JPH0698930A - Waste treatment device - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To provide a device which can execute efficiently the heating/ sterilization processing of medical waste. CONSTITUTION:The processor is provided with a vessel main body 3 for putting waste 3 in, a microwave generating device 20 for heating the waste, and a hot air generating means, and constituted so that in the initial stage of a heating treatment, hot air circulation heating and microwave heating are used jointly, and in the final stage of the heating treatment, heating is mainly composed of only hot air from the air generating means, by which the temperature is raised to a prescribed temperature in the shortest time, while preventing local excessive heating of the waste and heating uniformly the whole.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an apparatus for treating medical waste such as a used hemodialyzer, a used syringe, a used injection needle, a used gauze and a used container.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art In order to prevent secondary infection due to infectious medical waste discharged from hospitals, dialysis facilities, etc., there is a guideline of the Ministry of Health and Welfare that defines a treatment method for such waste.
It was announced on November 7, 2012 and has come into effect on April 1, 1990. Therefore, in principle, hospitals, dialysis facilities, etc. are obliged to sterilize medical waste in hospitals or facilities.

[0003] Conventionally, Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 1-176486 discloses a treatment method in which a used synthetic resin syringe and an injection needle are housed in a heat-resistant container, heated and melted at a predetermined temperature for sterilization, and then cooled and solidified. The device is described. In addition, Japanese Utility Model Laid-Open No. 1-144040 discloses a waste heating / sterilizing apparatus that heats / sterilizes waste and then crushes / reduces the volume with a crusher. Further, in Japanese Patent Publication No. 51-25470, plastic waste is put in a cylinder and heated by a heater built in a bottom plate and a piston.
An apparatus for treating plastic waste is described, which simultaneously compresses and melts around the surface to integrally mold it.

Further, Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 1-315383 discloses a device for heating and sterilizing a used disposable syringe with an electric heater provided on the side and bottom of the heating furnace and a far infrared heater. . In addition, as an example, a method is described in which a processed product is melted in a heat-resistant container, cooled as an integrated product including a needle, and then taken out. Further, Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 1-263410 discloses a device for heating waste with microwaves to dry, burn and incinerate.

[0005]

DISCLOSURE OF THE INVENTION Problems to be Solved by the Invention
When the treatment method and apparatus described in Japanese Patent No. 6486 are used to treat a substance such as a hemodialyzer which contains a large amount of water and is composed of a plurality of plastics having different melting points, the treatment temperature depends on the treatment temperature. Since many things that do not melt remain, it takes a long time to heat and the volume reduction (molding) was insufficient. In addition, the above-mentioned actual Kaihei 1-144040
In the waste heating and sterilizing apparatus described in the publication, heating takes a long time, and the crushing method using a crusher does not necessarily have a large volume reduction effect, and in addition, maintenance of the cutter of the crusher is required. However, there are inconveniences such as noise, vibration, and many power sources.

Further, in the plastic waste treatment apparatus described in the above Japanese Patent Publication No. 51-25470, sterilization is not intended at all, and since only the surface is coated with the melt, molding is performed. There is a disadvantage that the stability of the product is poor. In addition, the above-mentioned JP-A-1-
In the device described in Japanese Patent No. 315383, a large processed product such as a used hemodialyzer, and a processed product containing water inside cannot easily raise the temperature only by circulating hot air, and the sterilization is not sufficient, and However, there are many problems such as long processing time. Further, since the hemodialyzer is composed of a plurality of plastics, some melt and some do not melt depending on the treatment temperature, and the volume cannot be sufficiently reduced. Further, the above-mentioned JP-A-1-26341.
The method of ashing with microwaves to reduce the volume described in Japanese Patent Publication No. 0 requires a large amount of electric power, and the apparatus itself has a high temperature, which is not suitable for installation in a hospital or clinic.

The present invention has been made in view of the above points, and an object thereof is to provide an apparatus for efficiently heating and sterilizing infectious waste containing plastics by combining microwave heating and hot air circulation. To do.

[0008]

In order to achieve the above-mentioned object, the waste treatment apparatus of the present invention, as shown in the drawings,
A container body 3 made of a microwave shielding material for containing the waste 6, a microwave generator 20 for heating the waste, and a hot air generating means are provided, and at least in the final stage of the heat treatment, heating of the waste is performed. It is characterized in that a time zone in which the main body is the hot air from the hot air generating means is provided.

[0009]

Operation: A medical waste container 4 containing medical waste (hereinafter referred to as waste) is attached to a heater 22 and a circulation blower 2.
The microwave generating device 20 is heated and sterilized by the hot air generating means including the hot air circulation line 26 having
To heat and sterilize. And the closed container body 3
By detecting the concentration of combustible gas and the concentration of hydrogen chloride gas in the exhaust gas from (hereinafter referred to as the container body 3),
Alternatively, the microwave generator 20 is controlled by the ratio of the reflected power detected by the power monitor 60 connected to the waveguide 46 of the microwave generator 20 and the incident power.
That is, when the concentration of the combustible gas or hydrogen chloride gas exceeds a certain value or the ratio of reflected power to incident power exceeds a certain value, the microwave generator 20 is stopped, or The output of the wave is reduced, and at least in the final stage of the heat treatment, the main body of heating is hot air from the hot air generating means.

[0010]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS Preferred embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail below with reference to the drawings. However, the shape of the components described in this embodiment, the relative arrangement, and the like, unless otherwise specified, are not intended to limit the scope of the present invention to only those, and are merely illustrative examples. Only.

Example 1 The medical waste treatment system of this example is as shown in FIG.
A hot-air circulation line 26 including a container body 3 having an opening / closing door 1 and an exhaust port 2, a medical waste storage container 4, a microwave generator 20, a heater 22, and a circulation blower 24.
A compressor 28 for compressing and reducing the volume of the medical waste container 4 containing the waste 6, a combustible gas concentration indicator controller 32 provided in the exhaust gas conduit 30, and a combustible gas (one The control unit 34 controls the microwave generator 20 according to the concentration of carbon oxide, hydrocarbon, etc.). 36 is an elevating unit, 38 is a push rod, 40 is a compression plate, and 36, 38 and 40 are compression devices 2
8 are configured. 42 is a bottom plate, 44 is a temperature indicating controller,
Reference numeral 46 is a waveguide. The exhaust gas conduit 30 is provided with a HEPA (High Efficien) for disinfection (prevention of dispersal of bacteria).
cy Particulate Air) Filter 4
8. Alkali filling part 50 for removing acidic gas such as HCl, oxidation of hydrocarbon (making into water and CO ₂ )
In addition, there is provided a catalyst filling section 52 filled with an oxidation catalyst (for example, an alumina-supported platinum catalyst or the like) for removing odors and preventing bacteria from scattering. Note that the order of 48, 50, and 52 is shown as an example, and can be changed as appropriate. 54 is a heater and 56 is a temperature indicating controller. In addition, the control unit 34 has a timer 58.
Is connected, and the maximum operation time of the microwave generator 20 is set in advance. In addition, to control the microwave output,
Microwave ON-OFF control is also included.

Embodiment 2 In this embodiment, an exhaust gas conduit 30 is provided with a combustible gas concentration indicating controller 3
Instead of providing 2, the power monitor 60 is connected to the waveguide 46 as shown in FIG.
And the control unit 34 are connected.
Incident power from the microwave generator 20 toward the medical waste storage container 4 in the container body 3 and the medical waste storage container 4
Power monitor 6 to see the status of reflected power returning from
0 is used as a kind of "monitoring means for residual water content in processed material". This example is used as an alternative or in combination with the output signal of the flammable gas shown in the first embodiment.
While water is contained in a large amount in the processed material, the microwaves are mainly absorbed by water, so that the ratio of reflected power to incident power (reflected power / incident power) is small. However, as the water content evaporates and decreases, the reflected power / incident power increases as the water content to be absorbed decreases. This characteristic is used as a kind of dryness monitoring. When the residual water content is reduced, the microwave exhibits an absorption characteristic depending on the material of the plastics, which causes local overheating. For example, polyvinyl chloride easily absorbs microwaves, and Teflon and polypropylene do not easily absorb microwaves. Other configurations and operations are similar to those of the first embodiment.

Embodiment 3 In this embodiment, an exhaust gas conduit 30 is provided with a combustible gas concentration indicating controller 3
Instead of providing 2, the hydrogen chloride gas concentration indicating controller 62 is provided as shown in FIG. Instead of detecting the concentration of the flammable gas shown in Example 1, in the case of a treated product containing polyvinyl chloride, the concentration of hydrogen chloride gas is detected and the Control output. Further, the microwave output may be controlled in combination with the detection of the concentration of the combustible gas and the detection by the power monitor. Other configurations and operations are similar to those of the first embodiment.

[0014]

Since the present invention is configured as described above, it has the following effects. (1) Secondary infection can be prevented by heating and sterilizing infectious medical waste, and at the same time, it complies with the guidelines of the Ministry of Health and Welfare that hospitals, in principle, must sterilize the waste in the hospital. To do. In addition, the cost of payment to industrial waste contractors can be significantly reduced. By the way, as of April, 1990,
Infectious waste 280-500 yen / kg, non-infectious waste 2
It is 0-30 yen / kg. (2) Since hot air circulation heating and microwave heating are used together in the initial stage of heat treatment with a high water content in waste, and hot air circulation heating is mainly used in the final stage of heat treatment of waste. The "microwave heating", which has the feature of heating the processed material from the inside, can be utilized to the maximum extent. Therefore, it is possible to raise the temperature to the predetermined temperature in the shortest time while preventing local overheating of the processed material and uniformly heating the whole by hot air circulation. Also, the sterilizing effect of the microwave itself can be utilized.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a vertical cross-sectional explanatory view showing an embodiment of a waste treatment device of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a vertical cross-sectional explanatory view showing another embodiment of the device of the present invention.

FIG. 3 is an explanatory longitudinal sectional view showing still another embodiment of the device of the present invention.

[Explanation of symbols]

 1 Open / Close Door 2 Exhaust Port 3 Container Body 4 Medical Waste Storage Container 6 Waste 20 Microwave Generator 22 Heater 24 Circulating Blower 26 Hot Air Circulation Line 28 Compressor 30 Exhaust Gas Pipe 32 Combustible Gas Concentration Indicator Controller 34 Control Unit 36 Lifting unit 38 Push rod 40 Compression plate 42 Bottom plate 44 Temperature indicator controller 46 Waveguide 48 HEPA filter 50 Alkali filling part 52 Catalyst filling part 54 Heater 56 Temperature indicating controller 58 Timer 60 Power monitor 62 Hydrogen chloride gas concentration indicating adjustment Total

 ─────────────────────────────────────────────────── ─── Continuation of the front page (72) Inventor Shigenori Kataoka 3-1-1 Higashikawasaki-cho, Chuo-ku, Kobe City Kawasaki Saki Heavy Industries, Ltd. Kobe factory (72) Inventor Koichi Noma 3-chome, Higashikawasaki-cho, Chuo-ku, Kobe No. 1 Kawasaki Heavy Industries Co., Ltd. Kobe Factory (72) Inventor Eikichi Tajima 2-4-1 Hamamatsucho, Minato-ku, Tokyo Kawasaki Heavy Industries Ltd. Tokyo Head Office (72) Inventor Hidefumi Ikegami Hamamatsu, Minato-ku, Tokyo 2-4-1, Machi Kawasaki Heavy Industries Tokyo Head Office

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1. A waste material (6) comprising a microwave shielding material.
And a microwave generator (20) for heating the waste and a hot air generating means. At least at the final stage of the heat treatment, the main body for heating the waste is the hot air generating. Waste treatment equipment provided with a time zone for hot air from the means.