Sterilisation autoclave

The sterilisation autoclave is an industrial unit that kills microorganisms with saturated steam under pressure; moist heat is more lethal to microbes than dry heat. It usually works at 110–135 °C and 1–3 bar. TSB Energy's direct-steam sterilisation autoclaves are built for 1–70 bar, with diameters of up to 5500 mm and lengths of up to 61 m; shell and heads are AISI 304 or AISI 316 stainless steel to EN 10028-7. The design is based on PED 2014/68/EU, ASME VIII Div. 1, EAC (GOST), cGMP and ISO 13485.

In food processing it sterilises vegetables, fruit, ready meals, meat, fish and seafood, olives, pickles, mushrooms, sun-dried tomatoes, sauces and juices, whether canned, in glass jars or in special plastic packs. Further users are microbiology and research laboratories, pharmaceutical production and R&D, medical device sterilisation, dental and veterinary clinics, and the textile, chemical, feed, seed, packaging, biotechnology and cosmetics industries.

Products are loaded with gaps between them. Before sterilisation the air inside is pushed out by saturated steam and removed by pre-vacuum or through an air-vent steam trap fitted at the top of the vessel; the holding time starts once temperature and pressure are reached, and angled, evenly spaced steam nozzles lower the risk of deforming glass containers. At the end the steam is released; where a vacuum pump is fitted, the chamber is evacuated and filtered air let in, so the load comes out dry. The vessel has 50 mm of ceramic-wool insulation and a patented door safety that engages above 0.1 bar.