Critical comparison between the pulsed electric field and thermal decontamination methods of hospital waste water

  • chair:

    Gusbeth, C. / Frey, W. / Schwartz, T. / Rieder, A. (2009)
  • place: Acta Physica Polonica A  (2009), 115, 1092-1094

  • Date: 2009

  • Gusbeth, C. / Frey, W. / Schwartz, T. / Rieder, A. (2009): „Critical comparison between the pulsed electric field and thermal decontamination methods of hospital waste water“. In: Acta Physica Polonica A  (2009), 115, 1092-1094 

Abstract

Filtered wastewater samples were inoculated with Enterococcus faecium and exposed to di®erent pulsed electric ¯eld (PEF) treatment energies at 40, 50 and 60±C. A lethal effect of heat treatment on E. faecium can be observed for T > 56±C and a heating duration of 4 min. A treatment with 60±C, 4 min, provokes a bacterial reduction of 4 log. A combined treatment of inoculated wastewater samples with pulsed electric ¯eld and heat (40, 50 and 60±C) reduced the bacterial contamination considerably. At a suspension temperature of 60±C pulsed electric ¯eld inactivation resulted in a complete bacterial decontamination (8 log reduction rate).

Moreover, it was demonstrated that naturally occurring nuclease activities were not changed by the pulsed electric ¯eld treatment. In contrast to a thermal treatment with temperature over 72±C, for 4 min., the nuclease activity was reduced up to 90%. In this case, inactivation is only 4 log. The same inactivation rate can be obtained by a combination of heat treatment (60±C) and pulsed electric ¯eld treatment (30 J/ml).

 

 

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