Treatment of Infectious Waste through the Application Rotary Kiln Incinerators and Ozone Technology

Abstract

The alarming rate at which infectious waste is growing was an unsolved problem worldwide before the pandemic, and it has only gotten worse. It is especially prominent in the medical services, owing to the improper use or the lack of high-efficiency waste management systems. To address this issue, this paper presents a modification to the conventional rotary kiln incineration method using add-on ozone (O3) at a concentration of 100–160 g/h in order to enhance its efficiency when treating emitted air pollutants. These pollutants of Hg, HF, TSP, SO2, NO2, CO, and HCl were measured, and their percent opacity concentrations were 0.006 mg/m3, 0.680 mg/m3, 21.900 mg/m3, 5.600 mg/m3, 16.300 mg/m3, 13.700 mg/m3, 0.022 mg/m3, and 6%, respectively. The amounts of these air pollutants were considerably lower than those released from a rotary kiln incinerator without the add-on ozone. Additionally, all the measurements were lower than the emission thresholds established in the US Environmental Protection Agency Emission Standards Reference Guide. Therefore, using the proposed rotary kiln incineration method modified with add-on ozone is suitable for use in the elimination of infectious waste in that it drastically reduces air pollution and improves air quality, resulting in environmental improvements aimed at mitigating the devastating impacts pollution has on human health.