HMIWI SOFTWARE MANUAL

      New EPA regulations governing hospital/medical/infectious waste incinerators (HMIWIs) include not only emission standards, but also monitoring and reporting requirements. The new regulations specify which parameters must be monitored and the frequency at which they must be measured (see Table 1). During an initial performance test, each facility will establish the appropriate maximum and minimum operating parameters. These parameters will be used to demonstrate compliance after the initial performance test has been completed. The HMIWI must not operate outside any of the applicable operating parameters, and measured as 3-hour rolling averages (calculated each hour as the average of the previous 3 operating hours), at any time except during startup, shutdown, malfunction, or performance tests. (See 40 CFR part 60 subpart Ce section 60.37e(b)(3) and 40 CFR part 60 subpart Ec section 60.56c(d)(2)).

Since 3-hour rolling averages cannot be calculated from strip charts, INQUEST ENVIRONMENTAL has developed a data management system specifically for the new HMIWI regulations. This system has been designed to receive the input signals from the different devices (weigh scale, thermocouple, dp transmitters, etc.) and calculates 3-hour rolling averages from the instantaneous data. The system compares the 3-hour rolling averages with the permit conditions to demonstrate compliance. The system also generates information that is needed to comply with reporting requirements of the new regulations (Ce section 60.38e and Ec section 60.58c), such as the highest maximum and the lowest minimum for each operating parameter recorded for the calendar year being reported (Ec section 60.58c(d)(2)).

The base HMIWI data management system is capable of generating the data necessary to demonstrate compliance with the new regulations and generate the information required in the reports.

The data management system consists of three primary components: a datalogger, monitoring software, and the reporting database.The following links provide a brief descripition of each.

 

 





Inquest Environmental, Inc.



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