Talk:Autoclave

Not general enough!!
This article is essentially limited to autoclaves used for sterilisation in biology medicine and cooking. The statement that they are used to reach a temperature of 121 C may reflect standard equipment in these fields but the concept is much more general and in e.g. chemical and hydrothermal synthesis and in industrial process like paper pulp production other and sometimes much higher temeperatures (and pressures) are needed. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 150.227.15.253 (talk) 09:26, 5 August 2013 (UTC)

Untitled
The picture that says there are two large autoclaves is incorrect, unless the one in the middle is an autoclave. The one to the left is a Steris Reliance 400/500 model Glasswash.

The description of the physics of an autoclave are absolutely horrible, I can't exactly make them better however but regardless, they are horrible - examples: "The evaporation process itself requires all the heat" It requries the heat energy, so I changed that

The higher the temperature, the higher the pressure of the vapor. The heat generated under pressure is called latent heat and has more penetrative power to squeeze through bacteria and even their dormant, heat-resistant form — the endospores.

My English skills aren't good enough to make the physics described in that proper, but I know that's wrong in English

Other uses
I worked at a yarn plant that used a very large autoclave to set yarn. It was a huge horizontal cylinder approximately 15 feet long and 6 feet in diameter. Autoclaves are also used in the making of some liquers, I think. I'd add some info, but I don't know enough. PrometheusX303 13:10, 15 June 2006 (UTC)

All I know is that Autoclaves are used to like, sterilize jewellry sometimes.

I learned about Autoclaves because they are used in the production of aerogel. However, these autoclaves have nothing to do with medicine or sterilization, and use much higher pressures and temperatures than are used in the medical autoclaves. They are used instead to achieve supercritical fluid states. I think this article has to be rewritten in many places, because medical autoclaves used for sterilization are just a subset of autoclaves -- surely the most common type, but still just a type of autoclave, and those used in physics and engineering differ. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 74.68.99.173 (talk) 05:58, 25 April 2012 (UTC)

Latent Heat
What does heating a liquid above its normal melting point has to do with latent heat, which deals with phase change? Since this isn't using heat with phase changes (directly), it isn't latent heat. We are only heating something under a different pressure which gives us a different boiling point.

From AS/NZS 4815:2006 "Steam is the most widely used agent for sterilization. In steam sterilization, the combination of heat and moisture, maintained at a pre-set temperature-pressure-time relationship, coagulates cell protein, efficiently killing the microorganisms. Its economy and lack of toxicity gives steam an advantage over other sterilization methods. The latent heat available is responsible for the fast destructive power that steam-under-pressure offers." xbgs351 27/3/07

Piercing
Autoclaves are commonly used in piercing shops to sterilize needles and jewelry before use, well, at least the good shops do. Apparently you can also cook in them??? —The preceding unsigned comment was added by 142.55.24.22 (talk • contribs).


 * Go ahead and add it. Not the cooking part, though.  It's not an appropriate use.  Better use a pressure cooker instead.  Prome  theus  -X303-  05:07, 15 November 2006 (UTC)

Stovetop Autoclave
1. Have minimal temperature control. 2. Have only a very basic air removal system. 3. Can't measure or control sterilising time. 3. Do not have a large volume, even when compared to benchtop sterilisers. 4. Are unsuitable for wrapped/bagged instruments. 5. All surfaces are very hot, which presents a burn hazard. 5. Are not suitable for Australia/New Zealand and Europe. Commonly used in third world countries. It appears that they are still used in the USA, which imho is beyond belief. xbgs351 02/04/07

Is there a low-cost substitute?
Is there a low-cost substitute for an autoclave other than a pressure cooker? Kingturtle 14:03, 27 June 2007 (UTC)

Disposable instruments. xbgs351

Use with Composite Materials
Autoclaves are used in moulding composite materials such as carbon fibre. These are quite different to those described here, as they just use high pressure hot air within the pressure vessel to squeeze, activate and bond the materials. I think either this article needs to cover these types or needs to be renamed to Autoclave (medical) with a disambiguation page. --Ozhiker (talk) 16:38, 30 July 2008 (UTC)
 * Agreed. Not sure how the medical type gets precedence. LRT24 (talk) 01:35, 3 February 2012 (UTC)

liquid water
The section labeled "Introduction" talks (talked!) about how water can remain a liquid if heated under pressure. This may be true, but I don't see how this material benefits the article. Everything I've read about autoclaves say that they subject the parts to steam (water vapor) not liquid water. Revert me if I've gotten it completely wrong, but for now I'm nixing the whole section about liquid. Spiel496 (talk) 18:52, 10 April 2009 (UTC)

Superheated water accidents
"It is critical that autoclaves be opened only after checking both the pressure and temperature gauges. If the water inside the autoclave has managed to become a superheated liquid, as opposed to steam, the pressure gauge may not indicate the presence of steam even though the temperature may be significantly higher than the local boiling point for water. If the autoclave is opened in this state and the superheated water is disturbed, a steam explosion becomes possible. This phenomenon can easily produce fatal burns to people in the vicinity of the explosion. "

Firstly, all autoclaves that heat the water in the chamber (as opposed to injecting steam) have superheated water in them whenever they are above 100 deg C. & above ambient pressure. Secondly, the reference isn't even about this subject. The reference states "Never autoclave a sealed vessel containing liquids as this may result in an explosion of super-heated liquid and steam during the cycle or when the vessel is opened." Thirdly, I have a decade of experience on these things and have never experienced or even heard of superheated steam explosions. Fourthly, most medical autoclaves are far beyond 100 degrees Celsius when they complete the cycle as they finish up with a dry cycle. Fifthly, most medical autoclaves have some kind of mechanism to prevent people opening the door if the chamber is under pressure.119.12.79.139 (talk) 12:47, 8 September 2009 (UTC)

Just noticed that this page has reverted to autoclaves as opposed to medical autoclaves. There could be a risk of something along the lines of what was deleted occuring for fluids autoclaved in glassware, but the behaviour would need to be far better explained. Most lab autoclaves used for sterilisingliquids bleed of pressure very slowly.115.64.81.34 (talk) 23:15, 10 September 2009 (UTC)

Red links in the See also section are based on the following...
--222.64.221.37 (talk) 02:43, 15 February 2010 (UTC)
 * http://scholar.google.com/scholar?hl=en&q=allintitle%3A+%22microwave+autoclave%22&btnG=Search&as_sdt=2000&as_ylo=&as_vis=0
 * http://scholar.google.com/scholar?hl=en&q=allintitle%3A+microwave+autoclave&btnG=Search&as_sdt=2000&as_ylo=&as_vis=0

Etymology
Merriam Webster is just a pile of cack for having put "aut" is French, everyone knows (don't they?) that "auto" is a Greek prefix, found a correct reference and updated the link, who shall we fire Merriam or Webster? —Preceding unsigned comment added by Captain Screebo (talk • contribs) 14:31, 12 June 2010 (UTC)

"Reagent Bottle" Entry Created - Please Add!
I just created the entry for Reagent bottle. If you have more useful and knowledgeable information, please do add it. Radical Mallard (talk) 16:52, 6 July 2010 (UTC)

Pressure cooker
The Pressure Cooker page links to the Autoclave page, but not vice versa. It might be useful to say something like "An autoclave is an industrial version of a _pressure cooker_. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 64.142.15.200 (talk • contribs) 02:48, 6 July 2012 (UTC)

Merge autoclave (industrial) with this article
It makes little sense that autoclave redirects here, while autoclave (industrial) is relegated to a hidden article. The term is much wider than suggested here. At least move autoclave to autoclave (sterilization) and redirect autoclave to the disambiguation page. Just my three cents. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 76.65.153.53 (talk) 03:44, 25 May 2016 (UTC)


 * Since autoclave(industrial) no longer exists, the near complete lack of any mention of industrial autoclaves is troubling. Clearly the article hasn't been merged as its still almost entirely about medical autoclaves. 82.176.203.219 (talk) 01:41, 4 August 2023 (UTC)

"square section" autoclave?
The image under the heading of "Square Section Autoclave" is pretty clearly a cylindrical chambered autoclave. Also, the caption says it's "high capacity," which is isn't. Will hunt around for some better public domain images. — Preceding unsigned comment added by Lonetone (talk • contribs) 15:29, 23 March 2017 (UTC)

"Air Removal Section" why does air need to be removed in the autoclave?
While reading through the article, I came across the section called "Air Removal" and started to wonder why air must be removed from the chamber before an autoclave can begin performing it's function. I was a little disappointed as the section does not explain why air must be removed from the chamber. Upon further research as to why this may be a necessity, I found that in order for the item to be completely sterile for use or discarding, the steam that's used to sterilize in the autoclave must come into full contact with what needs to be sterilized. Since air disrupts the steam circulation (which you did well by including in your article), the item would not be completely sterilized and thus diminishes the process of sterilization. Perhaps adding the importance of the removal of air in an autoclave would be very beneficial in this article. Kkiing08 (talk) 02:09, 17 October 2022 (UTC)

Gallons or Liters
Should the US customary units be converted to metric ones, even when the original source uses US customary, or should they be kept as in the source? I didn't find conclusive guidelines about that. 2A03:C100:F10C:8301:6500:2AB1:3CD4:1D1F (talk) 08:52, 9 November 2023 (UTC)

Broken link
Source 6 is broken, redirects to the manufacturer homepage https://consteril.com/resources/sterilization-cycles/ may work as a replacement 77.0.67.85 (talk) 19:18, 4 April 2024 (UTC)