IL127049A

IL127049A - Method and apparatus for sterilising medical and veterinary wastes

Info

Publication number: IL127049A
Application number: IL12704997A
Authority: IL
Inventors: E.A. Kongmark Nils
Original assignee: R I M M Technologies N V
Priority date: 1996-05-17
Filing date: 1997-05-09
Publication date: 2004-01-04
Also published as: CH691165A5; AU2401297A; ES2195135T3; WO1997044069A1; DE69719976T2; EP0901381A1; DE69719976D1; JP2000511791A; IL127049A0; EP0901381B1; ATE234641T1

Abstract

The invention discloses a method for on-site treatment of medical and veterinary wastes, by sterilisation, comprising the following successive steps: preparing the wastes for subsequent handling and treatment by electromagnetic heating; dividing the wastes into homogeneous batches of substantially equal sizes; sterilising the waste batches by an electromagnetically generated heat source; aseptically transporting the sterilised wastes outside the treatment zone and retrieving them for transportation without outside exposure. The preparation of the wastes comprises a step of crushing, moistening or wetting. This method, enabling the on-site treatment of medical and veterinary wastes, avoids contamination risks connected with untreated waste transportation. The invention also features an apparatus for implementing the method.

Description

Method and Apparatus for Sterilising Medical and Veterinary Wastes i Method and apparatus for sterilising medical and veterinary wastes The present invention relates to a method and apparatus for sterilising medical and veterinary waste in view of their environmentally safe 5 The treatment and elimination of medical and veterinary wastes is an acutely increasing especially for hospitals All the known methods of treatment are based on the removal of the wastes from the place where they were created to stock them in a place where they are 1 0 considered The problem is that these wastes can cause contamination during not only because the confinement means during transport can but also because of a simple human The best method would consist in sterilising infectious which represents approximately of the total medical and veterinary on site where 5 they are no satisfactory solution of this type exists to this US patent No 5 543 describes a method of disinfecting and processing dielectrically heterogeneous medical waste which comprises applying a traverse mode electric thereby cbmmunited heterogeneous medical waste to a temperature or 85 to at atmospheric The method sets out to resolve this problem by proposing a method for the treatment of medical and veterinary wastes on by comprising the steps consisting in 0 preparing the wastes in view of their ulterior handling and for subsequent treatment by electromagnetic dividing the wastes in homogenous batches of substantially equal sterilising the waste batches using a heat source generated by 5 electromagnetic and transporting aseptically the sterilised waste out of the treatment zone and preparing them to be without exposure to the The method finds a special interest in the domain of the elimination of infectious but it also applies to other so 30 unless they represent the of wastes compared to infectious it will generally not be necessary to separate previously the infectious wastes from the They will thus be treated without avoiding a costly upstream sorting the preparation of the wastes is conducted in a granulating grinder or in a screw compactor If contrarily to human or animal wastes or the wastes contain low for example if they consist essentially of surgical disposable dirty the preparation of the wastes will advantageously comprise a step of humidification or wetting with water or an aqueous solution in order to global water content allowing an efficient and fast action of electromagnetic The added aqueous solution may contain a disinfectant or an The heating is carried out by the application of electromagnetic waves in the range of 27 MHz to 9 the upper part of the range being commonly known as The heating is preferably earned out by dielectric or inductive means and the heating can also be conductive or The handling of wastes within the apparatus done by individual discrete by Each batch disposed in an individual The sterilised wastes are conveyed out of the heating zone in view of their for example by ejection which is advantageously carried out by hydraulic or electrical The invention also comprises an apparatus the implementation of the method of the a preparation station for the wastes in view of thei r further handling for their subsequent treatment by electromagnetic a station where the wastes are divided into homogenous ba tches of substantially equal a station whe re the batches o f waste a rc ste ri l i sed by a sou rce by elect romagnet ic means and a station for the evacuation of sterilised waste outside the treatment zone and to prepare them to be without exposure to the the apparatus according to the invention comprises a rotary disc wherein each stopping position corresponds to as many as indicated for the heating to sterilise the an apparatus such as the one described in the specification EP shall be used The invention will be better by reference to the attached given by way of non limiting in cross Figure 1 is an elevational view of the apparatus according to the Figure 2 is a side view of same and Figure 3 is a top view of same As seen on 1 which is a side an apparatus according to the invention comprises a feed hopper 1 under which is situated a driven granulator 2 which leads to a buffer lock which feeds its turn a metering device 4 filling the containers G from In a non illustrated the feed hopper is provided with a waste compactor allowing a more regular and more homogenous operation of the granulator This compactor can take for example the form of two flaps articulated on their bases against the sidewalls of the hopper laying at rest against these and swingable towards one another inwards to substantially join thus pushing and pressing the wastes towards the granulator These containers received in will bo filled with wastes view of their treatment by electromagnetic As it can seen on the the containers are supplied from a distributor 10 once filled with wastes by means of the metering device 4 and the cavities closed these containers arc directed towards wave G of the electromagnetic wave application the containers can be in the form of a for example a polyethylene disposed in each which film is filled with and is closed by welding once As in the previously described these containers aro then directed towards the wave guide 6 of the electromagnetic wave application after each cavity has been hermetically For further information concerning the electromagnetic wavo application we refer advantageously to the specification EP 0 1 36 which is incorporated herein by way of As shown in this there is a tank filled with water or an aqueous solution to which a small quantity of disinfectant can be the aqueous solution in question dampening or wetting the granulated wastes at the level of the metering device Reference 12 represents schematically the electrical supply of the as well as a Figure where the same reference numbers represent the elements as in Figure 1 shows a piston 7 once the sterilisation by electromagnetic waves is will eject the container G in a hermetic bag 3 in which the sterilised wastes will be transported towards the As can be seen on the Figure 3 where the same reference numbers represent the same elements as in Figures 1 and the machine is constituted in such a way that the operations are organised at stations organised around a rotary platten 5 containing cavities for receiving the containers These stations are disposed at 1 and each rotation by this angle allows a container G to be presented either to the filling or under a magnetron of the electromagnetic wave sterilising device or lastly front of the ejection piston Station C is entirely housed inside the wave guide EXAMPLE The apparatus described above has been used to sterilise bulk wastes originating from the operating room of a care un by means of an electromagnetic wave apparatus as described in the EP 0 1 36 the wastes having been previously roduced to homog enous particles with dimensions in the range of 1 At the of feeding into the cont a iners an aqueous solution was sprayed on the waste in order to obtain a weight proportion of water relative to the waste of 1 The application of electromagnetic in the frequency range from 27 MHz to 9 inside the hermetically closed cavities wherein the containers G are a rapid increase of temperature and of reaching an upper temperature of at a pressure above 4 These pressure and temperature conditions guarantee that the waste is effectively Heating is by dielectric or induction and can also be by convection or conduction The process according to the invention presents enormous advantage of an without exterior transportation of potentially infectious waste and thus without risking accidental contamination of the The virulence and the dangers of some bacterial or viral strains infecting the diseased infesting hospitals being it is easy to appreciate the progress brought by tho invention to its rightful the apparatus according to the invention may have restricted for example allowing it to pass throuyh Each care unit in a clinic or a hospital could thus have its own which could be placed at selected for example near operating allowing a great flexibility in the management of A centralised management of wastes thus be with all the risks it involves due to the volumes to be treated and the possibility of material failure and human insufficientOCRQuality

Claims

C L A I S

1. . A method for the treatment of medical and veterinary wastes on-site, by sterilisation, comprising the steps consisting of, in order. preparing the wastes in view of thoir ulterior handling and for subsequent treatment by electromagnetic heating, dividing the wastes in homogenous batches of substantially equal sizes. sterilising the waste batches using a heat source generated by microwaves conveyed by a waveguide, at a frequency in the range of 27 MHz and 9 GHz and, transporting asepiical!y the sterilised wastes out of the treatment zone and preparing them to be transported, without exposure to the outside, characterised in that the treatment takes place at a temperature greater than 170"C and under a pressure greater than 4 bar.

2. Tjie method according to claim 1 , characterised in that the preparation of the wastes comprises a grinding step in a granulating grinder or in a screw compactor.

3. The method according to claim 1 or 2, characterised in that the preparation of the wastes comprises a step of humidification or wetting with water or with an aqueous solution.

4. The method according to claim 1 or 3, characterised in that the heating is carried out by the application of electromagnetic waves.

5. The method according to claim 4, characterised in that the heating is carried out by dielectric or inductive moans and in that it can also be conductive or convective.

6. ; The method according to claim 1 or 3, characterised in that the handling and sterilisation of the waste is carried out by individual batches.

7. The method according to claim 6, characterised in that each batch is disposed in an individual container.

8. The method according to claim 1 or 3, characterised in that the sterilised wastes are conveyed out of the heating zone for transport by pneumatic, hydraulic or electrical ejection.

9. An apparatus for the implementation of the method according to any one of the preceding claims, characterised by: a preparation station for the wastes in view of their further handling and for their subsequent treatment by electromagnetic heating, a station where the wastes are divided into homogenous batches of substantially equal sizes, a station where the batches of waste are sterilised by a heat source by electromagnetic means, and a station for the evacuation of sterilised waste outside the treatment zone and to prepare them for transport, without exposure to the outside.

10. An apparatus according to claim 9. characterised in that it comprises a rotary platten where each stopping position corresponds to as many.stations. DR. MARK FRIEDMAN LTD. PATENT ATTORNEYS SAM U ELOFF ". Ull.DlNG ? HAOMANIM STREET βϊ897 TEL-AVIV ISRAEL