DESIGN NAME: SteriPak
PRIMARY FUNCTION: Low Cost Steriliser Kit
INSPIRATION: SteriPak was inspired by a brief by IMC Worldwide to create an incentive to decommission and repurpose unsafe end of life energy storage systems, gas bottles, in sub Saharan Africa. Being used far beyond their design life, frequency of accidents from fire and explosion has become alarmingly high. However, these storage systems represent a significant investment for their users so the onus was on repurposing them into another product while increasing their effective value to the community.
UNIQUE PROPERTIES / PROJECT DESCRIPTION: SteriPak is a kit that converts end of life gas cylinders into autoclaves for sterilising medical and baby equipment. A SteriPak autoclave only requires water and a heat source to achieve total sterilisation. Each kit costs less than 10USD. Many clinics in sub-Saharan Africa are forced to reuse surgical equipment like scalpels and forceps due to their expense. SteriPak ensures safe, consistent sterilisation of this equipment to lower infant mortality rates and increase overall quality of life.
OPERATION / FLOW / INTERACTION: SteriPak is designed to be easy to operate; place items to be sterilised onto the base plate, pour in 2 litres of water, tighten the lid using the six clamps and place on a heat source. When thick steam comes out of the top valve close it, leave on heat for fifteen minutes, remove heat and open the top valve. Stand for 5 minutes and remove the lid, the items are sterilised.
PROJECT DURATION AND LOCATION: The project started in 2015 in Dublin and is still in development at present. It was exhibited in the Global Irish Design Challenge in Dublin Castle in 2016 and is currently being exhibited in the Kilkenny Design Centre.
FITS BEST INTO CATEGORY: Social Design
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PRODUCTION / REALIZATION TECHNOLOGY: To investigate if a conversion could be carried out with simple tools, a prototype was built and tested to inform and refine the development of the production version. The mass produced kit is made from Polycarbonate, Steel and Silicone. The SteriPak valve directly replaces the gas bottle fill valve. It incorporates pressure regulation, safety and air purging features. The spring is calibrated to maintain the 15 PSI of steam pressure to achieve 121C for 15 minutes necessary to sterilise equipment.
SPECIFICATIONS / TECHNICAL PROPERTIES: Kit: 25mm thick x 300mm diameter
Converted Autoclave: 582mm height x 300mm diameter
TAGS: Social Design, Humanitarian, 3R, Upcycle, Medical
RESEARCH ABSTRACT: Research was initially carried out on usage cases for the gas bottles themselves in the affected areas in order to inform strategy to incite motivation for change. Technical data and modal dispersion of different bottle systems used in the region was gleaned in order to design a conversion kit that catered to the 90th percentile of users. This was combined with empirical testing and prototyping to develop a system and user experience that would be effective in real world scenarios.
CHALLENGE: The creative challenge of this project was motivating end users to adopt the gas bottle exchange program by providing tangible benefits to the community as a whole. SteriPak empowers the community as the conversion itself provides work for locals that does not rely on specialised equipment. Old gas cylinders are exchanged for completed SteriPaks at these local workshops. The conversion re-uses 99 percent of the material from the gas cylinder to minimise waste.
ADDED DATE: 2017-02-22 13:19:56
TEAM MEMBERS (1) :
IMAGE CREDITS: Renders: (Renderer) Moses Rowen, SteriPak, 2016
Photos: (Photographer) Karl Rabbitt, SteriPak, 2016
Video: (Editor) Moses Rowen, SteriPak, 2016
Music Credits - Track: 18
Artist: Moby
Used for this project with permission by Moby Gratis non-commercial license agreement
Video Credits - Australian Red Cross
Selase Kove-Seyram
I am Living Trust
All clips used released under Creative Commons Attribution Non-Commercial License
PATENTS/COPYRIGHTS: Copyright: Moses Rowen 2015
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