Sterilizers / Autoclaves

[davebab]

Hello, I have a question regarding heat loss for a sterilizer/autoclave. I am looking at a cut sheet for an AMSCO Century medium steam sterilizer 26" x 37.5" - North America. I see that the loss is 14650 BTU/HR, but my question is where does the heat loss occur? We have a sterilizer room for the sterilizers, but they (sterilizers) are accessed from an instrument storage room.

Before I ask my question, I would like to mention that we typically include the heat loss for the sterilizers in the room that they are placed in. Then realized that there will also be heat loss in the other room where the sterilizer is opened.

Does the heat loss occur mainly in the sterilizer room, or in the instrument storage room, or both? If it is from both, any technical information showing the heat loss values would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks

[flange]

The heat loss of the autoclave is a heat gain to the room it is in. If you are conditioning that room it will add to your cooling load and detract from your heating load.

[davebab]

The heat loss of the autoclave is a heat gain to the room it is in. If you are conditioning that room it will add to your cooling load and detract from your heating load.

That is agreed.

However, there will also be a heat loss when the sterilizer is opened from the other room. Say the sterilizer is done cleaning the tools, and someone goes to open it up right away, there will be steam and heat coming out once it is open.

The cut sheet I have gives one heat loss value (14650 BTU/hour) for all of the heat lost from the sterilizer. My issue is that there is heat loss going into two seperate rooms, the sterilizer room, and the instrument storage room.

How much of the heat loss is going into the sterilizer room, and how much is going into the isntrument storage room?

[DCSCO]

The installations that I have seen, the back side of the sterilizer, the instrument storage room, is not held to comfort cooling standards. It is exhausted and cooled by transfer air from the front side of the unit.

[comfortking88]

Does anyone have problems maintaining a setpoint when an autoclave is in the equation?