthermore, the drying efficiency can be increased by acting to promote vaporization of water contained in the medical waste in advance.

The steam sent to the sterilization tank is
In order to heat the cylindrical wall, the steam that is branched from the steam that is sent to the heating means that is composed of the peripheral surface steam heating section that is arranged on the cylindrical wall is sent. Therefore, since steam having the same thermal energy is sent to the inside and outside of the sterilization treatment tank, it is possible to suppress the transfer of heat energy from the inside to the outside of the sterilization treatment tank. Since the thermal energy of the steam sent into the tank is mainly used for heating the medical waste, the heating efficiency of the medical waste can be improved and the heating can be performed in a short time.

The medical waste treatment system equipped with the sterilization treatment tank described above has a crusher for crushing the medical waste sent to the sterilization treatment tank and a medical waste crushed by the crusher. A pre-treatment storage tank that stores and feeds it to the sterilization treatment tank, a post-treatment storage tank that temporarily stores medical waste that has been sterilized in the sterilization treatment tank, and a medical treatment stored in the post-treatment storage tank It is composed of a volume reduction machine for reducing the volume of waste. Therefore, since the rotation efficiency of the batch processing sterilization tank can be increased, a large amount of medical waste can be processed in a relatively small sterilization tank, and the processing facility itself can be made compact. .

In particular, in the sterilization treatment tank, first, the medical waste that has been introduced is subjected to initial heating in which heat is applied while being pressurized by sending steam into the sterilization treatment tank. By this initial heating, the sterilization treatment tank is heated to the treatment temperature and pressurized to the treatment pressure. By carrying out steam supply to the sterilization tank, it is possible to heat to the processing temperature in a relatively short time, and by applying pressure, the steam supplied to the sterilization tank can be liquefied. It is possible to suppress and use the thermal energy of the steam sent into the sterilization treatment tank efficiently for heating medical waste.

When the inside of the sterilization treatment tank reaches the treatment temperature and the treatment pressure, the supply of steam to the inside of the sterilization treatment tank is stopped, and the sterilization treatment is carried out by performing the pressure heating treatment for a predetermined time. . In particular, when the inside of the sterilization treatment tank is in a pressurized state, it is possible to promote the heat shrinkage caused in the plastic medical waste, and it is possible to promote the volume reduction of the medical waste.

After pressurizing and heating for a predetermined time, the peripheral surface steam heating unit heats the cylindrical wall of the sterilization tank while depressurizing the inside of the sterilization tank by a pressure reducing device connected to the sterilization tank. In this way, a vacuum dewatering treatment for heating the inside of the sterilization treatment tank is performed to dry the medical waste. By reducing the pressure, it is possible to dehydrate to a predetermined water content in a short time. Furthermore, when the medical waste is moistened by sending steam into the sterilization tank during the initial heating, the moisture in the steam and the moisture in the medical waste are fused,
During the reduced pressure dehydration treatment, the moisture in the fused steam acts as priming water to accelerate the drying.

In the following, further details will be given based on examples.

[0022]

EXAMPLE A medical waste treatment system of this example is shown in FIG.
A crusher 1 for crushing medical waste,
The pretreatment storage tank 2 for storing the medical waste crushed by the crusher 1 and the medical waste sent from the pretreatment storage tank 2 are heated by pressurizing and then dehydrated under reduced pressure. Sterilization treatment tank 3 for sterilization treatment, post-treatment storage tank 4 for storing medical waste treated in the sterilization treatment tank 3, and medical waste stored in the post-treatment storage tank 4 are volume-reduced. It is composed of a volume reducing machine 5.

Of these, the most important part of the present invention is the constitution of the sterilization treatment tank 3, and the sterilization treatment tank 3 includes a crusher 1, a pre-treatment storage tank 2, a post-treatment storage tank 4, and a volume reducing machine 5. By adding a system to the medical treatment system, medical waste can be treated more smoothly and in a shorter time.

As the crusher 1, a uniaxial crusher having a crushing blade arranged on a rotary shaft is used. By rotating the rotary shaft, medical waste is about 30 mm at the maximum, and a size less than that. I try to crush it. Instead of crushing by the crushing blade, a plurality of different crushing devices may be provided to ensure crushing.

A medical tumble can be supplied to the crusher 1 by using a tumble lift (not shown), and the crusher 1 is used while sterilizing treatment is performed in a sterilization treatment tank 3 described later. The crushing process is performed in No. 1 and the crushed medical waste is sent to the pre-treatment storage tank 2 by a transfer conveyor (not shown) and temporarily stored. A flight conveyor is used as the transfer conveyor.

When the sterilization treatment tank 3 is ready to be charged with medical waste, the take-out device provided at the lower portion of the pretreatment storage tank 2 is operated to send out the medical waste and transfer it to a feeding conveyor (not shown). Then, the medical waste is conveyed by the input conveyor and is input into the sterilization tank 3. A flight conveyor is used as the loading conveyor.

The sterilization tank 3 has a cylindrical wall 31 extending in one direction and having a substantially circular cross section, a front end wall 32 for closing the front end and the rear end of the cylindrical wall 31, and a rear end wall 33. Thus, a substantially cylindrical processing tank which can be sealed is formed.

In the sterilization treatment tank 3, the extending direction of the cylindrical wall 31 is substantially parallel to the horizontal direction, and the ceiling 34 at the top of the cylindrical wall 31 has an inlet for medical waste. 35 is provided,
The medical waste conveyed by the input conveyor from the input port 35 is input into the sterilization treatment tank 3.
Further, an exhaust pipe connection port 36 is provided in the ceiling portion 34, and when decompressing the inside of the sterilization treatment tank 3 as described later, the decompression device 7 is connected via the exhaust pipe 6 which is connected to the exhaust pipe connection port 36. By this, the air in the sterilization treatment tank 3 can be sucked.

The wall surface of the cylindrical wall 31 is provided with a heating means called a jacket capable of heating the inside of the cylindrical wall 31 as a heating element by supplying steam to the inside. The jacket is arranged on the peripheral surface of the cylindrical wall 31 to form the peripheral surface steam heating section 31h. Same surface steam heating unit 3
The steam supply pipe 8a is connected to 1h so that the steam generated in the steam generator 8 can be fed, while the steam exhaust pipe is connected to the peripheral steam heating unit 31h. Condensed water is drained from 8b so that high temperature steam can always be supplied.

In FIG. 1, the steam supply pipe 8a is connected to the cylindrical wall.
31 is connected to the lower side, and the steam exhaust pipe 8b is connected to the cylindrical wall.
Although they are connected and connected to the upper side of 31, these are drawn in this way for convenience of explanation, and the present invention is not limited to this form, and may be an appropriate connected and connected form.

The bottom portion of the cylindrical wall 31 is provided with a plurality of steam supply ports 37 for supplying steam into the sterilization tank 3, and the steam supply port 37 is branched from the steam supply pipe 8a. The steam supply pipes 8a 'thus formed are connected to each other so that the steam generated in the steam generator can be supplied into the sterilization treatment tank 3. It is desirable that the steam supply port 37 be a hole having a diameter as small as possible in order to prevent clogging due to medical waste. In addition, it is desirable that the tubular wall 31 is not provided at the bottommost portion but at a portion slightly above the lowest portion.

Similar to the cylindrical wall 31, jackets are provided on the front end wall 32 and the rear end wall 33, so that the side surface steam heating section 32 is provided.
The h and 33h are provided so that the inside of the sterilization treatment tank 3 can be heated. Also in the side surface steam heating units 32h and 33h, similarly to the peripheral surface steam heating unit 31h, the steam supply pipe 8a and the steam exhaust pipe 8b are communicatively connected to constantly supply the high-temperature steam generated in the steam generator 8. I am able to do that.

Further, the front end wall 32 and the rear end wall 33 are provided with bearing portions 32j and 33j, respectively, on which a rotary stirring shaft 38a penetrating the sterilization treatment tank 3 can be mounted so that they can be rotated in the sterilization treatment tank 3. The stirring shaft 38a can be arranged.

The rotating stirring shaft 38a has a stirring blade 38b of an appropriate shape.
Is provided and the rotary stirring shaft 38a is rotated by a drive mechanism (not shown) so that the medical waste put in the sterilization treatment tank 3 can be stirred. In particular, the rotary stirring shaft 38a and the stirring blade 38b are each formed in a hollow shape so that the steam generated in the steam generator 8 is fed to the hollow portion, and the rotary stirring shaft 38a and the stirring blade 38b are used for medical disposal. The object can be heated while being stirred.

The medical waste sterilized in the sterilization tank 3 is discharged from the discharge port 39 provided in the rear end wall 33 in this embodiment. The discharged medical waste is
The processed material is transferred to the storage tank 4 after processing by a processed material transfer conveyor (not shown) whose front end is located below the discharge port 39. A flight conveyor is used as the processed product transfer conveyor. The discharge port 39 is not limited to being provided in the rear end wall 33, but may be provided in the bottom portion of the tubular wall 31.

The sterilized medical waste stored in the post-treatment storage tank 4 is periodically transferred to a carry-out conveyor (not shown) by operating a take-out device provided at the lower end of the post-treatment storage tank 4. It is transferred and conveyed to the volume reducer 5 by the carry-out conveyor. A screw conveyor is used as the processed product transfer conveyor.

In the volume reducing machine 5, a predetermined amount of medical waste is compression-molded to reduce the volume, and the medical waste is molded into a shape that is easy to handle so that the efficiency of transportation to the landfill disposal site is improved. There is.

When the sterilized medical waste is conveyed from the post-treatment storage tank 4 to the volume reducer 5, the medical waste is separated into metal, plastic, fiber, etc., and the volume of each material is reduced. You may make it into.

In the above-mentioned medical waste treatment system, the medical waste before sterilization follows at least the crusher 1 to the sterilization treatment tank 3 in a tunnel-like transfer route by using a flight conveyor or the like. Since transportation and various treatments are performed, medical waste that has not been sterilized does not scatter and the work environment can be prevented from being contaminated. Therefore, the treatment can be performed extremely hygienically.

The sterilization process performed in the sterilization tank 3 will be described below with reference to the timing chart of FIG.

First, the peripheral steam heating section 31h of the sterilization tank 3h
The steam generated in the steam generator 8 is sent to the jackets that are the side steam heating units 32h and 33h, and further to the rotary stirring shaft 38a and the stirring blade 38b to start heating the sterilization treatment tank 3.

Further, as the heating is started, the charging port 35
Is opened, and the pulverized medical waste is conveyed from the pretreatment storage tank 2 through the feeding conveyor and is fed.

When a predetermined amount of medical waste is input, the input port
Block 35 and start the initial heating. That is, the steam generated in the steam generator 8 is supplied to the cylindrical wall 31 of the sterilization treatment tank 3.
Air is sent toward the inside of the sterilization treatment tank 3 from the steam supply port 37 provided at the bottom portion of the. By supplying the steam into the sterilization treatment tank 3, the medical waste put in the sterilization treatment tank 3 can be quickly heated. By rotating the rotary stirring shaft 38a at the same time, the medical waste introduced by the stirring blade 38b can be uniformly heated.

In this embodiment, the temperature inside the sterilization tank 3 is 1
Steam is sent until the processing temperature is 21 ° C. or higher and the pressure in the sterilization tank 3 becomes +0.2 MPa relative to the atmospheric pressure, that is, 0.3 MPa or more. When the temperature inside 3 becomes equal to or higher than the processing temperature and the processing pressure, the supply of steam is stopped and the initial heating is completed.

In the initial heating state, the inside of the sterilization treatment tank 3 is in a pressurized state, and the sterilization treatment tank 3 is heated by the jacket including the peripheral surface steam heating section 31h and the side surface steam heating sections 32h, 33h. As a result, the vapor sent into the sterilization treatment tank 3 is suppressed from being liquefied, while the humidity inside the sterilization treatment tank 3 increases, so that the medical waste becomes a steaming state, and the medical waste itself. Can be moistened.

By steaming the medical waste, high-temperature water can be spread to the details in the fiber-based medical waste, and the metallic medical waste such as an injection needle or the drip container is used. With plastic-based medical waste such as, a thin and high-temperature water film layer can be formed on the surface,
It is possible to improve the heat transfer efficiency to the medical waste and improve the heating efficiency.

For water-containing waste containing water such as blood and dirt mixed with medical waste, a part of the vapor is melted and melted to reduce the concentration of the water-containing waste. It can be softened and, as described later, can facilitate decomposition of the water-containing waste in the vacuum dehydration treatment.

Therefore, the gas sent into the sterilization treatment tank 3 to pressurize the inside of the sterilization treatment tank 3 needs to be steam, not high-temperature dry air. Especially, the sterilization tank 3
The steam sent to the inside of the sterilization tank 3 is heated by the peripheral steam heating unit.
31h and side steam heating units 32h and 33h, and a rotary stirring shaft
The heat energy of the steam sent into the sterilization tank 3 and the peripheral surface steam heating section 31h and the side surface steam heating section 32 are obtained by using the steam branched from the steam sent to the 38a and the stirring blade 38b.
Since the heat energy of the steam sent to the h, 33h, the rotary stirring shaft 38a, and the stirring blade 38b can be equalized, the heat of the steam sent to the sterilization tank 3 to directly heat the medical waste. Since the energy can be used only for heating medical waste, the heating efficiency can be further increased.
Therefore, the medical waste can be heated above the target temperature in a short time.

After the completion of the initial heating, a pressure heating treatment for maintaining the processing temperature and the processing pressure achieved in the initial heating for the processing time is performed. In this embodiment, the treatment time is set to 20 minutes, whereby the sterilization condition of 121 ° C.-20 minutes which is the legally prescribed heat sterilization condition can be cleared.

After the lapse of processing time, the ceiling of the sterilization tank 3
By operating the vacuum pump (not shown) of the decompression device 7 connected to the exhaust pipe connection port 36 arranged in 34, the air in the sterilization treatment tank 3 is sucked and the inside of the sterilization treatment tank 3 is sucked. I try to reduce the pressure. The reduced pressure dehydration process is from the start to the end of the operation of the vacuum pump.

In the reduced pressure dehydration treatment, the pressure is gradually reduced by a vacuum pump, while the peripheral surface steam heating section of the sterilization treatment tank 3 is used.
31h and side steam heating units 32h and 33h, and a rotary stirring shaft
By continuing to supply steam to the 38a and the stirring blade 38b, thermal energy is constantly supplied so that the medical waste can be dried. In this embodiment, the temperature is kept at about 95 to 100 ° C. Further, the temperature may be maintained at a high temperature.

The temperature in the sterilization tank 3 is 95 to 100 ° C.
Based on the detection by the temperature sensor (not shown) arranged in the sterilization treatment tank 3 so as to maintain
31h, side steam heating units 32h, 33h, rotary stirring shaft 38a, stirring blade 3
The amount of steam supplied to 8b is adjusted.

In the vacuum dehydration treatment, the air in the sterilization treatment tank 3 is gradually sucked by a vacuum pump so that the final water content of the medical waste can be dehydrated to about 10% or less. Specifically, the pressure inside the sterilization tank 3 is reduced to -0.065 MPa or less, that is, 0.045 MPa or less with respect to the atmospheric pressure.

In this embodiment, the pressure is reduced to -0.07 MPa, that is, 0.03 MPa with respect to the atmospheric pressure in 20 to 30 minutes. The treatment time and the treatment pressure of the reduced pressure dehydration treatment are appropriately adjusted according to the state of the medical waste to be put into the sterilization treatment tank 3, particularly the water content before treatment.
The pressure inside the sterilization tank 3 is -0.065M with respect to the atmospheric pressure.
When the pressure is less than Pa, the drying effect due to the pressure reduction becomes smaller, so the effect of reducing the pressure to, for example, -0.07 MPa or less is small, and it is sufficient to reduce the pressure to -0.065 MPa with respect to the atmospheric pressure. You can In the present embodiment, in consideration of the variation in dehydration state for each type of medical waste, the pressure is reduced to -0.07 MPa with respect to the atmospheric pressure so that dehydration is performed uniformly.

In the vacuum dehydration treatment, the water-containing waste containing water such as blood and filth is watered after the water-containing waste is diluted or softened by the water adhered in the initial heating. As a result, the water-containing waste can be decomposed with the vaporization, and the volume of the water-containing waste can be reduced.

When the operation of the vacuum pump of the decompression device 7 is stopped to complete the decompression dehydration process, the discharge port 39 is opened to discharge the sterilized medical waste. The discharged medical waste is dried up to a water content of about 10% in a short time by combining the above-mentioned library heating, pressure heating treatment, and reduced pressure dehydration treatment.

In this embodiment, the jacket of the peripheral steam heating section 31h and the side steam heating sections 32h and 33h of the sterilization treatment tank 3 and the rotary stirring shaft 3 are accompanied by the stoppage of the operation of the vacuum pump.
8a, heating of the sterilization tank 3 by supplying steam to the stirring blade 38b is also stopped. As a result, the temperature in the sterilization tank 3 drops sharply. However, after discharging the sterilized medical waste from the discharge port 39, the next medical waste is charged from the charging port. If the interval is short, the sterilization tank 3 jacket, rotary stirring shaft
The temperature of the sterilization treatment tank 3 may be prevented from decreasing by continuing to supply steam to the stirring blade 38a and the stirring blade 38b. Therefore, the time required to heat the sterilization treatment tank 3 can be shortened, and the next sterilization treatment can be performed in a short time.

Further, during the above-described reduced-pressure dehydration treatment, fine medical waste may be clogged in the steam supply port 37 provided in the cylindrical wall 31 of the sterilization treatment tank 3 to cause clogging. Therefore, as another embodiment, as shown in FIG. 3, steam may be supplied from the steam supply port 37 into the sterilization processing tank 3 for a short time during the reduced pressure dehydration processing. In this case, since the steam is supplied from the steam supply port 37 in a state in which the pressure inside the sterilization tank 3 is reduced, not only the pressure of the steam but also the suction force associated with the reduced pressure acts, so that the steam is sent. Mouth 37
It is possible to extremely easily remove the medical waste that has blocked the.

In this embodiment, the steam is supplied from the steam supply port 37 only once, but it may be supplied plural times. If the steam is sent for a short time, the pressure in the sterilization tank 3 in the depressurized state slightly rises, but it does not greatly affect the depressurized state, and the sent steam is instantly Since it is dried, it is possible to prevent the influence of sending steam from occurring.

However, in order to minimize the influence of the steam supply from the steam supply port 37 on the depressurized state in the sterilization treatment tank 3, the pressure in the sterilization treatment tank 3 with respect to the atmospheric pressure. -
It is desirable to perform it in the state of 0.065 MPa or less. In addition, it is easier to apply the suction force in accordance with the reduced pressure state, and the effect of removing medical waste can be enhanced.

In the sterilization treatment consisting of the pressure heat treatment and the reduced pressure dehydration treatment described above, since the heat treatment sterilization and drying can be performed while the medical waste is sufficiently stirred by the stirring blade 38b, the reduced pressure dehydration treatment is completed. The medical waste can be brought into a substantially homogeneous mixed state, and can be carried out while reducing the variation in compression molding in the volume reducing machine 5 in the subsequent step. Therefore, the retention of the compression-molded medical waste can be enhanced, and the handleability can be improved.

Since the medical waste treatment system described above can be made extremely compact and hygienic as described above, it can be installed in a hospital facility.
The transportation cost of medical waste can be reduced and the processing can be performed at low cost.

[0063]

According to the first aspect of the invention, in a sterilization tank for sterilizing medical waste by containing and heating the crushed medical waste, a cylinder of the sterilization tank. A plurality of steam vents are provided on the wall to allow steam to be fed into the sterilization treatment tank, and when the medical waste stored in the sterilization treatment tank is initially heated, the steam is fed from the steam supply inlet. The medical waste is heated by heating and the inside of the sterilization tank is pressurized, so that the heating efficiency of the medical waste put in the sterilization tank can be improved and heating in a short time is possible. it can. Therefore, it is possible to quickly shift to the pressure heating treatment which is a sterilization treatment, and the work efficiency can be improved.

In particular, since it usually takes a very long time to heat the inside of the sterilization treatment tank to a high temperature, the sterilization treatment was carried out under the sterilization treatment condition at a relatively low temperature for a long time. Since the temperature can be raised to a desired temperature in a relatively short time in the sterilization treatment tank, it is possible to perform sterilization treatment under relatively high temperature and short time sterilization treatment conditions. The processing time per hit can be shortened. Therefore, the number of operations per day can be increased and the processing capacity can be improved.

Furthermore, since the inside of the sterilization tank is pressurized by sending steam into the sterilization tank, the steam sent into the sterilization tank is immediately liquefied and enters the sterilization tank. It is possible to prevent water from accumulating, and it is possible to improve the temperature raising efficiency by using the thermal energy of the steam only for raising the temperature of the medical waste.

According to the second aspect of the present invention, the heating means is composed of the peripheral surface steam heating section arranged on the cylindrical wall to heat the steam fed into the sterilization tank to heat the cylindrical wall. By separating the steam from the steam sent to the sterilization tank, it is possible to send steam with the same thermal energy to the inside and outside of the sterilization tank. It is possible to suppress the occurrence of movement. Therefore, since the thermal energy of the steam sent into the sterilization treatment tank can be used only for heating the medical waste, the heating efficiency of the medical waste can be increased,
Heating can be performed in a short time.

According to the third aspect of the present invention, the sterilization tank, the crusher for crushing the medical waste fed to the sterilization tank, and the medical waste crushed by the crusher are once provided. A pre-treatment storage tank that stores and feeds it to the sterilization treatment tank, a post-treatment storage tank that temporarily stores medical waste that has been sterilized in the sterilization treatment tank, and a medical treatment stored in the post-treatment storage tank By configuring a medical waste treatment system with a volume reduction machine that reduces the volume of waste, the rotation efficiency of the batch treatment sterilization tank can be increased, and a large volume can be obtained with a relatively small sterilization tank. Medical waste can be treated. Therefore, the treatment facility itself can be made compact, the construction site of the treatment facility can be restrained from being limited, and the treatment facility can be installed on the premises of a hospital where medical waste is discharged. The transportation cost of goods can be reduced.

According to the invention described in claim 4, in the initial heating for heating the medical waste put in the sterilization treatment tank while pressurizing it by sending steam into the sterilization treatment tank, After heating the pressure in the sterilization treatment tank to the treatment pressure and heating the temperature in the sterilization treatment tank to the treatment temperature, pressurization heat treatment to sterilize medical waste by maintaining the treatment pressure and the treatment temperature for a predetermined time. Then, the decompression device connected to the sterilization treatment tank is used to perform the reduced pressure dehydration treatment for drying the medical waste by heating the inside of the sterilization treatment tank while decompressing it. Medical waste can be dried in a vacuum dehydration process. In particular, in the drying by reduced pressure dehydration treatment, along with the vaporization of water by the humidification in the initial heating, it is possible to cause the decomposition action of the oil and organic substances contained in the medical waste, and it is contained in the medical waste in advance. It can act so as to promote vaporization of the existing water, and the drying efficiency can be improved.

According to the invention of claim 5, in the pressure heating treatment, the pressure in the sterilization treatment tank is +0.2 MPa with respect to the atmospheric pressure.
The pressure in the sterilization tank is lowered to -0.065MPa or less with respect to the atmospheric pressure in the vacuum dehydration treatment by increasing the temperature up to the above. The heat shrinkage can be promoted to reduce the volume, and in the reduced pressure dehydration treatment, sufficient drying can be performed in a short time, and the work efficiency can be improved.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is an explanatory diagram of a system configuration of a medical waste treatment system according to the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a timing chart of sterilization processing by the sterilization processing tank according to the present invention.

FIG. 3 is a timing chart of another embodiment.

[Explanation of symbols]

1 crusher 2 Pre-treatment storage tank 3 sterilization tank 4 Storage tank after processing 5 Volume reduction machine 6 Exhaust pipe 7 Decompression device 8 steam generator 8a Steam supply pipe 8b steam exhaust pipe 8a 'steam flue 31 tubular wall 31h Peripheral steam heating section 32 Front end wall 32h Side steam heating section 32j bearing 33 Rear wall 33h Side steam heating section 33j bearing 34 Ceiling 35 Input port 36 Exhaust pipe connection port 37 Steam inlet 38a Rotating stirring shaft 38b Stirrer 39 Outlet

   ─────────────────────────────────────────────────── ─── Continued front page    F term (reference) 4C058 AA27 BB05 CC01 CC02 CC03                       CC04 EE01 EE24                 4C341 LL13 LL15 LL16 LL22 LL23                 4D004 AA48 AC04 BB03 CA04 CA22                       CA32 CA46 CB04 CB13 CB31                       CB45 CC03 DA03 DA07

Claims (5)

[Claims] 1. A sterilization tank (3) for sterilizing medical waste by containing and heating crushed medical waste, the sterilization tank (3) being a heating means. Cylindrical wall with (31)
And a front end wall (32) that closes the front and rear ends of the cylindrical wall (31) to form a closed space and a rear end wall (33), and the front end wall (32) and the rear end wall (33 ) In each bearing part (3
2j) and (33j) are installed, and the coaxial receiving parts (32j) and (33j) are used for the sterilization tank.
(3) A rotary stirring shaft (38a) penetrating the inside is suspended, and stirring blades (38b) arranged on the rotary stirring shaft (38a) are used to stir the medical waste. The wall (31) is provided with a plurality of steam supply ports (37) to enable steam to be supplied into the sterilization tank (3), and the sterilization tank (3)
A steam vent for the initial heating of the medical waste stored inside
A sterilization tank characterized in that steam is sent from (37) to heat medical waste and the inside of the sterilization tank (3) is pressurized. 2. The heating means provided on the cylindrical wall (31) is a peripheral surface steam heating section (31h) for heating the cylindrical wall (31) with steam, the peripheral surface steam heating section (31h). The sterilization tank according to claim 1, wherein the steam divided from the steam supplied to the tank is sent to the inside of the sterilization tank (3) through the steam supply port (37). 3. A sterilization treatment tank (3) according to any one of claims 1 and 2, and a crusher (1) for crushing medical waste sent to the sterilization treatment tank (3). , The sterilization treatment is performed in the pretreatment storage tank (2) that temporarily stores the medical waste crushed by the crusher (1) and sends it to the sterilization treatment tank (3), and the sterilization treatment tank (3) It consists of a post-treatment storage tank (4) that temporarily stores the treated medical waste and a volume reduction machine (5) that reduces the volume of the medical waste stored in the post-treatment storage tank (4). A characteristic medical waste treatment system. 4. The sterilization treatment tank (3) in the initial heating in which medical waste put in the sterilization treatment tank (3) is heated while being pressurized by sending steam into the sterilization treatment tank (3). The atmospheric pressure inside is increased to the processing pressure and the sterilization tank
(3) After heating the temperature in the treatment temperature to the treatment temperature, pressurization heat treatment is performed to sterilize the medical waste by maintaining the treatment pressure and the treatment temperature for a predetermined time, and then the sterilization treatment tank.
Sterilization tank (3) by decompression device (7) connected in communication with (3)
The medical waste treatment system according to claim 3, wherein a reduced pressure dehydration treatment for drying the medical waste is performed by heating the inside while reducing the pressure. 5. The pressure heating treatment raises the pressure in the sterilization treatment tank (3) to +0.2 MPa or more relative to the atmospheric pressure, and the reduced pressure dehydration treatment increases the pressure in the sterilization treatment tank (3). The medical waste treatment system according to claim 4, wherein the medical waste treatment system is adapted to lower the atmospheric pressure to -0.065 MPa or less.