MadSci Network: General Biology |
First of all it is CALORIC or CALORIE But back to the question... I am not ENTIRELY sure why you need this information for waste disposal, unless you are trying to account for the amount of heat incinerating the waste would produce? I cannot tell you what the heat content of these substances is, but I can direct you to a few resources or tests that could help you get close to the answer. First blood is largely water, which you may know is a crummy material to try to incinerate. The rest is a little sugar and carbohydrates, and the rest is protein. Another substance of like composition is eggs. The two ways I would check the heat content of this stuff, is first see if you can find the heat/calorie content of "Chicken Egg Albumin" in a reference somewhere - ask your (obviously very brave and adventourous) science teacher for guidance. Or, crack an egg in a non- corrosive, heat resistant container that will fit in a calorimeter, let it dehydrate (away from animals and squeamish humans), and then ignite it in a calorimeter. This should give you a fair estimate to your blood question. A better direction to go, if you are looking to incinerate animal and medical waste is to go on a hunt for the IGNITION temperatures of the substances of interest, as the added heat when they burn will not make much difference in a proper incinerator. Instead what you need to know is how hot does your incinerator need to be to properly dispose of you waste of interest. Hope This Helps Good Luck, Greta
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