Hai van pass scooter

Vietnam’s medical waste autoclave system

Effectively replacing traditional technology

According to Tong Viet Dung, Deputy Director of the Environmental Equipment and Material Joint Stock Company (Urenco 13), the company handles about five tonnes of medical waste per day. Previously, it used traditional combustion technology that generates hazardous emissions.

Since 2016, the unit has received US-made medical waste autoclave technology from an international donor organization, which uses saturated steam at high temperatures to eliminate bacteria and harmful pathogens.

However, the cost of foreign technology, its maintenance and replacement parts was too high for many users. Two years ago, Urenco 13 met engineer Nguyen Van Binh and cooperated with NARIME on the research, design, manufacture and application of medical waste treatment using wet heat, with capacity of 4,000 to 4,500 kg of waste a day. Urenco 13 mastered the technology of the American system and adapted it to fit Vietnam’s environmental conditions, Dung emphasized.

Equivalent quality to US products

The system is made up of a 9,000-liter autoclave, a 480-liter boiler and a system control cabinet. Medical waste is first transferred to sterilization in the autoclave, where high temperature saturated steam helps eliminate all germs, bacteria, pathogens in the waste. This process does not cause odors and does not generate dioxins and furans, unlike conventional burning methods.

The whole process is operated automatically. Once the sterilization ends, the waste is cooled and crushed to a size of about 2-3 cm. The finished product after treatment is sterile waste, not harmful to the environment. When buried, the product does not take up much space and does not affect the soil and water environment, Binh emphasized.

After being installed and tested at Urenco 13 (in Hanoi’s Nam Tu Liem District) since November 2020, the results show that the new system has been operating stably. Microbiological tests of the waste following its treatment conform to the requirements of the National Institute of Hygiene and Epidemiology (NIHE).

The treatment time is reduced and productivity increases about 15-20 percent compared to world-leading medical waste autoclave equipment, which costs about four times more than the system manufactured by a domestic unit, Binh added.

Dung also affirmed that the project’s products have the same quality level as GK-MOSS products imported from the US, saying the company as well as NARIME hopes that following additional trials, the technology can be replicated nationwide.

The project will be replicated by member units of URENCO, hospitals in Hanoi and some northern provinces and subsequently in hospitals in the southern and central provinces, Dung said.

Quynh Nga

A cultural festival celebrating Hung Kings, known as the country’s founders, will begin on Sunday (April 18) in HCM City and Thu Duc City. Photo suoitien.com

The event opened with a series of traditional games and sports, and cooking competitions at the Hung Kings memorial area located in the Park of Culture and National History in Thu Duc City.

The main ceremony commemorating the anniversary of the kings’ death will be organised on the 10th day of the third month of the lunar calendar, which falls on Wednesday this year.

It will include incense-offering rituals dedicated to the Hung Kings, the National Father Lac Long Quan and National Mother Au Co, hosted by officials from the People’s Party Committee, People’s Committee and Motherland Front Committee.

A special exhibition of pictures and ancient objects featuring the country’s history and culture in different periods is being held.

Folk music and martial arts performances, staged by artists of leading traditional art troupes in the region, will be organised during the ceremony.

Vietnamese songs and instrumental music pieces will be performed. Patriotism, peace, love, youth and spring will be the shows’ themes.

In HCM City, a youth camp called Tự Hào Nòi Giống Tiên Rồng (Proudly Our Legends) with university students will open at 8am on Thursday at the Tao Dan Cultural Park in District 3.

As per tradition, Suoi Tien and Dam Sen parks in districts 9 and 11 will hold events for visitors to pay tribute to the Hung Kings.

The HCM City Book Fair will also open on Nguyen Van Binh Street on Tuesday and Wednesday. The fair will display several thousands of book titles from four local major publishers and book distributors, including the HCM City Book Distribution Corporation and Phuong Nam Books.

Many books will feature topics on Vietnamese history and culture.

“I always visit Tao Dan Park on Hung Kings Memorial Festival every year to offer flowers and incense to commemorate the kings. I wish good health for my family members and prosperity for the whole country,” said Ly Van Chung, a resident of HCM City.

As per tradition, Suoi Tien and Dam Sen parks in districts 9 and 11 will hold events for visitors to pay tribute to the Hung Kings. Photo suoitien.com

According to Vietnamese legend, Lac Long Quan, the son of Kinh Duong Vuong, married Au Co, the daughter of King De Lai. Au Co then gave birth to a sack containing 100 eggs from which 100 children were born.

The couple then decided to separate in order to populate the land. Half of the children followed their mother to the highlands, while the rest went with their father to the sea.

The first child went with his mother Au Co to Phong Chau, now Phu Tho Province. He then became King Hung I and founded Van Lang, the first recorded state in the history of Vietnam.

Ruling the country for 18 generations, the Hung Kings taught the people how to grow wet rice. They chose Nghia Linh Mountain, the highest in the region, to perform rituals devoted to rice and sun deities to pray for lush crops.

In Phu Tho, the annual Hung Kings Memorial Festival or Hung KingsTemple Festival, hosted by the province’s government, is organised from the 6th to 10th day of the third month of the lunar year.

The event consists of various ceremonies and entertaining activities for tourists and pilgrims nationwide.

VNS

Deteriorated wastewater treatment system cause pollution in Nghe An Province

Local people have complained their lives have been badly affected since the Dien Hong Commune Industrial Cluster discharged wastewater into the environment. Even though there are three wastewater sedimentation lakes, they seem to be abandoned. The wastewater is then discharged into the irrigation canal for the fields.

The industrial cluster has a lot of scrap collectors and a large amount of rubbish. The locals said they also had to suffer the smoke coming from iron and steel processing workshops.

Nguyen Hong Trung, chairman of Dien Hong Commune People’s Committee, said, “There are 41 facilities operating there. They mostly collect steel scrap and recycle plastic. We have reported the situation to higher authorities many times but the problem hasn’t been dealt with.”

Dien Hong Commune Industrial Cluster was approved by Nghe An People’s Committee in 2003. It covers 10ha with 11 firms and 30 household businesses. The wastewater treatment system has deteriorated and has been nearly abandoned.

The Department of Economy and Infrastructure in Dien Chau said the pollution was caused by the deteriorated wastewater treatment system in the cluster. When the cluster was opened, its infrastructure lacked synchronous investments. That’s why Dien Chau District People’s Committee are having plans to rebuild the clusters’ infrastructure.

“We’ll upgrade and rebuild all sewers and wastewater sedimentation tanks this year,” said Truong Van Duc, head of Dien Chau District Department of Natural Resources and Environment.