Abstract:
Improved apparatus and method for on-site disposal of waste material including trace chemo, expired pharmaceuticals, and sharps, without the use of chemicals or incineration, and without requiring the waste material to be packaged and shipped to a location where incineration is allowed. The waste material is dropped into a high temperature crucible. The crucible is heated to at least 1,400 degrees Fahrenheit by inductive heating to disintegrate the waste material. The crucible is filled with nitrogen which depletes any oxygen entering the crucible to prevent oxidization of the waste material in the crucible.

Description:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
       [0001]    The present invention relates to disposal of hospital waste and in particular to disposal of trace chemo, expired pharmaceuticals, and sharps waste material. 
         [0002]    Hospital waste material including trace chemo waste material, expired pharmaceuticals, and sharps waste material poses a threat to any human or animal which may come into contact with this waste material. As a result, the disposal of trace chemo waste material, expired pharmaceuticals, and sharps waste material is highly regulated. Known methods for disposal include incineration or dangerous chemicals. In many areas such disposal methods are bared by regulations, and the trace chemo waste material, expired pharmaceuticals, and sharps waste material must be packaged and transported at significant expense. Such transportation present additional potential risks in the event of an accident. Therefore, an apparatus and method are needed for on-site disposal of trace chemo, expired pharmaceuticals, and sharps waste material. 
       BRIEF SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
       [0003]    The present invention addresses the above and other needs by providing an improved apparatus and method for on-site disposal of waste material including trace chemo, expired pharmaceuticals, and sharps, without the use of chemicals or incineration, and without requiring the waste material to be packaged and shipped to a location where incineration is allowed. The waste material is dropped into a high temperature crucible. The crucible is heated to at least 1,400 degrees Fahrenheit by inductive heating to disintegrate the waste material. The crucible is filled with nitrogen which depletes any oxygen entering the crucible to prevent oxidization of the waste material in the crucible. 
         [0004]    In accordance with one aspect of the invention, there is provided an apparatus and method for on-site disposal of trace chemo, expired pharmaceuticals, and sharps waste material which includes a very high temperature crucible for disintegrating trace chemo material and for sterilizing sharps waste. The crucible is preferably an inductive furnace operating at about 1,500 degrees Fahrenheit. Both the trace chemo material and trace chemo container, expired pharmaceuticals, and sharps containers, are disintegrated in a single step reducing material handling requirements. 
         [0005]    In accordance with another aspect of the invention, there is provided an apparatus and method for on-site disposal of trace chemo, expired pharmaceuticals, and sharps waste material. The method includes providing a continuous flow of nitrogen into the crucible, inductively heating a crucible to operating temperature, placing containers containing waste material above the crucible, opening two crucible loading doors, releasing the waste material into the crucible, immediately closing the two crucible loading doors, holding the waste material in the crucible for a period of time to disinfect the waste material, opening a release door of the disposal machine, releasing the disinfected waste material from the disposal machine, and depositing the disinfected waste material into a waste storage container. 
     
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE SEVERAL VIEWS OF THE DRAWING 
         [0006]    The above and other aspects, features and advantages of the present invention will be more apparent from the following more particular description thereof, presented in conjunction with the following drawings wherein: 
           [0007]      FIG. 1  shows a perspective view of a trace chemo, expired pharmaceuticals, and sharps waste material disposal machine according to the present invention. 
           [0008]      FIG. 2A  shows a side view of a waste material disposal machine according to the present invention. 
           [0009]      FIG. 2B  shows a side view of the waste material disposal machine according to the present invention. 
           [0010]      FIG. 2C  shows a bottom view of the waste material disposal machine according to the present invention. 
           [0011]      FIG. 3  shows a crucible and inductive coil of the waste material disposal machine according to the present invention. 
           [0012]      FIG. 4  shows electrically conducting straps around the crucible according to the present invention. 
           [0013]      FIG. 5  shows a cross-sectional view of the crucible taken along line  5 - 5  of  FIG. 3  according to the present invention. 
           [0014]      FIG. 6  is a method for processing waste material according to the present invention. 
       
    
    
       [0015]    Corresponding reference characters indicate corresponding components throughout the several views of the drawings. 
       DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION 
       [0016]    The following description is of the best mode presently contemplated for carrying out the invention. This description is not to be taken in a limiting sense, but is made merely for the purpose of describing one or more preferred embodiments of the invention. The scope of the invention should be determined with reference to the claims. 
         [0017]    A perspective view of a trace chemo, expired pharmaceuticals, and sharps waste material disposal machine  10  according to the present invention is shown in  FIG. 1 . The disposal machine  10  processes trace chemo waste material and sharps waste material. The trace chemo waste material, the sharps waste material, and their containers (e.g., yellow trace chemo containers) are subjected to extreme heat in the disposal machine  10  to destroy all present contaminates. 
         [0018]    A side view of a waste material disposal machine is shown in  FIG. 2A , a side view of the waste material disposal machine  10  is shown in  FIG. 2B , and a bottom view of the waste material disposal machine  10  is shown in  FIG. 2C . The disposal machine  10  includes a main waste processing section including a crucible  20  residing in one side of the disposal machine  10 . The waste material is exposed to very high temperature in the crucible  20  where the trace chemo waste and yellow container and the sharps and sharps containers are disintegrated. 
         [0019]    Loading pneumatic cylinders  15   a  and  15   b  simultaneously actuate loading doors  14   a  and the waste material drops into the disposal machine  10 , and in particular, into the crucible  16 . The doors  15   a  and  15   b  are vertically separated by about six inches and the bottom door  14   b  seals against the top of the crucible  20 . Waste containers (for example, yellow trace chemo containers) are released into the crucible  20  for disintegration along with the trace chemo waste material. A bottom release door  14   c  is opened by a pneumatic cylinder  15   c  after a period of time and releases disinfected waste material from the disposal machine  10 . The second loading door  14   b  cooperates with seals to prevent or reduce the entry of oxygen into the crucible  20  during operation. 
         [0020]    The crucible  20  and an inductive coil  20  of the waste material disposal machine  10  is shown in  FIG. 3 . The inductive coil  20  received electrical current to create a magnetic field around a crucible liner  42 . The liner  42  is preferably stainless steel and more preferably 304 stainless steel. The inductive coil  40  preferably is made from tubing and also serves to cool the exterior of the crucible by carrying a flow of coolant. A temperature sensor  16  measures the internal temperature of the crucible  20 . Flows of nitrogen are introduced into the crucible to react with any oxygen present inside the crucible to deplete the oxygen to prevent the waste material from reacting with the oxygen. The nitrogen is preferably provided through the door  15   a  and into the crucible base, preferably four flows  18   a  through the  15   a  and two flows  18   b  into the base of the crucible. The coil  40  has a height H, length L and width D. The height H is preferably about 30 inches, the length L is preferably about 26 inches, and the width W is preferably about 21 inches. A coolant flow  26  is carried to and from the coil  40  and electrical current  28  is provided to the coil  40 . 
         [0021]    Electrically conducting straps  44  are shown attached around the crucible liner  42  in  FIG. 4 . The straps  44  inductively cooperate with the magnetic field created by the inductive coil  40  to heat the crucible liner  42 . The straps  44  are preferable 1 by ½ inch copper straps. 
         [0022]    A cross-sectional view of the crucible  20  taken along line  5 - 5  of  FIG. 3  is shown in  FIG. 5 . An inner layer of insulation  50  resides between the inductive coil  40  and the straps  44  and an outer layer of insulation  52  resides around the inductive coil  40 . A chute  24  recessed into the bottom of the crucible  20  receives the processed material from the disposal machine  10  and releases the processed material for disposal. An auger may be present to carry the processed material (e.g., non toxic ash) to a drop where it may be dropped into a common waste disposal container. 
         [0023]    An example of a suitable induction furnace for use as the crucible  20  is an EKPHeat 50/10 manufactured by Ambrell Precision Inductive Heating in Scottsville, N.Y. The EKPHeat 50/10 operates on 50 kW at 5-15 kHz. 
         [0024]    A method for disposing of trace chemo, expired pharmaceuticals, and sharps waste material is shown in  FIG. 6 . The method includes: providing a continuous flow of nitrogen into the crucible at step  100 , inductively heating a crucible to operating temperature at step  102 , placing containers containing waste material above the crucible at step  104 , opening two crucible loading doors at step  106 , releasing the waste material into the crucible at step  108 , immediately closing the two crucible loading doors at step  110 , holding the waste material in the crucible for a period of time to disinfect the waste material at step  112 , opening a release door of the disposal machine at step  114 , releasing the disinfected waste material from the disposal machine at step  116 , and depositing the disinfected waste material into a waste storage container at step  118 . 
         [0025]    The method may further include cooling the exterior of the crucible by circulating coolant through tubing which also creates the magnetic field for inductive heating. 
         [0026]    Expanding to more detail, the method operator steps including: 
         [0027]    actuating a start button; 
         [0028]    providing power to the crucible heating element (the crucible preferably remains heated until shut down at an end of the current shift); 
         [0029]    waiting for the crucible to reach operating temp, preferably within five minutes; 
         [0030]    placing a waste material container in a load station area; 
         [0031]    positioning the container above the disposal machine thereby actuating a limit switch to verify that the container is in place; 
         [0032]    starting an operating cycle; 
         [0033]    starting the auger; 
         [0034]    starting the after burner (which includes a pilot light which lights a gas burner); 
         [0035]    actuating a release switch to actuate a loading pneumatic cylinder which opens a loading door; 
         [0036]    releasing the container and contents to drop into the disposal machine and into the crucible; 
         [0037]    immediately closing the two crucible loading doors (e.g., in two to three seconds); 
         [0038]    providing a dwell time (e.g., about one minute) for the container and contents to completely disintegrating the container and contents at the crucible operating temperature; 
         [0039]    after the dwell time has expired, opening a release door under the crucible; 
         [0040]    releasing the disinfected material into a chute under the disposal machine; 
         [0041]    closing the release door; and 
         [0042]    carrying disinfected waste material to a waste storage container. 
         [0043]    Further, if the temperature in the crucible drops below 1,400 degrees Fahrenheit, operation is suspended until the temperature rises above 1,400 degrees Fahrenheit. 
         [0044]    While the invention herein disclosed has been described by means of specific embodiments and applications thereof, numerous modifications and variations could be made thereto by those skilled in the art without departing from the scope of the invention set forth in the claims.