Furnaces – Refuse incinerator – With electric heater
Patent
1996-02-12
1997-08-19
Bennett, Henry A.
Furnaces
Refuse incinerator
With electric heater
110346, F23K 314
Patent
active
056577060
DESCRIPTION:
BRIEF SUMMARY
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
The present invention relates to apparatus for processing waste, and intended more particularly but not exclusively for processing hospital waste.
In general, hospital waste comprises a wide variety of solid and liquid materials (glasswork, needles, scalpels, chemical substances, biological tissue, . . . ) that may be biologically contaminated or toxic and which must be handled with special precautions, and in particular the waste must be double-wrapped. Hospital waste packaged in this way constitutes batches containing large fractions of volatile substances and having a relatively high lower calorific value (LCV) of 14,600 kJ/kg. This calorific value is nevertheless highly variable and may reach extreme values of 4,200 kJ/kg and 29,000 kJ/kg. In addition, the processing of hospital waste is subject to regulations that require batches of waste to be stored for no more than a short period on the incineration site, and for hygiene reasons, the waste cannot be removed from its packaging prior to incineration in order to make up batches of uniform calorific value. Thus, when incinerating hospital waste, it is necessary to process a succession of batches in which the calorific value varies in a manner that is not known accurately since, in practice, it is not possible for the personnel in charge of incinerating waste to obtain detailed information about the contents of each batch.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
Incinerators are known for destroying household waste in which waste is burned in a hearth fitted with a grid on which the waste is deposited and into which air is injected in order to activate combustion. Such known incinerators are poorly adapted to destroying hospital waste, firstly because of the risk of biologically contaminated liquids running out through the grid or of substances melting that might clog the grid, and secondly because the maximum temperatures reached in such incinerators are less than the temperatures at which steel melts, and as a result metal objects contained in the waste, e.g. needles and scalpels, remain identifiable after processing.
Patent FR 1 394 418 proposes a processing apparatus that includes a gasification chamber in which the waste is inserted so as to be subjected therein to degassing and to combustion, a chamber for post-combustion of the gases coming from the gasification chamber, and a melting chamber in which the slag from the gasification chamber is melted for vitrification purposes. In that apparatus, the gasification chamber includes a grid beneath which oxidizing agents are directed at a rate which is adjusted so that the organic components of the waste are burned completely prior to the waste being delivered to the melting chamber. Oxidizing agents and fuel are blown into the melting chamber so as to provide flames therein of greater or lesser reducing activity for the purpose, where necessary, of reducing metal oxides and of recovering metal. That known apparatus makes it possible to use waste to produce residues that are usable in the form of granules or of molded parts. Nevertheless, it consumes large quantities of oxidizing agents and of energy for the purpose of burning the waste completely prior to applying it to the melting chamber and reducing the metal oxides. In addition, the use of oxidizing agents in considerable excess gives rise to an equivalent increase in the flow of gases leaving the apparatus and an equivalent increase in the cost of processing said gases for de-pollution purposes.
An object of the present invention is to provide apparatus for processing waste, in particular hospital waste, that enables combustion of the waste to be controlled thoroughly and that also enables it to be transformed into an inert vitrified solid residue that can be made use of subsequently, while avoiding excessive energy consumption and unacceptable overall cost for the installation.
The present invention achieves this object by means of an apparatus of processing waste, in particular hospital waste, the apparatus comprising a gasifi
REFERENCES:
patent: 2527144 (1950-10-01), Meacham
patent: 2636723 (1953-04-01), Harter
patent: 4113459 (1978-09-01), Muller
Bourdil Claude
Bozetto Pierre
Brochot Jean-Marie
Cabardi Jean
Ensuque Alain
Bennett Henry A.
Electricite de France (Service National
O'Connor Pamela A.
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