Anaerobic digestion of infectious biomedical waste with effective pretreatment techniques

Abstract

Healthcare services generate huge quantities of waste with a broad range of compositions and characteristics which carries a higher potential for infection and injury than any other type of waste. Demand of fossil fuels as well as cost of fossil fuels increases day by day. Facing the increasing demand of energy and growing problem of rapid depletion of fossil fuels urges the developing nations to identify new technologies. Ever increasing accumulation of Infectious Biodegradable medical wastes is also compelling a way to utilize them. Very few research articles are available on treatment techniques of hospital wastes. Hence, Performance and challenges of the existing common biomedical waste treatment facility (Incineration, Autoclave, Shredder etc.,) at Chettipalayam have been studied. At present, the study hospital has a capacity of 400 beds. The total amount of BMW generated is approximately 801 kg/day. About 538Kg/day (67.17%) is general BMW and remaining 263 kg/day (32.83%) is infectious BMW. Most of the general BMW are rendered infectious by mishandling. Feasibility study of anaerobic digestion indicates that proper segregation of BMW gives higher reduction of physiochemical parameters and high cumulative gas yield compared to mixed BMW bio-degradability. Hence, it is recommended that the proper segregation practices of biomedical wastes can reduce the quantity of infectious waste and its treatment cost. Anaerobic digestion of properly segregated and pretreated BMW by solar disinfection with addition of lime will be a highly recommended method for disposing of IBMW. The sludge from anaerobic digester can be utilized as manure.