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Investigation into the Pyrolysis of Medical Waste in a Fixed-Bed Reactor

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Journal of Engineering Physics and Thermophysics Aims and scope

An experimental investigation has been conducted into the pyrolysis of typical medical waste components in a fixed-bed reactor with a view to obtaining detailed information on the process characteristics. It is shown that the main loss of the mass of the mixture of chlorine-containing medical wastes occurs in two stages. The first stage which finishes at a temperature of about 400°C is characterized by the discharge of pyrolysis water and gas which contains hydrogen chlorine. At the second stage, at a temperature from 400 to 500°C, there is a discharge of the main part of volatile substances that are largely made up of pyrolytic oil. An environmentally safe and cost-effective method of solving the problem of medical waste disposal based on its two-stage pyrolysis has been proposed. The method includes the removal of chlorine-containing components from medical waste before the thermal degradation of their organic part, which, in practice, excludes the possibility of formation of highly toxic chlorine-containing substances.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Joint Institute for High Temperatures of the Russian Academy of Sciences, 13 Izhorskaya Str., Bld. 2, Moscow, 125412, Russia

    V. V. Khaskhachikh

  2. G. M. Krzhizhanovsky Power Engineering Institute, 19 Lenin Ave., Moscow, 119071, Russia

    V. F. Kornil’eva

  3. Institute of Mechanics of the M. V. Lomonosov Moscow State University, 1 Michurinsky Ave., Moscow, 119192, Russia

    G. Ya. Gerasimov

Authors
  1. V. V. Khaskhachikh
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  2. V. F. Kornil’eva
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  3. G. Ya. Gerasimov
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Correspondence to V. V. Khaskhachikh.

Additional information

Translated from Inzhenerno-Fizicheskii Zhurnal, Vol. 94, No. 3, pp. 599–605, May–June, 2021.

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Khaskhachikh, V.V., Kornil’eva, V.F. & Gerasimov, G.Y. Investigation into the Pyrolysis of Medical Waste in a Fixed-Bed Reactor. J Eng Phys Thermophy 94, 580–586 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10891-021-02331-8

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10891-021-02331-8

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