Design and modeling of an exhaust gas waste heat autoclave

In order to provide proper sterilization and cleaning of medical equipment for field hospitals and third-world countries while also decreasing the reliance on electricity of traditional sterilization methods, a new steam sterilizer/autoclave system was designed and modeled. This system uses waste engine heat from the exhaust system of a diesel generator set to boil water and produce the pressurized steam conditions necessary for effective medical sterilization. Currently, the design utilizes a 0.59 meter, concentric tube cross-flow heat exchanger and high-temperature heat transfer fluid to draw thermal energy from the exhaust pipe and deposit it into the autoclave pressure vessel to create steam. The system is designed to run a 35-minute sterilization cycle, requiring 15 minutes to produce saturated steam at 2 atmospheres within a 50- liter autoclave, and 20 minutes to sterilize medical instruments in the steam environment. Furthermore, the system uses basic, off-the-shelf fluid transfer materials to provide a robust, effective system that can be easily maintained in the field without need for specialized parts or technicians.

Department dc:contributor.department

Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Dept. of Mechanical Engineering.

Grantor dc:publisher

Massachusetts Institute of Technology

Year dc:date.issued

2007

Author dc:creator

• Jiricek, Joshua A

Advisor dc:contributor.advisor

• Todd Thorsen.

• Mechanical Engineering.

Statement dc:rights

• M.I.T. theses are protected by copyright. They may be viewed from this source for any purpose, but reproduction or distribution in any format is prohibited without written permission. See provided URL for inquiries about permission.

Licence dc:rights.uri

• http://dspace.mit.edu/handle/1721.1/7582

Language dc:language.iso

eng

Handle dc:identifier.uri

http://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/40444

OAI identifier oai:identifier

oai:dspace.mit.edu:1721.1/40444