Title: Comprehensive review on medical waste incineration

Authors: Sofia Rani Shaik; Arun Kumar Mahalingam; Muthukumar Palanisamy; Pratul Chandra Kalita

Addresses: Department of Design, Indian Institute of Technology Guwahati, Guwahati, Assam – 781039, India ' School of Energy Science and Engineering, Indian Institute of Technology Guwahati, Guwahati, Assam – 781039, India ' Department of Mechanical Engineering, Indian Institute of Technology Guwahati, Guwahati, Assam – 781039, India ' Department of Design, Indian Institute of Technology Guwahati, Guwahati, Assam – 781039, India

Abstract: In the era of rapid growth in medical waste (MW) generation, incineration has been identified as one of the effective disposal techniques. In this paper, a brief introduction to MW disposal techniques and a detailed survey on various types of medical waste incinerators (MWI), its performance evaluation, operation and challenges associated with MWI are summarised. The method adopted for designing a double chamber incinerator is presented for the detailed understanding of the readers. CO, NOx, particulate matter, furans, dioxins, polychlorinated biphenyl, rare earth elements and heavy metals are identified as the major emissions from MWIs and various steps taken to reduce these emissions in MWIs are presented. Also, the guidelines related to design, selection of location, installation, operation, maintenance and emission control of MWIs are discussed in detail. Suggestions for the future scope of research on MWIs are also highlighted for the benefit of readers.

Keywords: medical waste; incinerators; medical waste management; guidelines; emissions.

DOI: 10.1504/IJGW.2022.122793

International Journal of Global Warming, 2022 Vol.27 No.1, pp.16 - 54

Received: 20 Feb 2021
Accepted: 25 Sep 2021
Published online: 11 May 2022 *

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