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Les Nettoyeurs a Vapeur

Heat Exchanger for Remote Medical Sterilization

 

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Membership level
2010-2011 Team
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Team Name
Les Nettoyeurs a Vapeur
Project Title
Heat Exchanger for Remote Medical Sterilization
Design Challenge
The scope of the project is to design a coupling device that will harness the steam generated by an existing solar-thermal energy technology, the "Capteur Soleil”, to power an autoclave for medical sterilization. The solution will address issues with sterilization in off-grid locations where unreliable access to electricity and limited resources lead to inadequate sterilization practices.
Design Summary
The sterilization of medical equipment in remote locations remains an area for development. The issue is particularly relevant in developing countries where sufficient standards of sterilization fail to be maintained due to a number of interfering factors. Areas without a reliable electricity supply are unable to perform the standard practices of modern medical facilities. Current alternative solutions remain undesirable failing to resolve the issues of no electricity, limited resources and poor transport links, instead creating new problems. Chemical sterilization is unfeasible due to issues with transportation of the chemicals and education of correct preparation, with chemical solutions often made up incorrectly. The use of disposable equipment, whilst theoretically suitable, is open to misapplication with the re-use of the equipment to save expense. The capteur soleil has already been deployed to Haiti in June 2009 where it was used to aid food preparation and has been proven to operate effectively in off-grid locations. We hope through successful development of the coupling device to optimize the technology enabling the capteur to provide power for medical sterilization. To achieve this, a conductive hot plate is in development utilizing the steam generated by the capteur soleil, which will allow any non-electric autoclave to be powered for the sterilization of medical equipment. The final design will be subjected to a biological test and analyzed against the criteria set out by the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) to ensure the system attains the required levels of sterilization.
Sponsors
Shell
Award(s)
2010 Rice Engineering Elevator Pitch Competition - Energy and Sustainability Track Winner
Department(s)
  • Mechanical Engineering
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Faculty Advisor 1 - Name
Doug Schuler
 

Team Members

Contact us

Oshman Engineering Design Kitchen
Rice University

6100 Main Street MS 390 | Houston, Texas | 77005

Phone: 713.348.OEDK

Email: oedk@rice.edu

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