Treatment of Infectious Waste through the Application Rotary Kiln Incinerators and Ozone Technology

Khomson Khannam,Bopit Bubphachot,Sathapon Sonsupap,Wenich Vattanapuripakorn,Jiradanai Sarasamkan,Umakorn Tongsantia

doi:10.3390/asi4040071

Khomson Khannam, Bopit Bubphachot + Show 4 more

Open Access

https://doi.org/10.3390/asi4040071

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Abstract

The alarming rate at which infectious waste is growing was an unsolved problem worldwide before the pandemic, and it has only gotten worse. It is especially prominent in the medical services, owing to the improper use or the lack of high-efficiency waste management systems. To address this issue, this paper presents a modification to the conventional rotary kiln incineration method using add-on ozone (O3) at a concentration of 100–160 g/h in order to enhance its efficiency when treating emitted air pollutants. These pollutants of Hg, HF, TSP, SO2, NO2, CO, and HCl were measured, and their percent opacity concentrations were 0.006 mg/m3, 0.680 mg/m3, 21.900 mg/m3, 5.600 mg/m3, 16.300 mg/m3, 13.700 mg/m3, 0.022 mg/m3, and 6%, respectively. The amounts of these air pollutants were considerably lower than those released from a rotary kiln incinerator without the add-on ozone. Additionally, all the measurements were lower than the emission thresholds established in the US Environmental Protection Agency Emission Standards Reference Guide. Therefore, using the proposed rotary kiln incineration method modified with add-on ozone is suitable for use in the elimination of infectious waste in that it drastically reduces air pollution and improves air quality, resulting in environmental improvements aimed at mitigating the devastating impacts pollution has on human health.

Highlights

Increasing amounts of waste are considered a major global problem that tremendously impacts the environment and human life
When the rotary kiln used a three-burner system and the secondary and third chamber were used for the final round of exhaust gas combustion, a temperature setting of 850–1200 ◦ C was necessary for this investigation to facilitate the decomposition of PCDD/Fs [5]
The high temperature allows for the suppression of dioxins and furans, and this method leads to a reduction in the pollution levels when compared with the standards of the U.S EPA [3,24]

Summary

Introduction

Increasing amounts of waste are considered a major global problem that tremendously impacts the environment and human life. Air pollution is an inevitable consequence of waste incineration, and water pollution is caused by the disposal of waste, harmful substances, and the release of industrial sewage into rivers, resulting in severe environmental degradation. This problem is further complicated by an ever-increasing amount of infectious waste resulting from the COVID-19 pandemic, which the world has been facing for almost 2 years. The volume of waste produced per day by the human population of Thailand increased during 2014–2018; the amount of waste generated during each consecutive year in this period was 71,779, 73,560, 74,130, and 76,529 tons/day [1].

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