WHAT'S YOUR LOAD TYPE?

WHAT IS A ‘FLUID LOAD’? Fluid or liquid loads typically comprise solutions or chemicals used in the laboratory environment, e.g. a growth medium, but could be any non-solid that requires sterilization. A growth medium or culture medium is a solid, liquid or semi-solid designed to support the growth of micro-organisms or cells under test conditions. Different types of media are used for growing different types of cells. An autoclave is used to sterilize media before use. Although many types of media require sterilization at 121°C for 15 minutes, different sterilizing temperatures and times may be necessary for certain types of media, and therefore any autoclave used for the sterilization of media must be capable of sterilizing at a variety of temperatures. FLUID DISCARD Fluid discard loads will inevitably comprise of waste fluids that need to be sterilized prior to being disposed of. Typical fluid discard loads could consist of used or redundant media such as Nutrient Broth, reagents, liquid specimen samples, cleaning solutions, biological waste etc. SEALED FLUIDS Some fluid loads may require to be sterilized in special sealed containers. Air purging (or ‘freesteaming’) is normally sufficient to remove air, and extended freesteaming should be unnecessary. As with media preparation the speed of processing is vital to the quality of the end product and often temperatures in excess of 121°C will be used to speed up the sterilization process. The cooling time should be as short as possible. READ MORE Download the PDF below and read more about liquids and choosing an autovlave by load types. ALSO INCLUDED IN THE PDF The challenges of liquid loads Recommended options Astell recommended products Product highlights Four questions when asking for a quotation FAQS What is the best value cooling system for your medium sized autoclaves? Assisted (air) Cooling or Advanced Water Cooling. These are comparable in performance, depending on the relative temperatures of the water supply and ambient air. Our estimate is a 5-10% reduction in cooling time. This can be further improved at a relatively low cost with Autodrain, but the customer would have to consider Autofill for convenience, and Drain Cooling if the drains are not suited for carrying boiling water and steam for prolonged periods.

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