Karachi Update, Continued

Tom Payette and Mark Careaga visited the recently-completed new incinerator facility at the Aga Khan University Hospital in Karachi this month. PAYETTE completed conceptual design in 2010, and the facility opened this year.

Aga Kahn University Hospital site plan with utility corridor and new incinerator location.

Model featuring future buildings above the incinerator.

The purpose of the project was to replace an existing incinerator that could no longer handle the load of biomedical waste. The old incinerator was part of the original campus design and construction, completed in 1985, at which time it was on the western edge of the campus. Since then, the university acquired additional land, which land-locked the incinerator within what is now a developing precinct for ambulatory care.

The new facility is designed for two new state-of-the-art incinerators that meet international standards for air pollution mitigation. The hospital desperately needed this new facility, as Karachi does not have any municipal system able to handle medical waste. Operations at the new facility are fully automated. In one of the photos, you can see a bin of red bag waste ready to be loaded. Emissions are continuously monitored by both Aga Khan University and the manufacturer. Additionally, the system has two levels of air filtration.

This new facility is designed for cogeneration and Aga Khan University currently receives all of its domestic hot water from the waste heat of this facility. As part of the utility master plan, the second incinerator, when combined with the first, will generate steam for hospital operations and the chilled water plant.  The exhaust stacks for the incinerator are concealed within the concrete enclosure tower, which may eventually be integrated into a future building constructed on top of the facility.