Have been qualifying porous load which also contains bonded paper on it through autoclave. The paper due to its nature is cauing superheat , however it does not appear to be happening in at the start of the exposure phase but towards the end of sterilisation with heat building up in the pack. My initial understanding of superheat occurring in items such as paper was that due to the inital dryness of the paper which would lead to absorption of moisture from steam at the start of the cycle. i would have thsough that towards the end of the cycel thsi would not occur as the paper would already be saturated with mositure from the steam at this point.
This issue means we have probelem meeting the 3°C sterilisation band required in HTM2010 and also cannot meet the flucation within a TC which is ± 1°C ( the differenec between the maximum and minimum temperature measured for each thermocouple during hold time must be <= 2°C.
Has anyone else done any work on this , any info would be appreciated
Thanks
I have worked with paper load in the autoclave. Hydration of cellulose is exothermic reaction and as such the heat released may contribute to high temperature readings. This is usual for the paper load. Paper should be analyzed separate from the rest of the load. For further information, reach me at samontu@gmail.com.
[quote=ruairi]Have been qualifying porous load which also contains bonded paper on it through autoclave. The paper due to its nature is cauing superheat , however it does not appear to be happening in at the start of the exposure phase but towards the end of sterilisation with heat building up in the pack. My initial understanding of superheat occurring in items such as paper was that due to the inital dryness of the paper which would lead to absorption of moisture from steam at the start of the cycle. i would have thsough that towards the end of the cycel thsi would not occur as the paper would already be saturated with mositure from the steam at this point.
This issue means we have probelem meeting the 3°C sterilisation band required in HTM2010 and also cannot meet the flucation within a TC which is ± 1°C ( the differenec between the maximum and minimum temperature measured for each thermocouple during hold time must be <= 2°C.
Has anyone else done any work on this , any info would be appreciated
Thanks[/quote]