MICROWAVE REMEDIATION OF HAZARDOUS MEDICAL WASTES

危险医疗废物的微波修复

• 批准号: 7682081
• 负责人: PRASANNA CHANDRASEKHAR
• 金额: $ 41.97万
• 依托单位: ASHWIN-USHAS CORPORATION, INC.
• 依托单位国家: 美国
• 财政年份: 2005
• 资助国家: 美国
• 起止时间: 2005-05-15 至 2010-08-31
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/7682081
• 关键词: Antiviral Agents; Area; Automation; Bandage; Benchmarking; Benign; Biological; Capital; Charge; Chemistry; Client; Clinics and Hospitals; Collaborations; Collection; Computer software; Contracts; Coupled; Dentistry; Engineering; Enhancers; Ensure; Environmental Pollution; Funding; Future; Gossypium; Hand; Hazardous Waste; Heating; Hospitals; Hour; Human Resources; Immersion Investigative Technique; In Situ; Incineration; Industry; Iris; Italy; Laboratories; Laws; Left; Legal patent; Licensing; Liquid substance; Location; Maintenance; Manufacturer Name; Marketing; Mechanics; Medical; Medical Waste; Medical Waste Disposal; Medicine; Methodology; Methods; New Jersey; New York; Organism; Parents; Pennsylvania; Performance; Phase; Price; Process; Production; Public Health; Reagent; Regulation; Research; Residual state; Running; Sampling; Services; Site; Small Business Innovation Research Grant; Speed; Steam; System; Teaching Hospitals; Techniques; Technology; Teflon; Testing; Time; Transportation; Universities; Visit; Water; Weight; Work; antimicrobial; base; biodefense; commercialization; cost; design; engineering design; experience; feeding; instrument; instrumentation; interest; irradiation; medical schools; microwave electromagnetic radiation; model design; novel; portability; pressure; prototype; public health relevance; remediation; wasting

DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): This project proposes to build and test a 20 L capacity Remediator for medical wastes. Infectious Medical Wastes (IMW), mainly from hospitals, represents a major component of hazardous wastes generated in the U.S.. In fact, more than 4.5 million tons are generated per year. Hospital waste remediation was a $1.5 billion industry in 2003. Incineration remains the predominant disposal method, with continued problems of environmental pollution, severe local opposition, transportation, high costs and the threat of recent (1997) laws shutting down incinerators. This firm recently demonstrated a novel technique for remediation of IMW that involves submersing the IMW in proprietary liquids that are specifically activated by microwaves to generate antimicrobial and antiviral activity in a manner as or more effective than an autoclave. This technique uses unique, microwave-active liquids, proprietary microwave enhancers and simple, ambient-pressure techniques. It yields an extremely inexpensive, rapid, environmentally benign, local, point-of-service methodology for remediation of IMW, usable much as a local-area photocopier or shredder. The Phase 1 work further developed this, demonstrating application to a wide variety of mixed IMW, including metallic parts, bandages, gloves, cotton, etc. and actual hospital wastes. Typically, 400 g of wastes in 650 mL of microwave liquid could be remediated in 7 minutes using a 1.1 KW oven, with final weight/-volume reductions to < 15% of original. Detailed analyses of thermal degradation products of the microwave liquid and wastes showed none. A mechanical prototype of a Remediator was built and a fully-microwave-functional prototype was designed and evaluated. AOAC Sporicidal Tests and microwave-vs.-heat-only tests were also done in the prior work. In the proposed Phase 2 work, a fully functional Remediator will be built, tested and refined, to arrive at a design suitable for handing over to a large contract manufacturer. AOAC Sporicidal and quantitative tests and tests with actual hospital wastes will be used to verify performance, along with comparisons with extant benchmark methods. The work is a collaborative effort with a highly specialized microwave design company, one of the world's premier university microwave chemistry groups, the Regional Bio-Defense Lab, and a large hospital. Estimated remediation costs are $900/ton for this firm's technology, vs. $2900/ton for incineration, and more for microwave-steam methods. This firm's technology's estimated capital cost is less than $8 K for a 30 kg/hr throughput, as compared to $18 K for on-site autoclaving and $80 K for microwave-steam. PUBLIC HEALTH RELEVANCE: The technology could, potentially, entirely replace incineration of medical wastes (already beset with public health problems) as well as expensive methods such as in-situ autoclaving and microwave-steaming, yielding an inexpensive, environmentally benign, and local, point-of-service method for medical waste remediation, to great public benefit [1-26]. Independent studies [2-4] show it could initially (within 5 years) capture about 10% to 30% of the more than $2 billion (in 2008) medical waste remediation market, possibly more subsequently. This firm's technology's estimated running costs are 1/3 to 1/6 that of other methods, its capital costs are 1/3 to 1/10 of other methods, and, in contrast to other methods which (with the exception of incineration) leave a large amount of residual waste, it leaves less than 15% of the original volume of waste.

描述（由申请人提供）：该项目建议建造和测试医疗废物的20升容量补救仪。传染性医疗废物（IMW）主要来自医院，是美国产生的危险废物的主要组成部分。实际上，每年产生超过450万吨的危险废物。医院废物修复是2003年的15亿美元行业。焚化仍然是主要的处置方法，持续存在环境污染，严重的当地反对派，运输，高昂的成本和最近（1997年）（1997年）关闭焚化炉的威胁的问题。该公司最近展示了一种用于修复IMW的新技术，该技术涉及将IMW浸入专有液体中，这些液体被微波专门激活，以比高压灭菌的方式或更有效地生成抗菌和抗病毒活性。该技术使用独特的微波活性液体，专有的微波增强剂和简单的环境压力技术。它产生了一种极其廉价，快速，环境良性，局部，服务点方法的方法，用于修复IMW，可与局部地区的影印器或切碎机一样使用。第1阶段的工作进一步开发了这一点，证明了对各种混合IMW的应用，包括金属零件，绷带，手套，棉花等。通常，可以在7分钟内使用1.1 kW烤箱来补充650 mL微波液体中的400克废物，最终重量/ - 量减少至原始烤箱的15％。微波液体和废物的热降解产物的详细分析表明没有。建造了补救器的机械原型，并设计和评估了完全微波功能的原型。在先前的工作中，还进行了AOAC孢子测试和微波VS。仅加热的测试。在拟议的第二阶段工作中，将建立，测试和精制的功能齐全的补救措施，以达到适合交给大型合同制造商的设计。与实际医院废物的AOAC孢子形成和定量测试和测试将用于验证性能，以及与现有基准方法的比较。这项工作是与一家高度专业的微波设计公司，全球主要的大学微波化学组之一，区域生物防御实验室和一家大型医院的合作努力。该公司的技术的估计补救成本为$ 900/吨，焚化$ 2900/吨，而微波炉方法的方法则更多。该公司技术的估计资本成本为30 kg/hr吞吐量的$ 8 k，而现场高压灭菌为18 k，而微波炉速度为$ 80 k。公共卫生相关性：这项技术可能完全取代医疗废物的焚化（已经困扰了公共卫生问题），以及昂贵的方法，例如原位的高压灭菌和微波炉steam，可以廉价，环境上的良性，以及当地的良性和当地的，局部的，用于医疗废物的服务点，以供公众造福[1-26]。独立研究[2-4]表明，它最初可能（5年之内）捕获了超过20亿美元（2008年）的医疗废物修复市场的10％至30％，可能会更加捕获。该公司的技术估计运行成本为1/3至1/6，其资本成本为1/3至1/10其他方法，与其他方法相比（除焚化外）留下大量残留废物，其剩下的废物原始数量占废物的原始数量少于15％。