Fusibility of medical glass in hospital waste incineration: Effect of glass components

Medical glass, which is the principal incombustible component in hospital wastes, has a bad influence on combustion. In a rotary kiln incinerator, medical glass melts and turns into slag, possibly adhering to the inner wall. Prediction of the melting characteristics of medical glass hence is important for preventing slagging. The effect of various glass components on fusibility has been investigated experimentally; that of Na2O is the most marked. The softening temperature and flow temperature decrease 19.8 °C and 34.0 °C, respectively, with a rise of Na2O content in the Basic Content (standard composition of medical glass) of 1%. Correlations between fusion temperatures and glass components have been investigated; predictive functions of four characteristic melting temperatures have been obtained by simplifying the multi-variant series and were verified by testing glass samples. Relative errors of fusion temperatures (computed vs. measured) are mostly less than 5%.