Modernization of the Pancoe Cage Wash Facility with a New Soiled Bedding Removal System

项目摘要 西北大学的比较医学中心（CCM）是全校范围内的 动物护理和住房单位。CCM拥有各种各样的研究动物物种， 支持埃文斯顿和芝加哥校区的笼子清洗设施。CCM的19年- 旧Pancoe笼清洗设施是埃文斯顿校园唯一的笼清洗设施。 计划正在进行中，以翻新这个笼子清洗设施，提供了一个机会，找到一个 解决了手动清除污染垫料的过程。目前，CCM工作人员手动 使用向下通风的垃圾站从笼子里倾倒脏的垫料， 放入袋装垃圾箱然后手动提起垃圾箱，并将脏的床上用品袋 倒入散装车。然后，装满脏的垫料废物的重型散装车 一天几次人工运送，通过公共走廊和电梯到垃圾箱 位于毗邻建筑的码头上该项目的目标是实现现代化， 改善Pancoe笼清洗设施的污染垫料处理，通过购买 新西北系统公司Sure-Flo S200系列污染垫层清除系统。这 污物垫料清除系统采用管状牵引链设计。该设计使用了 通过输送管拉动的连续系列圆盘，以输送脏的动物垫料，以及 将废物从笼式洗手间运往指定的废物容器室。这肮脏的被褥 移除系统将减少手动过程，从而增加整体笼处理 Pancoe笼清洗设施的容量和运行效率。此外，这一新 设备将减少员工受伤和过敏原暴露的可能性，因为垃圾场 一个站将设计一个向下的单位，捕捉灰尘和过敏原，当集成 与灰尘收集单元。弄脏的床上用品将立即被盛装并运送 通过管道进入集装箱车，从而消除了大量的运动 一辆辆肮脏的被褥车穿过走廊美国国立卫生研究院资助 该提案将以这些方式使研究者受益，并通过增加整体笼 处理能力，从而使研究项目的增长和新的教师被招募 去大学

Project Summary The Center for Comparative Medicine (CCM), at Northwestern University, is the university-wide animal care and housing unit. CCM houses a wide variety of research animal species and supports cage washing facilities on both the Evanston and Chicago campuses. CCM’s 19-year- old Pancoe cage washing facility is the sole cage washing facility on the Evanston campus. Plans are underway to renovate this cage washing facility, providing an opportunity to find a solution to the manual soiled bedding removal process. Currently CCM staff are manually dumping soiled bedding from cages, using a down draft dump station, which collects the soiled bedding into bagged bins. The bins are then manually lifted, and soiled bedding bags are dumped into bulk carts. The heavy bulk carts, filled with soiled bedding waste, are then manually transported several times a day, through public hallways and elevators to a dumpster located on a dock in an adjoining building. The objective of this project is to modernize and improve the soiled bedding handling of the Pancoe cage wash facility, through the purchase of a new Northwestern Systems Corp Sure-Flo S200 Series Soiled Bedding Removal System. This soiled bedding removal system utilizes a tubular drag-chain design. This design uses a continuous series of discs pulled through a transport pipe to convey soiled animal bedding and materials from the cage washroom to a designated waste container room. This soiled bedding removal system will reduce manual processes, thereby increasing the overall cage handling capacity and operational efficiencies of the Pancoe cage wash facility. Additionally, this new equipment will reduce potential for employee injury and allergen exposure, because the dump station will be designed with a downdraft unit that captures dust and allergens, when integrated with the dust collection unit. The soiled bedding will be immediately contained and conveyed through the piping into contained bulk carts, thus eliminating a significant amount of movement of the heavy soiled bedding bulk carts through corridors. National Institutes of Health funding of this proposal will in these ways benefit investigators as well as by increasing overall cage handling capacity, thereby allowing research programs to grow and new faculty to be recruited to the university.