Biowaste sterilizer

Abstract

Biowaste sterilizers are described. In one implementation an exemplary system has waste transport vessels that can be intermittently heated and pressurized, for example, with steam, and are interconnected to provide multiple sterilization pathways for waste as the waste is transported. Selected sterilization pathways may depend on attributes of the waste. Sterilization factors, such as mechanical shredding, application of steam, application of pressure, maintenance of temperature, separation of liquid, etc., are integrated into the waste transport features of the system, which can be made compact to save space while processing relatively large bulk amounts of materials, such as medical wastes. The system maintains safe isolation of bio-hazardous components in the waste from the external environment. A system controller provides parameters management, smart sterilization cycle control, quality assurance, safety management, diagnostics, and reporting over a network.

1 . A biowaste sterilizer, comprising:
 transport vessels, each transport vessel including an independent means of transporting waste at a controllable speed and each transport vessel including independent means of sterilizing a component of the waste;   transport connections between at least some of the transport vessels to provide multiple programmable sterilization pathways for waste as the waste is transported, each programmable sterilization pathway depending on an attribute of a component of the waste;   a controller to manage a sterilization of the waste based on attributes of each component of the waste;
 a waste specifier in the controller to specify a waste and at least one corresponding attribute of the waste; 
 a transport manager in the controller to program a sterilization pathway for each specified attribute of the waste; 
 a temperature controller in the controller to determine an independent sterilization temperature for each transport vessel based on each specified attribute of the waste and a programmed sterilization pathway; and 
 a pressure controller in the controller to determine at least one sterilization pressure based on each specified attribute of the waste and a programmed sterilization pathway. 
   
     
     
         2 . The biowaste sterilizer of  claim 1 , further comprising a exposure time controller in the controller to determine an exposure time for each transport vessel based on each specified attribute of the waste and a programmed sterilization pathway. 
     
     
         3 . The biowaste sterilizer of  claim 1 , further comprising a shredding manager in the controller to determine a particle size for each programmed sterilization pathway. 
     
     
         4 . The biowaste sterilizer of  claim 1 , further comprising a valve controller in the controller to manage an application of steam for each transport vessel based on each specified attribute of the waste and a programmed sterilization pathway. 
     
     
         5 . A system, comprising:
 transport vessels, each transport vessel including an independent means of transporting waste at a controllable speed and each transport vessel including independent means of sterilizing a component of the waste;   transport connections between at least some of the transport vessels to provide multiple programmable sterilization pathways for waste as the waste is transported, each programmable sterilization pathway depending on an attribute of a component of the waste;   a controller to manage a sterilization of the waste based on attributes of each component of the waste;
 a waste specifier in the controller to specify a waste and at least one corresponding attribute of the waste; 
 a transport manager in the controller to program a sterilization pathway for each specified attribute of the waste; 
 a temperature controller in the controller to determine an independent sterilization temperature for each transport vessel based on each specified attribute of the waste and a programmed sterilization pathway; and 
 a pressure controller in the controller to determine at least one sterilization pressure based on each specified attribute of the waste and a programmed sterilization pathway. 
   
     
     
         6 . The system of  claim 5 , further comprising a exposure time controller in the controller to determine an exposure time for each transport vessel based on each specified attribute of the waste and a programmed sterilization pathway. 
     
     
         7 . The system of  claim 5 , further comprising a shredding manager in the controller to determine a particle size for each programmed sterilization pathway. 
     
     
         8 . The system of  claim 5 , further comprising a valve controller in the controller to manage an application of steam for each transport vessel based on each specified attribute of the waste and a programmed sterilization pathway.