[Stoves] Request for proposals: Medical Waste Incinerator for Humanitarian Emergencies from Innocentive

[Andrew Heggie]

On 6 September 2015 at 19:02, Crispin Pemberton-Pigott
<crispinpigott at outlook.com> wrote:
> Dear Andrew
>
> It has to rust the needles into oblivion. That has to be above 800 C. If it
> is done on a cast iron grate it means getting the grate very hot. Glowing
> yellow on the surface at least.  If it exceeds 1100 it is going to melt. The
> firepower needs to be high. Generally speaking, such a device is something
> health departments will pay for because the human cost of not disposing
> properly of medical waste is high.

Yes I can see a modern hospital incinerator will need to turn needles
and blades to ash (iron and chromium oxides) I wonder how much
chromium 6 ends up in the flue.  Is this current request asking for
something as rigorous, or something good enough and better than a fire
in an old oil barrel?

I doubt from a hygiene point of view it needs to incinerate the metals
but rather for convenience of disposal of the ash. Getting the solids
to a high temperature is far more challenging as it means the grate
and chamber have to survive these high temperatures.
>
> The installation should have a place for storage of wood for a long time to
> get it properly dry, possibly using waste heat to assist. A lot of the waste
> comes in plastic bucket-like containers which have to be loaded from garbage
> cans. There are a lot of plastic bags involved. Chute-loading is pretty much
> a requirement. Incinerator operators are exposed to a lot of risks doing
> this. As far as possible the operator should not have to touch anything
> directly to load the grate.  One survey at the Mbabane Hospital reported
> (prior to the waste management intervention) that the loader was stuck with
> a disposed needle approximately once per week.
>
> Safety is a serious business.

Yes

I am familiar with sharps buckets because our guys have to deal with
drug taking detritus in public areas on the railway, getting jabbed or
having a needle thrown up by a strimmer hear is a hazard. At least the
plastic bags add a few calories to the fire.