Fast-Track Design of a Novel Clinical Waste Destruction Technology

该项目旨在加快新型移动微波诱导等离子体（MIP）气化技术的测试、推广和设计，以提供灵活和额外的能力，从而安全、可持续地处置与COVID-19相关的医疗废物。据报告，在COVID-19高感染率地区，医疗废物的产生增加了600%（武汉市应急办公室/目前的Defra废物行业对COVID-19影响的调查），需要额外的废物处理能力，以服务于全球现有医院和正在建立的新的临时医疗/医疗保健设施（例如NHS南丁格尔医院），以防止疾病传播的风险。与运输和处理受污染的废物流有关。MIP气化技术将为医疗保健信托公司和危险废物管理公司提供场外焚烧的替代方案，使废物能够在现场进行安全和可持续的处理，同时通过提供可再生能源降低与废物处理相关的成本（每吨约600 - 1,500英镑）和能源需求。由于与电极腐蚀和高寄生负荷相关的操作问题，等离子气化系统用于废物销毁的采用一直受到阻碍，使得设施只有在大规模（1000吨/天）时才具有经济效益。因此，传统的系统是不经济的现场部署，以处理医疗废物。因此，该项目将重点关注我们高效模块化MIP气化技术的快速测试和扩大规模，以实现每年1000吨规模的COVID-19医疗废物的可行现场管理。该研究的成果将包括一种新的MIP火炬技术的设计和原型设计（将获得专利），以及用于COVID-19医疗废物销毁的移动包装工厂的设计（将获得专利），以及对该工厂的发电潜力进行评估。预计这项研究的成果将有助于进一步筹集资金，以使这项技术商业化。使现场销毁COVID-19医疗废物成为可能，将为医疗信托机构和危险废物管理公司提供一个机会，以缓解与处置医疗废物有关的能力问题和安全问题，同时也有机会通过生产低碳能源来减少基于电网的能源需求。因此，该项目为全球卫生保健部门提供了一个新的流程，以提高COVID-19医疗废物处理的安全性和可持续性，同时降低运营成本和碳排放。

This project seeks to fast-track the testing, scale-up and design of a novel mobile microwave induced plasma (MIP) gasification technology, to provide both flexible and additional capacity to enable the safe and sustainable disposal of COVID-19 related clinical waste. With clinical waste arisings being reported to have increased by 600% in regions of high COVID-19 infection rates (Wuhan Ministry Emergency Office/current Defra Survey of Waste Industry on COVID-19 Impacts), additional waste treatment capacity is required to serve existing hospitals and new temporary medical/healthcare facilities that are being erected globally (e.g. NHS Nightingale Hospitals) to prevent the risk of disease transmission, associated with the transportation and handling of contaminated waste streams. The MIP gasification technology will provide healthcare trusts and hazardous waste management companies with an alternative to offsite incineration, enabling waste to be treated safely and sustainably onsite, whilst reducing the costs associated with waste disposal (c.a. £600 - £1,500 per tonne) and energy demand through the provision of renewable energy.The adoption of plasma gasification systems for waste destruction has been hindered due to operational issues relating to electrode corrosion and high parasitic loads, rendering facilities only economic at a large scale (1000 tpd). As such conventional systems are uneconomic for onsite deployment for the treatment of clinical waste.Therefore, this project will focus on the rapid testing and scale-up of our highly efficient modular MIP gasification technology to enable viable onsite management of COVID-19 clinical waste at a scale of 1000 tpa. The outputs from the study will comprise design and prototyping of a new MIP torch technology (which will be patented) and the design of a mobile package plant for COVID-19 clinical waste destruction (which will be patented), and an assessment of the energy generation potential of the plant. It is anticipated that the outputs from this study will facilitate further fundraising in order to commercialise the technology.Enabling the destruction of COVID-19 clinical waste onsite, will present both healthcare trusts and hazardous waste management companies with an opportunity to alleviate capacity issues and safety issues relating to the disposal of clinical waste, whilst also enabling an opportunity to reduce grid-based eissues nergy demand through the generation of low-carbon energy. As such this project presents the global health care sector with a novel process to enhance the safety and sustainability of COVID-19 clinical waste disposal whilst reducing operational costs and carbon emissions.