Architect Co-Founds Company That Will Turn Medical Waste into Energy

5/12/2006 By Larry Flynn

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	Derek Parker of Anshen+Allen Architects proposes a design for Medergy, a company he recently founded, which offers new treatment for medical waste.
	A process called “steam reformation” will transform medical waste into inert byproducts, producing energy. Images: © Courtesy Aanshen+Allen Architects

No matter their size or purpose, health-care facilities have two things in common: They generate lots of waste and consume huge amounts of energy. Disposing of contaminated medical waste is an expensive and growing problem for hospitals and research labs, with incineration now banned and landfilling options limited to facilities in Utah or Texas. But a process under development by a company co-founded by an architect may offer a solution.

In the next 18 months, Medergy Corporation of San Francisco expects to embark on projects at two hospitals, one in Florida and one in California, to demonstrate how an existing but little-used process called “steam reformation” can detoxify contaminated and hazardous medical waste on-site. Medergy was founded by Derek Parker, FAIA, director of Anshen+Allen Architects of San Francisco, with chemical engineer and entrepreneur Terry Galloway.

Medergy’s demonstration projects would feed up to 4 tons of medical waste a day into rotary kilns, which are steam-heated at 1,900 degrees Fahrenheit. The high temperature alters the chemical composition of the waste, reducing its weight by 80 percent and rendering it inert. The process produces a hydrogen-rich gas, known as syngas, that can power fuel cells, which in turn could provide electricity for the medical facilities. Carbon dioxide formed during the process could be used to produce products such as carborundum for sandpaper and abrasives or aggregate for concrete and asphalt.

According to Parker, 4 tons of waste a day—the equivalent of that produced by a 250-bed hospital—could be converted into 250 kilowatts of power without producing any greenhouse gas emissions. The projected rate of return on investment in the technology is four years, he says. Although his new company is not directly related to architecture, “It has everything to do with design and health,” he says. “Architects are trained as problem-solvers, and this is simply an opportunity to use design to fix a growing problem for our clients.”

A feasibility study in 2003 funded by the California Energy Commission (CEC) and the San Francisco Public Utility Commission evaluated how the treatment process might work in three San Francisco hospitals; the report summarizing the results is currently under review by CEC. The first instance of a fuel cell powered by syngas is planned for installation in Bear Creek, Tennessee, during the next six months.

The footprint of the treatment device is approximately 75 feet by 300 feet in size, and it can be located with other mechanical equipment, Parker says. As the technology advances, he adds, the size of the equipment will likely be reduced to about the size of a household refrigerator.