Pyrolysis and oxidation kinetics of medical wastes

On account of the infectious properties of medical wastes, most are treated carefully by incineration to ensure proper destruction of pathogens. However, the behaviors of medical wastes are not well understood during the process of incineration. Thus, the aim of this work is to investigate pyrolysis and oxidation kinetics of the medical wastes, including cottons, gauzes, saline bottles, stomach medicines with the thermal gravimetric analysis (TGA) method. Experimentally, the degradation of cottons and saline bottles in pyrolysis and oxidation occurred at about 530 K and 510 K as well as 630 K and 530 K, respectively. Oxygen affects the degradation reaction of cottons and saline bottles at lower temperatures. The rate equations of the first stage of thermal treatment in different oxygen contents also showed that oxygen would decrease the activation energies of decomposition of cottons, gauzes and saline bottles. But the presence of oxygen did not influence the decomposition of stomach medicines at temperatures below 550 K, while only pyrolysis took place.