Thermal Treatment Equipment

by Irwin Rapoport

Today, the environmental issues surrounding the processing of medical wastes are

enormous. Great strides have been made developing equipment and processes to

handle this waste while protecting our environment.

Medical waste thermal treatment equipment, which utilizes pyrolysis and thermal

gasification related technologies, the very technologies that are being employed to

eliminate hazardous and medical waste and provide alternative energy, is now being

utilized.

Pyrolysis is the thermal decomposition of organic material at elevated temperatures, in

the absence of gases such as air or oxygen. The process, which requires heat, produces

a mixture of combustible gases (primarily methane, complex hydrocarbons, hydrogen

and carbon monoxide), liquids and solid residues.

Thermal gasification of MSW (municipal solid waste) is different from pyrolysis in

that the thermal decomposition takes place in the presence of a limited amount of

oxygen or air. The generated gas can then be used in either boilers or cleaned up and

used in combustion turbine generators.

Located in a Chicago suburb, PEAT International, Inc. manufactures a variety of

equipment, including the Plasma Thermal Destruction

and Recovery unit (PTDR), which is used for

disposing of types of medical waste and is certified as

an “alternative-to-incineration” technology for

medical waste in the State of California.

“We use plasma energy within a thermal reactor to

remediate and convert waste into energy,” says Frank

Menon, PEAT’s CEO. “Temperatures in the reactor

are in the 2,000 C range. We use plasma torches,

where the temperatures in those plumes are in the

range of 7,500 C.”

PEAT has already built two facilities in Taiwan, one at

the National Cheng Kung University that can handle

five metric tons per-day and another that can process

10 tons per-day. These facilities can process a wide

range of solid waste streams, including incinerator fly ash, medical waste,

organic hazardous wasteand inorganic sludge.

“This was the first time that the government of Taiwan committed financial and

technical resources to the utilization of plasma technology,” says Menon, who adds

that 10-ton facility in Taiwan is being expanded in terms of types and amounts of

waste. “We’re also expanding in India. We’re partnering with the largest incineration

company in India to use pyrolysis and plasma technology to remediate hazardous

wastes which is being stockpiled today.”

Menon notes that plasma remediation is taken more seriously in countries such as

Korea, Japan and Taiwan because tipping fees for medical waste are much higher

there compared to those in the United States and that they have stricter standards for

remediation.

“Now the U.S. is changing towards that,” he says. “We’re talking with a couple of

local hospitals in Chicago that have been forced to shut down their incinerators. It’s

just a matter of time before the education level in the U.S. public reaches a certain

level where they know what plasma is, what it can do and that it’s not incineration.”

The PDTR system, on average, can reduce medical waste in terms of volume and

weight an average of 85 to 95 percent to create a molten slag and when processed, is

converted into fine silicon sand. The slag can be mixed in concrete aggregate and used

in roadbed construction.

“All the results that are coming back are that 99.9 percent of all by-products coming

from pyrolysis of any waste are going to be re-usable,” says Menon.

In terms of energy production, the results are two-fold: the production of syn gas – a

variant of natural gas that is cleaner burning because it does not contain any of the

arsenics found in natural gas and using the heat to produce electricity to run steam

turbines.

“We’ve been getting some tremendous results in Taiwan,” says Menon. “The project

was primarily done to test case what can be done with medical waste, as well as the fly

ash from incinerators that had just done medical waste. We did not expect much syn

gas from the fly ash, but we saw high volumes being generated and that was because

the incinerators were unable to combust completely.

“Overall, the syn gas values have been high to the point where we spoke with

Jenbacker, a division of General Electric – they have turbines and engines that would

be able to utilize our syn gas in the production of electricity.”

The heat generated from the plasma process is piped into turbines, which helps to run

generators.

Las Vegas-based North American Power Company manufactures the Thermal

Recovery Unit, which comes in two models that utilize the pyrolysis method. The

smaller unit can dispose of 12 tons per day, while the larger unit has a capacity of over

75 tons per day.

“The capacity is such that a mid-level regional hospital is not gong to be able to use it

as effectively as consolidating five or six hospital together,” says Ed Stammel,

NAPC’s founder. “The machine formally degrades any organic material that is

introduced into the process. The resulting product is reduced by an average 85 to 95

percent in weight and volume. The resulting carbon char – we have not found a case

where it has not been – is sterile, non-leachable, non-hazardous and can be thrown

away in a landfill or used for other purposes.”

The recovery unit is approved by the State of California’s Department of Health

Services as an alternative treatment technology for the destruction of medical waste.

The equipment, whether it is sold outright or utilized as part of joint venture

participations and private programs, is now part of the recycling landscape.

The heat generated from the destruction process can be recovered and used to provide

energy.

“You can run it through a steam turbine process,” says Stammel. “It can be used

anywhere there is a need, whether it be for drying, energy production, heating and

hydroponics. We have a client that will be using the equipment for its very large-scale

MSW plant.”

United Recycling Technology Inc., a Nevada corporation with offices in Los Angeles

founded in 2001 by Aram Sarkissian, is currently in the process of selecting a site to

house its Medical Waste Gasification Process unit – a southern California facility will

be able to process 2,000 pounds of waste per hour.

“The unit has already been tested and is ready to run,” says Sarkissian, the president of

the company. “On average, you are looking at about a 90 percent reduction in weight

and volume. Everything turns into a silicon carbon ash substance. A major advantage

is the reduction of the cradle-to-grave liability, as opposed to an autoclave that will

only disinfect. After the process of an autoclave, the material is usually shredded,

placed in a compactor and then discarded in a landfill. As well, our system has no

additional emission controls that are required.”

In addition to being able to handle all varieties of medical waste, the excess energy

created by the process will be recycled.

“We can take the gasses, run them in our burners and save on gas,” says Sarkissian.

“The system can be self-running.”

United Recycling, whose equipment has also received certification from the state, is

looking into developing partnerships with out-of-state clients.

“We are open to explore other states because we have met and exceeded the strict

standards of California,” says Sarkissian.