Incineration

The highly infectious medical waste collected from the source of generation in appropriate colour coded liner bags are incinerated at the facility in the state of the art incinerator. The incineration is done as per the guidelines set up the by Pollution Control Board authorities.An incinerator carries out complete combustion of carbon-containing compounds.Complete combustion takes place in the presence of fuel and air.

The fuel provides heat energy to attain incineration temperature and air provides oxygen for combustion. In some cases, the waste itself provides heat energy. Incineration is a process where the combustible waste is reduced to exhaust gaseous products and the incombustible waste is reduced to ash. The nature of gaseous emissions and ash from an incinerator depend upon the type of waste being incinerated and incineration conditions. Incineration is effective when the waste is combustible.

Depending upon the contents of the waste, the emissions from incinerator could be toxic and hence incinerator requires extensive air pollution control equipment., Several types of air pollution control equipment are available to reduce particulate and other gaseous emissions. Some of the commonly used air pollution control devices include venturi scrubbers, packed towers, bag filters, multi-cyclones etc.

The key parameter in an incinerator is the combustion chamber temperature. Current criteria require that biomedical waste incinerators be operated at a minimum temperature of 1200°C and that the waste be exposed for at least two seconds. The standards for operation are cited in the Bio-Medical Waste (Management and Handling) rules, 2000. Emission control equipment is required to ensure that the air discharges meet the applicable regulatory requirements. If the requisite temperature is not ensured, incomplete combustion can result in organic compounds such as dioxins and furans being emitted, which are much more detrimental than the starting material. Also, ash from the incinerators is categorized as hazardous waste and requires disposal in a secured landfill. Incinerators reduce the volume and weight by more than 95% thereby reducing the transportation and land disposal costs. 

Technology is indigenously available and service facilities are available in the country. They are available in different sizes to match the quantity of waste. If the waste is not properly segregated and if PVC material is allowed to enter the waste stream, the air emissions from the incinerator are likely to contain toxic compounds – polychlorinated dibenzo-p-dioxins (referred to as dioxins) and polychlorinated dibenzo furans (referred to as furans). Stack gas emissions may contain potential toxic pollutants such as HCl, cadmium, mercury and lead. The presence of glass in the waste stream could also cause problems (such as slagging) when the waste is incinerated. Segregation of waste is vital to the sustainable operation of an incinerator.

1. Double chambered.
2. High temperature maintained in both the chambers (Primary – 850 degree celsius and 1150 degree celsius in Secondary) during incineration.
3. Pollution control equipment’s such as Quench Column, Packed Scrubber and Droplet Separator are used for cleaning the flue gas generated during incineration. These equipment’s also remove poisonous gas from the flue gas before let out to the atmosphere through the Chimney.
4. State of the art control panel with visible displays of temperature and automatic recording of the same through a printer.
5. Combustion blower for proper burning of waste.
6. Diesel operated burners.

1. Human Anatomical Waste (human tissues, organs, body parts)
2. Animal Waste (animal tissues, organs, body parts carcasses, bleeding parts, fluid, blood and experimental animals used in research, waste generated by veterinary hospitals colleges, discharge from hospitals, animal houses)
3. Human and animal cell culture used in research and infectious agents from research and industrial laboratories
4. Discarded Medicines and Cytotoxic drugs (wastes comprising of outdated, contaminated and discarded medicines)
5. Solids Waste (Items contaminated with blood, and body fluids including cotton, dressings, soiled plaster casts, lines, beddings, other material contaminated with blood)