Engineering and physical bases and environmental safety of plasmo-chemical disposal of hazardous medical waste

The unrestrained growth in the amount and rate of production of hazardous medical waste in the context of the Russian-Ukrainian war critically exacerbates the environmental situation in Ukraine. At the same time, existing traditional methods and technological means are not able to ensure their complete environmentally safe processing and disposal. The paper considers an alternative high-temperature technology for plasma-chemical pyrolysis of medical waste at 1,100−1,250°C, which is implemented in the form of a Plazmon-3 mobile plasma pyrolysis unit, designed and built based on the PUN-1 domestic universal plasma generator. The paper also describes the design, principle of operation, engineering and physical principles underlying the creation of the Plazmon-3, designed to dispose of any type and category of medical waste by destroying it under the action of a high-temperature plasma torch generated by the PUN-1 DC plasma generator, as well as its main operational characteristics. Air, nitrogen, argon, helium, and other gases can be used as plasma-forming gases for the installation. The paper describes the advantages of using high-temperature plasma-chemical pyrolysis for the disposal of hazardous medical and other wastes, which make this technology, in terms of its environmental safety, beyond competition and, unlike its smoke-emitting counterparts, capable of destroying medical waste directly at the point of its generation without forming environmentally hazardous residues and emissions.