The Incinerator Guidebook: A Practical Guide for Selecting ... - SSWM

performance guidelines are needed to assist countries, donors, and programs to procure acceptable,
improved treatment methods for infectious waste from immunization and other health programs.
Practical challenges
A four-country survey and assessment of small-scale incinerators for health care waste conducted
by Stuart Batterman in 2004 confirmed widespread deficiencies in the design, construction,
placement, operation, and management of the units. 2 Such deficiencies can result in poor
performance of the incinerator (e.g., low temperatures, incomplete waste destruction, inappropriate
ash disposal, high smoke emissions, or fugitive emissions). Still, user acceptance of small-scale
incinerators appears generally high, and the use of incinerators is preferred over waste disposal in
unsecured pits or landfills, or uncontrolled burning of waste in drums or pits. The following were
recommendations from Batterman’s survey:
Best practices for small-scale incineration 2
� Effective waste reduction and waste segregation.
� Installation of an engineered design, ensuring that combustion conditions are appropriate
(residence time and temperatures that minimize incomplete combustion).
� Construction adherence to detailed dimensional plans to avoid common flaws that cause
incomplete destruction of waste, higher emissions, and premature failures of the
incinerator.
� Training of incinerator operators on appropriate start-up and cool-down procedures,
maintenance of optimal operating temperatures, visible emission monitoring, appropriate
loading/charging rates, proper ash disposal, recordkeeping to track quantities of waste
destroyed and auxiliary fuel used, and occupational safety.
� Periodic maintenance to replace or repair defective components (e.g., inspection and
spare parts inventory).
� Placement of incinerators away from populated areas or where food is grown.
� Enhanced training and management (possibly promoted by certification and inspection
programs for operators); the availability of an operating and maintenance manual,
management oversight, and maintenance programs.
3