Investigation into the Pyrolysis of Medical Waste in a Fixed-Bed Reactor

An experimental investigation has been conducted into the pyrolysis of typical medical waste components in a fixed-bed reactor with a view to obtaining detailed information on the process characteristics. It is shown that the main loss of the mass of the mixture of chlorine-containing medical wastes occurs in two stages. The first stage which finishes at a temperature of about 400°C is characterized by the discharge of pyrolysis water and gas which contains hydrogen chlorine. At the second stage, at a temperature from 400 to 500°C, there is a discharge of the main part of volatile substances that are largely made up of pyrolytic oil. An environmentally safe and cost-effective method of solving the problem of medical waste disposal based on its two-stage pyrolysis has been proposed. The method includes the removal of chlorine-containing components from medical waste before the thermal degradation of their organic part, which, in practice, excludes the possibility of formation of highly toxic chlorine-containing substances.