Plasma gasification of the medical waste

Abstract

In terms of infection control in hospitals, especially the Covid-19 pandemic that we are living in, it has revealed the necessity of proper disposal of medical waste. The increasing amount of medical waste with the pandemic is straining the capacity of incineration facilities or storage areas. Converting this waste to energy with gasification technologies instead of incineration is also important for sustainability. This study investigates the gasification characteristics of the medical waste in a novel updraft plasma gasifier with numerical simulations in the presence of the plasma reactions. Three different medical waste samples, chosen according to the carbon content and five different equivalence ratios (ER) ranging from 0.1 to 0.5 are considered in the simulations to compare the effects of different chemical compositions and waste feeding rates on hydrogen (H 2 ) content and syngas production. The outlet properties of a 10 kW microwave air plasma generator are used to define the plasma inlet in the numerical model and the air flow rate is held constant for all cases. Results showed that the maximum H 2 production can be obtained with ER = 0.1 for all waste samples.

Novel strategy in biohydrogen energy production from COVID - 19 plastic waste: A critical review

“…Gasification features can be improved by controlling the syngas production position, increasing the moisture content, and reducing ER values. As a result, the gasifier's exhaust pipe height should be modified for more efficient use in CMW gasification, even though the generation of hazardous compounds were found to be within the limits of standards and regulations [ 79 ].…”

Medical Waste Treatment Technologies for Energy, Fuels, and Materials Production: A Review

“…The effectiveness of this expensive technique depends on the power of the instrumentation since the higher energy output, facilitates the temperature conversion. This method is appropriate for all forms of MW since no harmful products are released, the end volume is significantly reduced, and the heat energy that is produced can be recycled [132][133][134].…”

“…Erdogan et al [134] used plasma gasification technology for H 2 and syngas production from MW. A 10 kW microwave air plasma generator was used, and the operating conditions were defined for maximum H 2 production.…”

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“…-High efficiency -High flexibility -Take place incompletely closed system -Regained metals are returned to metallurgic industries -Obtained slag can be used in road and cement industry -Can treat electronic waste -High capital cost -High specific energy consumption -Low service life -High exergy destruction ratio [7,9,10]…”