Acquisition, treatment, and final disposal of health-care waste is a vital public concern. Improper disposal has heightened this concern as it could lead to a widened risk of transmission of agents associated with blood-borne diseases. One of the ways to address these concerns is waste disposal and waste-to-energy plant. This facility is envisioned not only to manage hazardous wastes from hospitals with the least emissions of toxic substances and greenhouse gases but also to generate electricity. This study investigated the feasibility of developing waste disposal and waste-to-energy plant which involved: the selection of hospital type and location, waste composition, energy conversion, and power plant technology, and financial viability of the plant. The sampling design process identified the hospitals to be surveyed. The criteria include proximity of the hospitals, number of beds, and type of hospitals. A survey of waste generation across the specialty hospitals was then conducted and determined the type of waste, the quantity of the wastes produced, the percentage by weight, bulk density, and composition of the wastes. A selection was done to determine the energy conversion technology. The electric power plant technology was then selected knowing the characterization of the synthetic gas. The average waste generation was found to be 579 kg waste per day which has 29,062 kJ/kg calorific value. The study shows that electricity could be generated from this waste by utilizing a Pyrolyzer - Rankine Cycle power plant and is viable with a payback period of 5 years, and a Benefit-to-Cost ratio of 4. A business plan and enabling environment for the establishment of the Pyrolyzer – Rankine Cycle power plant is recommended to be studied.
One of the most common orthopedic injuries is fracture found on the metacarpal bones of the hand. It is composed of 14-28 % emergency room cases in hospitals. Despite its frequent occurrence, they are often neglected which may lead to major disability or deformity that limits movement. This is merely due to the high cost of treatment which includes the usage of an external metacarpal fixator. In this paper, an external metacarpal fixator clamp with additive manufacturing polymer material is evaluated based on scenarios of flexural and compressive load on the metacarpal bone with simulated fracture. The material is selected using Technique for Order Preference by Similarity to Ideal Solution (TOPSIS) multi-attribute decision making. Finite Element Analysis (FEA) is also done with increasing load per scenario. The result shows nylon as a suitable polymer additive manufacturing material for external metacarpal fixator. The equivalent stress on the fixator clamp and the deformation at a maximum load of 120 N is less than 1 Mpa and 0.5 mm, respectively. This comprises the suitability of 3D printed polymer material for an external metacarpal application. Future studies of comparison of FEA simulation and actual 3D printed part is recommended.
Chromium ions and other heavy metals discarded from major industries, if left unchecked, will make their way into waterways and may contaminate food crops, which can cause various chronic and acute health problems. As such, the Department of Science and Technology - Philippine Nuclear Research Institute (DOST-PNRI) developed radiation-grafted wastewater filters that selectively collect trivalent chromium ions from wastewater. To house these filters with the appropriate flow characteristics, column enclosures suitable for rapid prototyping via additive manufacturing, were designed and simulated. The column has two main components: the main chamber, which houses the filter; and an inner core, where the filter fabric is wound, and which evenly distributes the water flow along its length. Different core slit configurations were presented, giving emphasis on the flow uniformity, with the aim of maximizing the filter life.
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