University of Pittsburgh BSL-3 Laboratory awards Practical Applications, Inc. Contract
for Biological Wastewater Steam Kill System
For immediate release: Wednesday, January 19, 2005.
Boston, MA—Practical Applications, Inc. (PAI) has won the bid to design and construct the BSL-3 Steam Kill System for the Regional Biocontainment Laboratory at the University of Pittsburgh.
The system will be used to kill biological pathogens found in laboratory wastewater generated by the university as it studies emerging infectious diseases.
The Pittsburgh facility is one of nine biocontainment laboratories under construction across the country to study diseases and viruses that theoretically could be used as weapons by terrorists. The National Institutes of Health (NIH) in conjunction with the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID)
awarded the University of Pittsburgh a portion of a $373 million grant to construct the facility. The university is required to match the amount of the grant.
Other universities constructing similar facilities include Boston University and the University of Texas Medical Branch at Galveston, which will both be National Biocontainment Laboratories, classified as BSL-4, studying viruses such as Ebola and Anthrax.
The project is led by Joshua Jondro, Project Engineer / Chemical Engineer. PAI will complete the system’s design and electrical equipment fabrication at its new facility located in the EDIC Marine Industrial Park, Boston, MA. All tank fabrication and testing will be completed at PAI’s South Boston Fabrication Facility.
The system collects all wastewater generated by the BSL-3 laboratories in a special sealed 6,500 gallon tank. As demand requires, the wastewater is transferred to one of three 1,500 gallon “Steam Kill” tanks. In the Steam Kill tank, live steam is injected and mixed with the wastewater at temperatures above 250/F and at maximum pressure of 30psi. Once the biological material has been destroyed, the wastewater is cooled via a plate and frame heat exchanger, and discharged. All critical systems are automated and monitored via a state of the art SCADA system.
“We won the project due to our long history with similar sized systems and our unique design, which minimizes space and equipment costs”, said Gary Broberg, PAI President and CEO.
Boston-based Practical Applications, Inc. specializes in the design, installation, and maintenance of industrial process water and wastewater systems. The company provides services and support to a wide variety of industries in the United States and abroad. Its turn-key, skid-mounted treatment systems and system components are available worldwide.