Local incinerator the answer to garbage crisis

By Peter Orengo

A locally assembled incinerator designed and patented in Kenya could reduce household and institutional garbage disposal problems.

Created by Ivory Consultant Limited, it is designed to burn to ash pathological waste, infectious and contaminated "red bag" waste, surgical tools, plastic, glass waste and others.

Operations Director Anja J. M. Oussoren describes it as an efficient, safe, and eco-friendly solution for medical waste disposal.

Less costs

"Its advantages over conventional incinerators include less maintenance costs, low running costs with constant fuel requirement, less maintenance and can be installed in remotest areas," Oussoren says.

With combustion temperatures of 800-900oC, she says the incinerator reduces the discharge of toxic dioxins into the atmosphere due to thermal scrubbing.

It is also ideal for applications in institutions such as hospitals, health clinics, schools and industries.

The incinerators involve two combustion chambers.

Gases generated in the primary chamber flow to an after burner, which ensures more complete combustion and serves as the primary means of pollution control.

Fabricated units

They are modular and made up of prefabricated units. It is prefabricated and the modular design gives the advantage of shorter construction times.

The smallest Ivory incinerator can burn relatively small capacities of between two and three tons of solid waste a day.

On average, capital costs per ton of capacity are lower for modular units than for other municipal solid waste incineration options.

Continuous burning is fueled by the waste itself, hence no need to use electricity or fuel as is the case with most conventional incinerators.

The Ivory incinerator comes with additional features such as an energy recovery system that can be used for hot water and steam production. This system can be equipped with a water pump and a level controller attached to a storage tank.

In terms of technical specifications, the Ivory incinerator is 1.5 cubic metres in size and is comprised of the main waste chamber, the candle, the secondary combustion chamber, the chimney, and the ash pit.

It has a capacity to incinerate to ash 2-3 metric tones of waste a day.

In Kenya, the Ivory incinerator has been installed and is used in health institutions in Plateau (Eldoret), Namasoli (Butere), Kericho, and Matangwe in Bondo.

The Ivory incinerator has also been installed at St George’s Girls School, Nairobi.

It may be viewed in use at the Ministry of Health headquarters, Nairobi.