MOBILE APPARATUS AND PROCESS FOR TREATING INFECTIOUS WASTE

• Main Authors: WOLFGRAM, CHARLIE, DEVINE, THOMAS J
• Format: Patent
• Language: English; French; German
• Published: 13.07.2005
• Edition: 7
• Subjects: CHEMICAL ASPECTS OF BANDAGES, DRESSINGS, ABSORBENT PADS, ORSURGICAL ARTICLES; CHEMISTRY; DISINFECTION, STERILISATION, OR DEODORISATION OF AIR; DISPOSAL OF SOLID WASTE; HUMAN NECESSITIES; HYGIENE; MATERIALS FOR BANDAGES, DRESSINGS, ABSORBENT PADS, OR SURGICALARTICLES; MEDICAL OR VETERINARY SCIENCE; METALLURGY; METHODS OR APPARATUS FOR STERILISING MATERIALS OR OBJECTS INGENERAL; PERFORMING OPERATIONS; RECLAMATION OF CONTAMINED SOIL SOIL; TRANSPORTING; TREATMENT OF WATER, WASTE WATER, SEWAGE, OR SLUDGE

A mobile self-contained apparatus and process for grinding, grating, macerating, chemically disinfecting, and drying infectious waste material on-site. A trailer contains a hopper and a system of grinder/graters, enclosed conveyors, drying and filter apparatus, and sources of power, chemical disinfectant, and fresh water. Bagged infectious waste material in a cart is lifted and dumped into a hopper, fed to a first grinder/grater, ground and grated into particles, immersed in a sodium hypochlorite (hypochlorous acid) chemical disinfectant solution, and conveyed by an enclosed upwardly inclined screw conveyor to a second grinder/grater. The particles are sprayed one or more times with the disinfectant and thoroughly mixed together as they are conveyed in the inclined conveyor and are dumped from the inclined conveyor into the second grinder/grater operating at a higher speed than the first and further ground, grated, and macerated into smaller particles, and air dried to produce a dry confetti-like material which is unrecognizable as to the source. The confetti-like material is conveyed by an enclosed horizontal screw conveyor to an enclosed vertical screw conveyor where it is passed upwardly to an enclosed rotatable discharge screw conveyor which discharges the confetti-like material into a receptacle. The enclosed system operates under negative pressure produced by a suction fan which draws the air within the system through a hepa-filter to remove chemical fumes, airborne dust, odors and bacteria.