Problem Background:

Medical waste comes in various forms and can be very harmful to the environment and humanity, if not disposed properly. Consequently, specific procedures must be put in place and followed by legislation to ensure that these wastes are safely and effortlessly destroyed. Optimum Waste, later taken over by Averda Waste Management Solutions, identified a need in the Southern Cape (George) to destroy local medical waste and not necessarily have to transport it to the larger metropolises, such as Cape Town and Johannesburg. In order to safely control and monitor this burning disposal process, a good and reliable control system was needed that must be adaptable to future expansions.

Our Solution to the Problem:

HmT designed, implemented and commissioned a control system that included a SCADA software package, 7” HMI, modular PLC, multiple VFDs and various other sensing technologies.

Control features included the following:

• hydraulic pack for the loading-zone;
• 2-stage diesel burners on the Kiln;
• proportional waterflow on quench towers;
• baghouse differential pressure and diverting;
• temperature monitoring on cyclone, scrubber tower and chimney;
• PID control on pneumatics;
• water levels and multi-pump changeover;
• chemical dosing;
• real-time and historical alarms;
• logging and trending and,
• user authentication.

With all the features mentioned above, this client now has the peace of mind that they get the necessary local support from Cape Town to ensure their waste treatment plant is operational 24/7/365. They also have now control anywhere in the world, and in the event of quick fault finding, remote support is available.