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IPR Comes With New Hi-tech Medical Waste
Disposable Plan For Hospitals
Hospitals may soon be able to dispose off medical wastes in an eco-friendly
manner using a new technology. Gandhinagar based Institute of Plasma Research (IPR)
has developed a new non-burn technology - plasma pyrolysis process - which will
make it possible to dispose off medical wastes without using traditional methods
of burning or dumping the same.
"We have sent the relevant data obtained from the use of technology to the
central pollution control board (CPCB) for their approval. Once we get the
approval, we will be able to sell the equipment on our own," says Dr PN Bhagwati,
MD, Bhagwati Pyrotech Ltd. The company has secured the waste disposable
technology from IPR for commercialization.
The new process may be helpful to dispose off an estimated 1.75 lakh kg of
bio-toxic wastes across seven lakh hospitals in the country every day. The
process uses graphite based plasma torch to destroy the wastes, unlike use of
incinerators which produces hazardous gases.
What's more, the energy generated in the disposable process can be used to
generate electricity. "The energy generated in the process will be able to
generate more power, says P I John, a professor at IPR.
The institute claims that plants for disposable, each of which costs around Rs.
25 lakh, are being used at four different places, including Goa Medical College
(Goa), Andaman & Nicobar Islands, Dharamshala in Himachal Pradesh, and Gangtok
in Sikkim.
The government of India's department of science and technology will have another
20 such plants at various places across the country.
"The next plants will come up in Andhra Pradesh, UP, Haryana and Tripura," says
Neerav Jamnapara, the in-charge of technology commercialization and transfer
cell, IPR.
The current plant has a capacity to destroy 75 kg of waste per day. IPR now
wants to use the same technology to destroy 40 kg of wastes per hour. Besides,
it is also in the process of designing plants for the treatment of agro,
chemical and industrial wastes.
However, experts say that the idea of producing electricity seems difficult to
implement. "The plasma technology is in use for quite sometime now in several
countries. The idea of producing energy requires a standard amount of
bio-medical wastes. The technology should also be affordable," said Jagruti
Bhatia, business head, consulting division of Hosmac India Pvt. Ltd.
(Ref : The Economic Times dated February 12, 2007)
Fresenius To Expand
Dialyzer Production Capacity At St Wandel
Fresenius Medical Care is expanding the dialyzer production capacity
at the St. Wandel (Germany) production facility by 40 percent. A total
of €36 million will be invested
including associated investment in additional production capacity for
proprietary Helixone Fibers.
The new production line for FX-Class dialyzers is expected to start
operating in spring 2008 and will increase the annual capacity from 25
million to 35 million a Fresenius press release stated.
The expansion plan at Fresenius Medical Care's major European dialyzer
production facility in St. Wandel (Germany) follows recent significant
expansion projects at the Company's facilities in Ogden (Utah, US) and
Buzen (Japan). As a result of these two expansion projects, the total
annual capacity is expected to increase by about 11 million dialyzers
worldwide.
Dr. Ben Lipps, chief executive officer of Fresenius Medical Care,
commented: "The continued expansion of our global production network
is in response to the strong increase in global demand for Fresenius
Medical Care's single use dialyzers and other innovative products to
treat patient with chronic kidney disease. Furthermore, the investment
at the St. Wendel plant demonstrates our strong commitment to our home
country Germany and to our more than 1,500 employees, who have built
up tremendous proprietary expertise for cost effective production of
high quality, innovative and successful dialysis products."
In haemodialysis, the dialyzers acts as an artificial kidney,
providing the vital functions of the natural organ : Blood flows
through as many as 20,000 nearly harifine tubes (capillaries) in a
plastic housing. The Helixone capillaries are made from Polysulfone, a
special polymer with very good filtering capabilities and excellent
biocompatibility. Toxins as well as excess water are filtered from the
blood through pores in the capillaries and removed with dialysis fluid
(dialysate).
(Ref : Chronicle Pharmabiz dated January 25, 2007) |
