Development of gas boy medical incinerator as a substitute for placenta pits in hospitals in Ghana

A high temperature medical incinerator of 0.4cu m capacity was designed and built with specially manufactured refractory bricks and high temperature bauxite mortars with local gas burners rated at 158Kilojoules(150 B.T.U.) High pressure regulators were fitted onto the 52kg gas cylinders to enable the delivery of high gas pressure to the burners for quick combustion. The stench that emanates from the burial of placentas, limbs etc especially after rainfall, are unbearable and awful within most hospital environments. A solution has been found in the engineering of all-in-one medical gas boy incinerator with quick rise in temperature and even distribution of heat, with drying and firing cycles and can be recharged at elevated temperatures. Steady states of heat transmission through the multi-layer wall of the incinerator was calculated which shows low escape of heat through the walls thereby enhancing maximum heat retention which is available in reducing the medical wastes into their mineral constituents which are essentially stench free ashes. Journal of Science and Technology Vol. 25(2) 2005: 137-142