FIELD OF INVENTION

The invention relates to an economic and ecofriendly waste incineration device for biological waste. It avoids spread of the airborne diseases/pathogenic microorganisms in the environment.

BACKGROUND OF INVENTION

To the best of available resources and manpower every government take care of the citizens. For the same the government plans for various health schemes, make available the medicines through government hospitals, along with other facilities. Major revenue of the government get expended in controlling infectious diseases. Major spread of pyogenic pathogens takes place through the contaminated sanitary pads which get disposed unprocessed in the environment. As the organisms are heat resistant, even exposure to sunlight fails to curb the spread of pathogens. Present invention is aimed to stop the spread of pathogens associated with sanitary napkins/ hospital wastes.

There are many claims for the production of high absorbent and long lasting sanitary napkins and tampons. Long lasting napkins and tampons allows sufficient time for multiplication of pathogens. This increases total microbial load in the tempon/ sanitary napkins. Such sanitary napkins acts as a reservoir of disease causing organisms and if get disposed are likely to spread more pathogens in the environment. Many manufacturers have brought their sanitary pad incinerators in the market. Microbial study carried out during operation of such products has revealed the spread of pathogens even during actual operation of the machine. This spread takes place in the form of droplets or droplet nuclei. Droplets are microorganisms containing moisture and their size always remains about 10 microns. Such droplets can cross the distance in fetes. Sprays of droplets are called as aerosols. Droplet nuclei do not carry moisture and their size always remains below 10 microns. Droplet nuclei get generated when the fluid of pathogenic microorganisms evaporates. Such droplet nuclei (dried but alive form of pathogenic microorganisms) have the size of 1 to 5 microns. They are small, light weighted hence remain suspended in air for long time and may cross the distance in kilometers with wind currents hence remains powerful tool for infecting large mass of the community. All products relayed simply on the mechanical incineration by using heating coil (s) and no special provision is made for removal of pathogenic microorganisms. Hence during the operation of the incinerators these creates aerosols, droplets and droplet nuclei of pathogenic microorganisms. Also during incineration, release of carbon particles is another major issue.

The present invention is developed for overcoming the problems related with prior incineration machines. The incineration device of present invention is efficient and removes the pathogenic microorganisms, aerosols, droplets and droplet nuclei. It also traps the carbon particles to restrict its emission in outer atmosphere. The present invention is portable and easy to handle. The present invention finds its application almost in all the areas where the pathogenic material disposal is necessary.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The present invention mainly provides a biological waste incineration device (500) comprising a) an incineration compartment (100) having - a closed bottom end portion (10); a top end portion (60) being in shape of conical hood having provision for attachment of a tube; intact side surfaces (20 A) connecting said bottom end portion (10) with said top end portion (60) and having provision (95) for feeding biological waste material inside incineration compartment (100); - a loading plate (38) for collecting the fed biological waste material inside the incineration compartment (100) through provision (95); heating coil (s) (40) for incineration of biological waste material inside the incineration compartment (100); an ash tray (900) with a mesh (33) at its top portion being removably placed above the bottom end portion (10) for resting of unburned biological material on mesh for incineration and collection of the burned residue in the tray; b) a top compartment (300) being placed over the top portion (60) of said incineration compartment (100) and having - side surfaces (20B) rested over the side surfaces (20A) of the incineration compartment (100); a top end portion (30) with opening (30 A) for release of soot and exhaust gas; a tubular unit (70) comprising series of parallel pipes having curved bends at their ends to maintain parallelism which is connected to the top end portion (60) of incineration compartment (100) through the provision for attachment of tube in its top end portion (60) to collect the air coming out from incineration compartment (100) and diverting it towards the top end portion (30) of top compartment (300) for releasing it to the outer atmosphere through the opening (30A). Further, to trap the carbon particles a scrubber may be placed above the tubular unit (70).

Additional filters namely glass fiber (50A), fine filter (50B) & coarse filter (50C) may also be placed above the opening (30A). These entrap the pathogens, dust particles. These filters may be fixed within a filter assembly (50) preferably in a linear fashion starting from the coarse filter (50A) near the opening (30A), then the fine filter (50B) next to it and followed by the glass fiber filter (50A).

Wherever necessary, the outer surface of the incineration compartment (100) is covered by a heat resistant material or a thermal insulation (100A) to prevent the heat transfer to surroundings and also to prevent the burns.

Various aspects of the present invention herein will be better appreciated and understood when considered in conjunction with the following description and the accompanying drawings. It should be understood, however, that the following descriptions, while indicating preferred embodiments and numerous specific details thereof, are given by way of illustration and not of limitation. Many changes and modifications may be made within the scope of the embodiments herein without departing from the spirit thereof, and the embodiments herein include all such modifications.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The embodiments herein will be better understood from the following detailed description with reference to the drawings, in which the reference numerals indicate:

FIGURE 1 illustrates the sectional view of the biological waste incineration device of the present invention in its one embodiment. DETAILED DESCRIPTION

As mentioned, there remains a long felt need for a biological waste incineration technology, which efficiently removes the pathogenic microorganisms, aerosol and droplet nuclei. And additionally trap the carbon particles to restrict its emission in outer atmosphere. The present invention tries to address this long felt need. Current invention provides an efficient, easy to handle, low cost maintenance biological waste incineration device. The present invention is portable and easy to handle. The present invention finds its application almost in all the areas where the pathogenic material disposal is necessary. The sectional view of the biological waste incineration device of the present invention constructed according to one of the preferred embodiment of invention is depicted in FIGURE 1, for explaining the components of the apparatus. Referring now to the FIGURE, where similar reference characters denote corresponding features consistently throughout the FIGURE, preferred embodiments are shown. In aspect of the present invention, it provides a biological waste incineration device which (500) comprises a) an incineration compartment (100) having a closed bottom end portion (10); - a top end portion (60) being in shape of conical hood having provision for attachment of a tube; intact side surfaces (20 A) connecting said bottom end portion (10) with said top end portion (60) and having provision (95) for feeding biological waste material inside incineration compartment (100); a loading plate (38) for collecting the fed biological waste material inside the incineration compartment (100) through provision (95); heating coil (s) (40) for incineration of biological waste material inside the incineration compartment (100); - an ash tray (900) with a mesh (33) at its top portion being removably placed above the bottom end portion (10) for resting of unburned biological material on mesh for incineration and collection of the burned residue in the tray; b) a top compartment (300) being placed over the top portion (60) of said incineration compartment (100) and having side surfaces (20B) rested over the side surfaces (20A) of the incineration compartment (100); a top end portion (30) with opening (30 A) for release of soot and exhaust gas; - a tubular unit (70) comprising series of parallel pipes having curved bends at their ends to maintain parallelism which is connected to the top end portion (60) of incineration compartment (100) through the provision for attachment of tube in its top end portion (60) to collect the air coming out from incineration compartment (100) and diverting it towards the top end portion (30) of top compartment (300) for releasing it to the outer atmosphere through the opening (30A).

In incineration compartment (100), the closed bottom end portion (10), top end portion (60) and the intact side surfaces (20A) are made of stainless steel grades selected from 304/316/310. The heating coil (s) (40) are heating filaments and are used for incinerating the biological material to ash. The side surfaces (20A) have provision for inserting heating filaments (40A, 40B, 40C, 40D). The number of heating coils to be used in the device depends on the load of biological material to be incinerated. In one embodiment of the present invention the device has provision for feeding (95) waste biological material inside said incineration compartment (100) is preferably a door or a hollow tube with door protruding outside the incineration compartment (100) from said side surface (20A). Further, the bottom end (10) has an ash tray placed on top of bottom end (10) which has mesh (33) on top side for placing the waste biological material and also has sliding function enabled for ease of emptying the collected ash from incineration process.

The tubular unit (70) comprises series of parallel pipes having curved bends at their ends to maintain parallelism. These pipes are made of alloy of silicone, carbon and carbide and hence maintain cool temperature within the pipe even if the lower heating coil (s) (40) is at very high temperature. At this temperature the micro-organisms get circulated in a loop and due to the specific design of tubular unit (70) they get adhered to inner surfaces of the pipeline. In another embodiment of the present invention the device has provision for cleaning, maintenance and repair etc, the incineration compartment (100) and top compartment (300) may be detachably connected with each other through the side surfaces (20 A & 20B). Such detachable connections may be the detachable screws for detachable attachments of the incineration compartment (100) and top compartment (300).

Also, wherever necessary, the outer surface of the incineration device (300) including the incineration compartment (100) is covered by a heat resistant material or a thermal insulation (100A) to prevent the heat transfer to surroundings and also to prevent the burns. The thermal insulation material is selected from the group consisting of glass wool, rock wool, ceramic wool and any combinations thereof. More preferably the incineration compartment (100) is insulated by heat resistant material.

In another embodiment of the present invention the device has a load plate (38) with load cell (39) positioned below it. The waste biological material after loading do not directly fall on the ash tray but it rest on the weighing plate (38) made of stainless steel grades selected from 304/316/310. The waste biological material feed from feeding provision (95) falls on the load plate; the load cell senses and measures the weight of the biological waste material fed. This load cell (39) is put in contact with the thermostat (90) which triggers the electric action of heating coil (s) (40) in automotive mode. Heating coil (s) (40) generate desired heat in the incineration compartment (100). Biological material rests on the mesh (33) of ash tray which is preferably made of stainless steel grades selected from 304/310/316. The thermostat (90) switch on the heating coil (s) and control their temperature according to the weight of the fed biological water material. Yet in another embodiment of the present invention the device invented can be used in programmable manner including programming the ignition temperature and time. The thermostat and temperature sensors can be used for maintaining and manipulating the desired temperature considering the biological material to be incinerated. This offers complete automation without any human intervention making the device more efficient and user friendly.

In yet another embodiment the top end compartment (300) additionally has a provision to hold a removable scrubber loaded mesh (200). The top portion hold the scrubber loaded mesh (200) during the operation of incineration device. This provision include a slit made on any one of the side surfaces (20B) of the top compartment (300) and sliding mechanism on other side surfaces (20B) through which the scrubber loaded mesh (200) can be introduced in and be removed from the top compartment (300). Preferably the scrubber is loaded on the mesh which has the side walls with sliding mechanism enabling its slide movement inside the top compartment (300). This enables the replacement and/or cleansing of the scrubber. More preferably the scrubber is carbon trapping scrubber and the scrubber loaded mesh is placed above the tubular unit (70) for trapping the carbon particles. The air coming out from the tubular unit (70) is passed through the scrubber loaded mesh (200) which entraps the carbon particles from the air. In preferred embodiment the mesh is made up of stainless steel- 304/316.

Preferably the scrubber is kept wet for trapping carbon particles by adsorption process of carbon particles. In preferred embodiment, an absorbent wick (80) is disclosed herein to keep the scrubber wet. Said wick (80) has one end dipped into water reservoir (401) another end is put in contact with scrubber to keep it wet. According to embodiment shown in figure 1, the water reservoir in the form of water tank is mounted on the side surface of top compartment (300). The water tank has inlet (401B) and guarded by lid. For removal of water when needed, the outlet 401 C can be manually operated (401C). A slot (400) is connected with water tank (401). And it is mounted for placing wick (80). The absorbent material on one side get dipped in water tank and on another side get rested on scrubber. Thus it forms a bridge between water and scrubber compartment to maintain moisture in the scrubber. Any alternative suitable arrangement can also be implemented for this purpose. A water supply provision for keeping the scrubber wet can be used.

For additional safeguard against the pathogens, the opening (30 A) may be fitted with a filter assembly (50). Preferably it consist three layers of filters first being the coarse filter (50C) layer, second being the fine filter (50B) layer and third being the glass fiber filter (50A) layer. Preferably where high precision is required to control, the spread of viruses, these additional filters are implemented at the exit of soot and exhaust gases. The sheet of filters mounted at the exhaust is covered by powder coated mesh on both the sides maintaining parallel air currents of the exhausted air.

A Filter assembly (50) having filters namely; coarse filter (50C), fine filter (50B) and fiber filter (50A), are for removal of pathogenic microorganisms, aerosol, droplets and droplet nuclei respectively.

For construction of fine filter stainless steel grades selected from 202/304/316/310 is used.

For construction of coarse filter stainless steel grades selected from 304/316/310 is used. For construction of the fiber filter (50A), glass fibers having diameter in range 0.5m to 2.0m are used. The glass fibers in the sheet are randomly arranged keeping air space within the fibers as greater than 0.3 m. The incineration compartment (100) and the top compartment (300) are made of stainless steel grades selected from 304/316/310.

For functioning of said device, the waste biological material is feed into the incineration compartment (100) and it is incinerated to ash by heating with heating coil (s) (40). The soot and exhaust gas travel upside and pass through the tubular unit (70), the pathogenic micro-organisms, viruses in the soot and exhaust gas get adhered to the pipes inner surfaces while passing through the tubular unit (70). Then the soot and exhaust gases pass through scrubber which entraps the carbon particles. The soot and exhaust gases are then passed through filters fitted at the opening (30A). Finally it is released to outer atmosphere. Additionally if the filter assembly (50) is fitted at the opening (30A) then the filtered soot and exhaust gases are passed to the atmosphere. The scrubber is kept wet using the water as explained above. The ash is collected in the ash tray (900) and can be discarded by removing said ash tray out of the incineration compartment (100) after the incineration cycle completes. The device (300) can be made using all the elements described hereinbefore or it can be made using the limited elements also as illustrated in example without deviating from the scope and spirit of the invention. The course of actions will take place in similar manner with the necessary modifications as per the presence or absence of few of the elements as mentioned in examples.

The present invention the device can be setup in hospitals for disposal of biological waste. The waste products such as sanitary pads, soiled waste (contaminated with blood and body fluids including cotton, dressings, needles and soiled plasters, linen) can be incinerated through the present invention. The incineration of such toxic waste helps in keeping hospitals and surrounding clean and prevents from spreading diseases from hospital waste. The mounting of said incinerator do not require isolated plant/place and emissions are safe for the community.

The foregoing description of the specific embodiments will so fully reveal the general nature of the embodiments herein that others can, by applying current knowledge, readily modify and/or adapt for various applications such specific embodiments without departing from the generic concept, and, therefore, such adaptations and modifications should and are intended to be comprehended within the meaning and range of equivalents of the disclosed embodiments. It is to be understood that the phraseology or terminology employed herein is for the purpose of description and not of limitation. Therefore, while the embodiments herein have been described in terms of preferred embodiments, those skilled in the art will recognize that the embodiments herein can be practiced with modification within the spirit and scope.

Example:

A biological waste incineration device (500) as disclosed in Figure 1 was prepared from following materials:

Dimensions:

Internal volume of incineration compartment (100): 1.5 cubic feet Internal volume of top compartment (300): 1.5 cubic feet Internal diameter of tubular unit (70): 5 cm

The incineration compartment (100) and top compartment (300) may be detachably connected with each other through the side surfaces (20A & 20B) using detachable screws.

Experiments:

Four incineration devices with following specifications were tested for their efficiency of removing pathogens.

Standard suspension of Staphylococcus aureus was prepared containing 5X10 ⁶ micro-organisms/ml. Sanitary pad was soaked in 1ml of suspension. It was feed inside the incineration compartment. Sterile Petri plates containing Mullar Hilton Agar were exposed for 10 minutes at the distance of 5 feet from the escape hole at the top end portion (30). The plates were incubated at 37°C for 24 hrs. Sanitary pads of same make and same weight were used for every separate experiment. Observations and Results:

* CFU: Colony forming units

Above observations and results show that the biological incineration device of current invention can be used for disposal of biological waste generated in hospitals, clinical laboratories, factories, offices, sanatoriums, public places like railway and bus stations, airports, railways, airplanes etc. It can be placed in residential areas, colonies also.

The filter assembly, scrubber etc. can be changed very easily to follow periodical change schedule or as per the requirements. In fact the whole device has been made in a very simple manner to enable easy maintenance. It is very economic also as the parts are cheaply available and can be replaced in wear and tear.