Fast-Track Design of a Novel Clinical Waste Destruction Technology

This project seeks to fast-track the testing, scale-up and design of a novel mobile microwave induced plasma (MIP) gasification technology, to provide both flexible and additional capacity to enable the safe and sustainable disposal of COVID-19 related clinical waste. With clinical waste arisings being reported to have increased by 600% in regions of high COVID-19 infection rates (Wuhan Ministry Emergency Office/current Defra Survey of Waste Industry on COVID-19 Impacts), additional waste treatment capacity is required to serve existing hospitals and new temporary medical/healthcare facilities that are being erected globally (e.g. NHS Nightingale Hospitals) to prevent the risk of disease transmission, associated with the transportation and handling of contaminated waste streams. The MIP gasification technology will provide healthcare trusts and hazardous waste management companies with an alternative to offsite incineration, enabling waste to be treated safely and sustainably onsite, whilst reducing the costs associated with waste disposal (c.a. £600 - £1,500 per tonne) and energy demand through the provision of renewable energy.

The adoption of plasma gasification systems for waste destruction has been hindered due to operational issues relating to electrode corrosion and high parasitic loads, rendering facilities only economic at a large scale (1000 tpd). As such conventional systems are uneconomic for onsite deployment for the treatment of clinical waste.

Therefore, this project will focus on the rapid testing and scale-up of our highly efficient modular MIP gasification technology to enable viable onsite management of COVID-19 clinical waste at a scale of 1000 tpa. The outputs from the study will comprise design and prototyping of a new MIP torch technology (which will be patented) and the design of a mobile package plant for COVID-19 clinical waste destruction (which will be patented), and an assessment of the energy generation potential of the plant. It is anticipated that the outputs from this study will facilitate further fundraising in order to commercialise the technology.

Enabling the destruction of COVID-19 clinical waste onsite, will present both healthcare trusts and hazardous waste management companies with an opportunity to alleviate capacity issues and safety issues relating to the disposal of clinical waste, whilst also enabling an opportunity to reduce grid-based eissues nergy demand through the generation of low-carbon energy. As such this project presents the global health care sector with a novel process to enhance the safety and sustainability of COVID-19 clinical waste disposal whilst reducing operational costs and carbon emissions.