HOSPITAL WASTE DISPOSAL SYSTEM

Abstract: A system for disposing of large amounts of infectious hos­ pital waste includes a generally sealed enclosure containing an apparatus for delivery, disintegration, and decontamination of waste materials. A conveyor arrangement provides a positive delivery of large waste containers to be disposed to a disin­ tegrator while preventing material from being thrown from the disintegrator. The disintegrator comprises two disintegrating processors including at least one rotating hammermill, so as to jointly be capable of effectively disintegrating articles of sub­ stantial size. In one embodiment two large counter-rotating hammermills are utilized. The system enclosure is maintained at a negative pressure and adapted to prevent escape of air­ borne contamination from the system. A variety of protective features are also incorporated into the system to clear the disin­ tegrator in cases of overload, to avoid power surges upon sys­ tem start-up, and to effect an orderly shutdown of the system.

Description: This invention relates to a system for disposing of infectious hospital waste such as hypodermic syringes, bottles, cans, containers, and other potentially hazardous materials and, more particularly, to a system for disintegrating and disinfecting large containers of such solid hospital waste. Conventional procedures which simply reduce the size of the contaminated materials such as cutting or compaction are often inadequate because the materials remain contaminated unless they are subjected to a relatively expensive autoclaving process prior to the size reduction. Incineration of the waste materials, although effective in both reducing the size of and decontaminating the materials, is not fully satisfactory because they require regular servicing and cleaning and provide some danger of toxic gas emission. Devices such as the syringe disintegrator disclosed by U.S. Patent No. 3,926,379 are often noisy, unreliable, and unsuitable for use in the hospital areas where it was needed. Operation of the system could provide a potentially bacteria-laden exhaust from the apparatus, and the apparatus was generally incapable of accepting contaminated articles of relatively large size such as are commonly generated in a hospital environment and require effective disposal. The present invention relates to a waste disposal system that is capable of processing essentially all infectious waste materials that are likely to be generated by a hospital or other health care facility. The overall system includes a generally sealed cabinet which contains structure for disintegrating and decontaminating waste materials fed into the cabinet, a feeding means for feeding contaminated waste materials into the cabinet in a safe, efficient manner for processing, a separator for separating the disintegrated solid waste materials from the decontaminating fluid, and a system control for controlling and monitoring the operation of the overall system. In accordance with one aspect of the invention, the feeding means is operated by the system control and includes a conveyor system having a first conveyor portion which comprises a continuous conveyor belt and a second conveyor portion for receiving the materials from the first conveyor portion and for directing them into the cabinet and disintegrating means. The first conveyor portion makes it possible for a person who wishes to dispose of a contaminated article to simply place the contaminated article on its conveyor belt and leave. It is not necessary for the person to wait until a previous article has been processed in the cabinet or for the person to know how to operate this system. The system control insures that the waste will be fed into the cabinet at a high, effective rate based on the type of materials being destroyed to reduce the danger of overfeeding that was present in prior systems. The system also includes means for maintaining a negative pressure both within the cabinet and within the feeding means to help prevent contaminated air from escaping from within the system into the surrounding atmosphere. The system further includes a novel disintegration system comprising a plurality of disintegrating machines, such as two high-speed, heavy-duty, counter-rotating hammermills operating as a unit, to permit rapid and reliable disintegration of large-sized articles; for example, sizes up to 40,64 cm (16 inches) square (or diameter) by 122 cm (48 inches) in length. The system additionally incorporates a variety of features to insure safe, reliable operation of the system. For example, the system is provided with a "softened" starting system to eliminate line power surges which can affect the operation of critically important electrical equipment within the hospital. Means are also provided to monitor the disintegration unit and to take quick action to clear an overload condition therein or, if necessary, to shut down the system before serious damage can result. Furthermore, means are provided to shut down the system in an orderly manner to insure that all contaminated materials are properly processed and to avoid leakage of contaminant from the system, together with further features shown hereinbelow. Fig. 1 is a top plan view of one embodiment of the invention; Fig. 2 is an elevated side view of the system of Fig. 1; Figs. 3 and 3A are cross-sectional views of the feeding means of Figs. 1 and 2, with feeding means in alternate positions; Fig. 4 is a schematic view of the interior of the cabinet of the system of Figs. 1 and 2 illustrating the arrangement of the major components therewithin; Fig. 5 is an elevated cross-sectional view of the dual disintegrator means of the present invention looking in the direction of arrow 5-5 of Fig. 4 in which two counter-rotating hammermills are utilized; Fig. 6 is a top plan cross-sectional view of the disintegrator means of Fig. 5; Fig. 7 is an enlarged cross-sectional view of the bearing means utilized with each hammermill shown in Fig. 6; and Fig. 8 is a cross-sectional view of the separator portion of the system. Figs. 1 and 2 illustrate an embodiment of the overall waste disposal system generally designated by reference numeral 10 and including a generally sealed cabinet 11 within which waste materials are disintegrated and decontaminated, feeding means 12 for automatically feeding contaminated waste materials into the cabinet for processing, generally closed separator 13 for separating the processed waste materials from the decontaminating fluid, and system control means 14 for monitoring and controlling the overall operation of the system. Feeding conveyor 12 generally comprises a first conveyor portion 16 for receiving contaminated articles to be disposed of and a second conveyor portion 17 for transferring the articles from the first conveyor portion into the cabinet 11 for disintegration. The cabinet 11 generally includes at least one of the two disintegrators for disintegrating and decontaminating solid waste; means for maintaining a negative pressure both within the cabinet and the feeding means; and various electrical and pneumatic components to operate the disintegrator and the blower. The cabinet is preferably provided with panels, e.g., panel 15, which are easily removable for servicing purposes. Separator 13 is connected to the cabinet 11 and communicates with one or both of the disintegrators through conduit 18. Separator 13 is designed to separate the disintegrated, decontaminated waste from the disinfectant solution used to decontaminate the waste and to deliver the disinfectant solution to a public sewer via conduit 19. Separator 13 also includes a hinged top 20 to permit the disinfected solid waste to be periodically removed from the separator and placed in sealed containers for disposal. System control means 14 provides an electrical control circuit including a plurality of solid-state circuits and relays which permit the system to be operated by hospital personnel by means of a simple push-button control system. The controls include micro-computer programmable controller means and associated circuitry to monitor and control the overall system to provide safe, efficient, reliable operation at all times. Feeding conveyor 12 of Fig. 3, receives and automatically feeds contaminated waste products into cabinet 11 for processing. First conveyor portion 16 comprises first conveyor rectangular housing portion 21 within which is supported continuous belt 22; for example, of fiber-reinforced polyurethane belt. A section of housing 21 defines input portion 24, providing access to the conveyor belt 22 so that contaminated articles may be easily placed thereon. Housing 21 and continuous belt 22 supported therein are inclined at an upwardly extending angle such that articles to be processed will be carried upwardly along the length of the belt in the direction indicated by arrow 26 from the input end 24 to the output end 25 thereof. As shown in Fig. 3, continuous belt 22 is capable of supporting a plurality of articles, 27a, b and c, at one time. Accordingly one can simply place articles on the conveyor 22 and leave, without having to wait until a previous article has been processed in the cabinet. Contaminated articles are transferred from output end 25 onto slide surface 31 supported within second conveyor portion 17. Second conveyor portion 17 includes a second rectangular conveyor portion housing 28 attached to both first conveyor portion housing 21 and to cabinet 11. Housing 28 is inclined downwardly at a slight angle to transfer the articles from the first conveyor portion 16 into the cabinet 11 and into disintegrator means 44 (Fig. 4). Driven belt assembly 35 with endless belt 32, is supported within second conveyor portion housing 28 above slide 31 with its upper end so located that it can engage large waste containers, preferably while they are still in contact with first conveyor belt 22. Belt 32 comprises a motor driven elastomeric belt having a plurality of teeth 33 provided thereon along the length of the belt to engage the articles and move or pull them, one at a time, from belt 22 into cabinet 11. Belt assembly 35 is positioned such that a portion thereof extends over belt 22 in first conveyor portion 16. Accordingly, an article approaching output end 25 of first conveyor portion 16, will be engaged by belt 32 of belt assembly 35 and pulled onto slide 31 of second conveyor portion 17. Belt 32 is supported around a pair of rollers 34 and 36, and the entire belt assembly 35 is mounted for pivotal movement around the axis of roller 34 as indicated by arrows 37. Belt assembly 35 is positioned relative to continuous belt 22 to insure that all contaminated articles regardless of size will be reliably engaged by belt 32. Gravity and the weight of the belt assembly maintain roller 36 pressed against slide 31 as shown in Fig. 3. Articulated door 38 comprising door portions 38a and 38b is coupled to roller 36 by a pivotable coupling 39. In the position shown in Fig. 3, when the belt assembly is in its down position, the door will fully close the entrance into cabinet 11. When, however, an article, such as article 27d in Fig. 3A, is encountered by the belt assembly 35 and is pulled toward door 38 by the movement of toothed belt 32, as indicated by arrow 41, the belt assembly will be pushed up by the article against gravity, pivoting about the axis of roller 34, as indicated by arrow 37. As the assembly 35 lifts up, coupling 39 will carry the articulated door 38 upwardly, opening it to allow the article 27d to pass through into the cabinet 11. When the article has passed into the cabinet, belt assembly 35 will return to the Fig. 3 position, closing door 38 as it does so. Such a construction prevents broken materials from escaping from within the cabinet back into the feeding conveyor. Also, the door 38 will only open to the extent necessary to allow a particular article to pass. Larger articles will force the belt assembly 35 and, hence, door 38 upwardly to a greater extent than smaller articles. In addition, the constant force applied by the weight of the belt assembly 35 will provide firm contact of the belt 32 against an article being fed to assure that the article will be reliably fed into the cabinet 11 without slippage. Feeding conveyor 12 is controlled by system control 14 which will automatically actuate the system to feed articles into the cabinet at the proper rate as a function of the size and type of articles being processed. This helps to reduce the risk of overloading either one or both of the dual disintegrators. Feeding conveyor 12 and its housings are adapted to be maintained at a negative pressure at all times during operation of the waste disposal system by a blower means provided within the cabinet 11. Thus, there will be a continuous inflow of air into the housing, as indicated by arrow 40, which air flow helps prevent bacteria or other airborne contamination from escaping into the atmosphere around the system. For further protection, a plurality of "spit back" curtains 42 are provided within first conveyor portion housing 21 as illustrated. As the articles 27 are carried up the conveyor 22, they will simply move the curtains aside as they pass; and upon their passing, the curtains will fall back into position to generally close the housing, reducing air entry and maintaining the negative air pressure of the system. Fig. 4 schematically illustrates the interior of the cabinet 11 to show the arrangement of the major components therein. Such components include disintegrators 44 here, including a first and second hammermill, disinfectant source 45, negative pressure source 46, and pneumatic power source 47. Contaminated waste products enter into cabinet 11 and fall directly into disintegrators 44 through input opening 43 provided in disintegration housing 73 (see Fig. 5). The dual disintegrator structure is illustrated in greater detail in Fig. 5-7 and, in one embodiment, comprises a pair of counter-rotating hammermills driven by two large electric motors through appropriate couplings. One of the motors 54 and one of the couplings 57 are visible in Fig. 4. In the embodiment illustrated, each motor comprises a large, 73,5 kW (100-horse-power), three-phase, 3,500 rpm motor of the type manufactured, for example, by Marathon or Baldor of Forest Smith, Arkansas, and is coupled to its associated hammermill with a torque-limiting coupling to prevent stalling in the event of a jammed hammermill. The hammermills and the motors are securely mounted to the rigid framework 48 as illustrated. Disinfectant source 45 includes container 61 from which hoses 62 and 63 extend to carry disinfectant fluid, for example, sodium hypochlorite solution, from the container into the second conveyor portion 17 and disintegrators 44 by means of electrically driven pumps 64 and 65, respectively. Means are also provided to introduce water into second conveyor portion 17. This can be accomplished by introducing water from the hospital water system into lines 62 and 63 by appropriate valve means (not shown) operated by system control 14 to provide a disinfectant-water solution to the second conveyor portion 17 and disintegrators 44 during operation of the system. Within disintegrators 44, the waste is disintegrated into particulate form and decontaminated by the disinfectant solution. The particulate waste and disinfectant solution are then directed outwardly of the disintegrators through transition chute 66 and to separator 13 through conduit 18. Also contained within the cabinet 11 is blower 46 driven by a motor 67. The blower 46 is driven in such a direction that it exhausts the interior of the cabinet 11 as well as the housings 21 and 28 of the feeding means through inlet opening 43 to a hospital ventilator leading outside of the hospital. The interior of cabinet 11 and the interior of feeding means housing portions 21 and 28 are thus provided with a negative pressure which is greater than the positive pressure created by the rapidly rotating hammermills used in this embodiment, preventing airborne contamination that may be created in the operation of the disintegrators from escaping from the cabinet or the feeding means. The cabinet 11 preferably includes a H.E.P.A. bacterial filter in the exhaust to prevent bacteria from being carried from the cabinet with the exhaust of blower 46. An electrically powered pneumatic pump or pressure source 47 is provided within cabinet 11 to actuate pneumatic components, such as pneumatic cylinders, and to operate movable components of waste input 43 and disintegrators 44 through various pneumatic hoses which are not illustrated in Fig. 4 for purposes of clarity. The structural framework 48 for the disintegrator 44 and its motors may be constructed by welding together I-shaped iron beams to provide four legs 48a and transverse beams 48b to position and support rigidly the disintegrator components within the cabinet 11. The legs 48a of the supporting structure 48 for the disintegrators 44 are preferably bolted directly to the hospital floor through suitable vibration-damping mountings. The disintegrators 44 are shown in greater detail in Figs. 5-7. The structure comprises at least one hammermill and one other form of disintegrating machine such as a second hammermill, with Fig. 5 showing a pair of counter-rotating hammermill assemblies 71 and 72 supported within a disintegrator housing 73. An opening 43 is provided in the wall of the disintegrator housing through which waste materials from feeding means 12 fall into disintegrators 44. The hammermills 71 and 72 are essentially identical, and each comprises a plurality of hammer components 74 hingedly carried about rotating shafts 76 coupled to the motor drive shafts 57. The leading edges of the hammer components 74, however, are oriented in opposite directions on the two hammermills 71 and 72. As shown in Fig. 6, the rotating shaft 76 of each hammermill is supported by a pair of bearing means 77 carried by the hammermill housing 73. This bearing means is illustrated more clearly in Fig. 7 and includes a bearing support 91 supporting an annular bearing 92 in spaced relationship relative to the hammermill housing 73 to define a bearing support cavity 93 therein. A plurality of mounting bolts 94 are provided to mount the bearing and bearing support to the housing 73. In order to permit effective rotation of the shaft 76 relative to the hammermill housing 73, there must be a slight clearance 95 between the shaft and the housing; and during operation of the hammermill, disinfectant solution will enter into the cavity 93 through clearance 95. In order to remove this liquid from the bearing, a flinger element 96 in the form of an annular disk is positioned within the cavity and is mounted to and rotatable with the shaft 76. As the hammermill is operating, liquid entering into cavity 93 will be "flung" outwardly by centrifugal force from the flinger element and driven out of the bearing through bearing support drain 97. Each of the hammer components 74 carried by each of the hammermills 71 and 72 is carried by, and is freely rotatable on, a plurality of pins 81. As many as 12 hammer elements can be carried on four pins securely fastened between a pair of supporting spider elements 82 that are fixed to the rotating shafts 76 of the hammermills. The rod-like elements may be steel rod that are one to three inches by 1/4 to 1/2 inch in cross section and are three to twelve inches long that are carried on pins 1/2 to one inch in diameter. The clearance between the two hammermills at their closest point is approximately 12 mm (1/2 inch). During normal operation, the hammermills 71 and 72 rotate in opposite directions at high speeds, for example, at 3,500 rpm, (as indicated by arrows 84 and 86) of Fig. 5; and the hammer components 74 strike the solid waste materials, breaking them into smaller and smaller pieces within a container surrounding the hammermills. After the flailing hammer elements have continued to strike and break the solid waste for a period of time, the solid waste becomes sufficiently reduced in size to enable it to pass through the openings 83 in the lower part of the container into a transition chute 66 (Fig. 5) which directs the particles and disinfectant fluid to conduit 18 leading to the separator. The transition chute should have a smooth inside surface to prevent any hang-up of the debris flowing therethrough. By utilizing at least one disintegrator formed by a large rotating hammermill, even large articles (as large as 16 inches square by 48 inches long) can be reliably disintegrated to a size generally small enough to pass through openings 83 each of which have a diameter of 12 mm (1/2 inch). In the preferred embodiment shown, each hammermill is provided with eighty-eight openings to minimize the risk of debris blockage. With reference now to Fig. 8, disintegrated waste and disinfectant travel through conduit 18 from the cabinet 11 to separator 13. The separator includes a plurality of partitions to separate the solid waste and disinfectant solution. One partition 101 forms a first weir forming a first collecting pool 102 for the collection of solid waste, which is heavier than the solution, from the disinfectant solution by gravity. Disinfectant solution and those portions of solid waste light enough to escape the first collection pool 102 flow over the first weir 101 into a second collection pool 103 formed by a second weir-forming partition 104. Additional settling of hospital waste through gravity occurs in the second pool 103, while floating waste is trapped by the further partition 104 in the second pool. This partition is supported within the separator above the bottom to define an opening 104a adjacent the bottom of the second pool. As a result of this arrangement, disinfectant solution is drawn from the bottom of the second pool and flows over weir portion 106a, thus largely trapping any remaining solid waste in the second pool. Air deflector 108 is positioned within the separator to deflect any blowing air from the hammermill into collecting pool 102 and to prevent any liquid carried by the air from flowing directly into the H.E.P.A. filter hose assembly 109. A "hogs hair" filter 110 is also provided, as shown, to catch any airborne liquid that might not be blocked by deflector 108. For even greater assurance that solid waste will not be delivered into the public sewer system, flow over the weir portion 106a is directed into a foraminous container 107 as a final trap for solid waste. The disinfectant solution flows through the openings in the foraminous container and outwardly from the separator 13 into the public sewer through conduit 19. The solid waste which has been reduced to particulate form can periodically be removed from the separator and placed in large containers or bags for disposal. The system controller 14 includes microprocessor systems and associated electronics for monitoring and controlling the overall operation of the waste disposal system 10. The system is provided with a "soft" start-up in order to prevent any sudden power surges and transients in the general hospital electrical system. For example, a "Nordic ES-3" control is used to control voltage and current during start-up. The controller includes means for monitoring the current level on the hammermill motors 54 to detect any overload that may occur within the hammermills and to take corrective action before any damage can result to the system. On the detection of a disintegrator motor overload current, the microprocessor acts to stop the feeding means 12 after a first period of time (e.g., seven seconds), to prevent the feeding of additional waste materials to the hammermills. The hammermills continue to operate, however, to disintegrate and clear the waste already in the disintegrator. If after a second period of time (e.g., twelve seconds), the current is still too high, clearance trap doors in the hammermill container (doors 87 in Fig. 6) are opened by a pneumatic cylinder 80 to more rapidly clear the disintegrator of waste. If the current is still too high after a third period of time (e.g., seventeen seconds), the motors 54 will be stopped and caused to reverse for sixty seconds while the trap doors 87 remain open to insure complete clearing of the hammermills. As indicated above, the exhaust of the negative pressure system is filtered to prevent the delivery of contaminated air to the hospital environment. The filter system includes a two-stage system including a H.E.P.A. filter. The system controller includes sensors to monitor the pressure drop across the filter system and to provide a warning, for example, by a warning light at the user control station, when the H.E.P.A. filter needs to be cleared or changed. The flow of disinfectant from the disinfectant source 45 is also monitored by flow switches 68 and 69 in disinfectant lines 62 and 63. When there is no disinfectant flow through the flow switches 68 and 69 for seven seconds, the control system stops the movement of conveyor belt 22. Refilling of the disinfectant source or removal of disinfectant flow blockage will permit the system to be restarted. The system is also provided with an orderly, automatic shutdown sequence. Upon operation of the system stop switch, the hammermill motors are reversed for sixty seconds with trapdoors 87 opened. The second conveyor means is flushed with water for about three minutes; and the filter system blower 46 continues to operate for ninety minutes to clear the system of contamined air. The logic then goes to a start-up program. Other protective features can be incorporated into the system to provide a highly reliable, substantially automatic system. Although a specific embodiment of the system is shown and described, other embodiments, such as those incorporating a different second disintegrating device, and other arrangements may be devised using the subject matter of this invention without departing from the scope of the following claims.

Claims: A waste disposal system for the continuous treatment and disposal of infectious waste articles (27) including first disintegration means (71), the first disintegration means (71) being operably positioned to receive said articles (27) directly from a disintegration delivery chute (17) for disintegrating said waste articles (27) into substantially small waste fragments for further unidirectional treatment, disposal and transmittal of same through said waste disposal system, rotary hammermill means (71) for violently disintegrating the articles (27) at a substantially high speed, into a waste particle-disinfectant solution, and being powered by hammermill motor means (54) operably coupled thereto, and means (45, 62, 63) to apply disinfectant to the articles adjacent the delivery chute (17) for enveloping and impregnating one or more of said waste articles (27) and said waste fragments in a bacteria killing disinfecting liquid solution (61), the treatment being carried out in a substantially controlled aseptic environment, and the waste articles (27) being converted continuously into a safely disposable non-infectious and non-toxic residue through the thorough disintegration and disinfection of the articles, characterised in that there are provided feeding conveyor means (12) for unidirectionally transferring said articles (27) in a continuous, uninterrupted manner into a disintegration delivery chute (17), second disintegration means (72) which is operably positioned relative to said first disintegration means (71) to further disintegrate said waste article fragments, the means (45, 62, 63) to apply disinfectant being spray means operably positioned adjacent one or more of the feeding conveyor means (12), and the first (71) and the second (72) disintegration means, liquid-solid particle separation means (13) operably attached to one or more of said first (71) and second (72) disintegration means for operably straining, and, in turn, separating, on a continuous basis, said disintegrated particles of solid waste from said enveloping and impregnating disinfectant liquid; said liquid-solid particle separation means (13) including operable connections to liquid evacuation means (19) and solid particle evacuation means (107) for disposal of said disinfectant liquid and said solid waste particles respectively; system vacuum ventilation means (46) operably associated with said disposal system for effectively precluding the inadvertent release of bacteria and other contamination during the treatment and disposal of said waste articles by said system; and system switching control means (14) operably associated with said feeding conveyor means (12), said first (71) and second (72) disintegration means, said disinfectant spray means (45, 62, 63), said liquid-solid particle separation means (13) and system vacuum ventilation means (46) for controlling the activation and sequencing of one or more of same relative to one or more of the others. The system as claimed in Claim 1 characterized in that each of said first (71) and second (72) disintegration means comprises rotary hammermill means (71, 72) for violently disintegrating said waste articles (27) and waste article fragments at a substantially high speed, into a waste particle-disinfectant solution, each of said rotary hammermill means (71, 72) being powered by respective hammermill motor means (54) operably coupled thereto, each of said rotary hammermill means (71, 72) further being rotated in counter-rotating fashion. The invention according to Claim 1 in which said disinfectant liquid solution (61) comprises a disinfectant solution of sodium hypochlorite and water. The invention according to Claim 1 in which said conveyor feeding means (12) includes one or more spit-back curtains (42) to preclude the release of airborne contaminants and to maintain the integrity of said vacuum ventilation means (46). The invention according to Claim 1 in which each of said one or more hammermill means (71, 72) include overload release means (87) for expediting the release of fragment particle solution upon occurrence of a jam. The invention according to Claim 1 in which each of said one or more hammermill means (71, 72) have bearing assemblies (77) having contaminant release means (96, 97) to preclude corrosion and operative interference from migrating particle solution, said release means (96, 97) comprising a contaminant slinger element (96) and a contaminant release drain (97).

Inventors: HARPER, ALLAN C., LASITER, DAVID N., MCKEE, RANDALL G., WILSON, JOSEPH H.
Applicants: MEDICAL SAFETEC INC.
Application year: 1985
Main classification: B02C13
IPC codes: A61M5, A61L2, B02C23, B09B5, B02C13, A61L11